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Gameplay

How to play

Fantasy Steam is a year-long game where you draft upcoming Steam releases and score points based on their real-world performance.

Got questions? Check out our FAQ for answers on scoring, release dates, and more.

Quick Start

  1. 1 Create or join a league using an invite code from your friends.
  2. 2 Enter the Winter Draft Room when all players are present. The commissioner starts the draft.
  3. 3 Draft your picks in snake order - hit, bomb, seasonal games, and an alt backup.
  4. 4 Watch your scores grow as your games release and perform on Steam throughout the year.
  5. 5 Return for Summer and Autumn drafts to expand your roster with new picks.

The Season

A season runs for one calendar year with three draft phases, each covering a portion of the year's releases.

Winter (Current)

Draft opens in December. Pick games releasing January – April.

Summer

Draft opens in April. Pick games releasing May – August.

Autumn

Draft opens in August. Pick games releasing September – December.

Pick Types

Each draft uses a snake draft format. For Summer and Autumn drafts, pick order is based on current standings — the player in last place picks first.

Seasonal Picks

Your core picks. Choose games releasing within the current phase's window. These earn points based on real-world Steam performance.

All 3 drafts

Hit Pick

Your GOTY prediction. Pick any unreleased game from the entire year that you think will be the best performer.

First draft only

Bomb Pick

Pick a game you think will flop. Any negative Steam reviews add to the damage dealt to other players, split equally among them.

First draft only

Alt Pick

Choose a game from the same seasonal window. Activates if one of your seasonal picks gets delisted from Steam (e.g., pulled before release to become an Epic exclusive).

All 3 drafts

Scoring

Scores update twice daily (6:00 and 18:00 UTC) based on each game's real-world Steam performance.

Daily Points Formula

Owners Score sqrt(sales delta) × 0.2
CCU Score sqrt(peak CCU) × 0.15
Review Score sqrt(reviews delta) × 0.4 × ratio × 2

Review score is 0 when there are no new reviews since last snapshot.

Time Multiplier

Days 0-14 (Launch Hype) 2.0x
Days 15-90 (The Season) 1.0x
Days 91-180 (Long Tail) 0.75x
Days 181+ (Legacy) 0.5x

Milestone Bonuses

First 1,000 reviews +50
First 10,000 peak CCU +75
Very Positive (>80% positive, 200+ reviews) +30
Overwhelmingly Positive (>95% positive, 500+ reviews) +100

Breakout Bonus

If a game's peak CCU suddenly exceeds 3x its 7-day average, it earns a one-time +50 breakout bonus. Rewards picking sleeper hits that pop off.

Bomb Damage

Bomb damage is based on negative Steam reviews. Any negative reviews add to the damage dealt to other players. Damage is split equally among all other players.

Winning

The player with the highest total score at the end of the season wins. Your total equals the sum of all your games' daily points plus any milestone and breakout bonuses, minus bomb damage received.

Bookmarks

Use the bookmark button on any game to save it to your list. Filter by "Bookmarked only" when browsing games or during the draft to quickly find your shortlist.

Inspiration

Fantasy Box Office

This game was heavily inspired by Fantasy Box Office —the fantasy sports game for movies (box office instead of Steam). If you love drafting and predicting real-world outcomes, check it out.