Super Rugby Fantasy
Our Super Rugby fantasy game is the most comprehensive and strategic available. Rugby is too complicated a sport to fit into simple fantasy games, so we've built an entirely new approach that delivers great long term engagement and fun.
Our fantasy has been described as 'the game that rugby has been crying out for'.
We've built the platform from the ground up, combining the best features of other generic games with a brand new approach on how we think rugby fantasy should work; it's got more depth, more detail, more strategy, and with that, it's more rewarding and a heck of a lot more fun.
Key Features: Squad Management
It was always our aim to expand our fantasy rugby game beyond the simple mechanics of other generic games. This meant increasing the detail in a lot of different areas throughout the game; squad management, player's positions and histories, point scoring, season long strategy, short-term strategy.
We've done this in a number of different ways, but the first that will strike you when you dive into the game for the first time, will be management of your squad. The key for us here was a move towards more of a management sim in the way the game was played, but also to reward those who have a lot of knowledge of the game - that said, one of our aims is also to increase knowledge of the game as a whole.
The days of choosing 15 players who are assigned to specific positions are consigned to the past; instead, you choose a squad of players who will represent your fantasy club over the course of the season, swapping and changing as injuries and byes take their toll on your team. While you can still make transfers over the course of the season, these are few, and the onus is on getting the right balance to your squad at the beginning of the season.
In terms of balance, it is now a lot easier in our game. Having mentioned above the days of specific positions being gone, we have opened up the number of positions a player can play. For example, other games might have Rieko Ioane down as an ‘outside back’, whereas we have included him as a centre/winger, allowing you to maximise the potential of your team through the season.
Key Features: All in the Detail
We also wanted to set the game up as a repository of data for those who love the game. This includes plenty of detail on the teams involved in the competition, with comparisons of various data against how a club compares to the league overall, right through to individual histories for each player on the game.
The most important aspect of detail that we wanted to achieve however, was replicating what happened on the field of play. We wanted to highlight the different work that players do around the field, and in turn ensure that each player was worth investing in. Where other games only deliver points for tries, or perhaps go slightly further and tally metres, they often leave the fantasy player knowing they can spend less in one position to bolster another; we don’t like that.
Instead, we want every position to contribute to the game.
We’ve done this by giving points for line outs, tweaking the metres required for forwards to make points, including points for tackling, bonus points for 100% tackle success, points deduction for conceding possession, points for turnovers, and much more.
This means that each position can have an impact on your team, and you will find yourself cheering even the most innocuous of actions on the field - you might even go so far as cheering a try scored by your favourite team’s rivals!
Strategy
Given the amount of depth the game goes into and the way a season pans out, strategy for the game now extends over the entire season, and while for example, the Premiership, has to contend with international call ups, Super Rugby must contend with game week byes. This leaves an interesting trade off in the opening round of this season.
You can select 5 players from any one club, ultimately meaning that you can have a maximum of 25 New Zealanders in your squad of 28. That's no good though; the first round is only played out between the South African conference. Do you blitz round one by selecting only South African players, and spend the next few rounds catching up? Or do you select more from other nations and hope they make up the ground as they play out the remaining fixtures? Once game week 16 comes around, it's the turn of the South African conference to sit out; will your squad have the right balance by then?
These are the tough choices that will define your fantasy season.
We hope you enjoy playing, and please do let us know if you have any questions at any point. Otherwise good luck for a successful campaign!
Filed under:
Super Rugby, The Scout
Written by: Edward Kerr
Follow: @edwardrkerr · @therugbymag