If you've ever argued with a friend about who had the better fantasy season — Patrick Mahomes in 2018 or Lamar Jackson in 2019 — Pickem Trivia was built for you. It's a free daily NFL trivia game that blends the strategy of fantasy football with the fun of a quiz show. Instead of picking players before the season and watching stats trickle in, you're naming real players on the spot based on clue categories. Your score is determined by how well those players actually performed in their best season.
The result is a game that rewards genuine NFL knowledge. You can't guess randomly and get lucky — you need to know player histories, team affiliations, college backgrounds, and statistical peaks. But it's also approachable enough for casual fans who just want to test what they've picked up from years of watching games.
Every game of Pickem Trivia's flagship Draft Battle mode works the same way. You're given eight roster slots to fill: one quarterback, two running backs, three wide receivers, one tight end, and a flex position. For each slot, you're shown a category — something like "Played for the New England Patriots," "Attended LSU," or "Rushed for 1,500+ yards in a season" — and you have 30 seconds to type in a player who fits that category.
Once you've named a player, their best single-season fantasy score (in half-PPR format) is added to your total. Name LaDainian Tomlinson for an RB slot and you're collecting his monstrous 2006 season. Name a backup who fits the category but never had a great year, and you'll score much lower. The game is asking you to find the intersection of "valid answer" and "highest fantasy score."
The daily version of Draft Battle is the same puzzle for everyone who plays that day, seeded by date. You fill 8 roster spots, see your score, and compare it on the global leaderboard. It's free, takes about 5 minutes, and resets every day at midnight Pacific time. Think of it like Wordle, but for football nerds.
H2H pairs you against another real player in a live match. Both of you get identical categories and race to name the highest-scoring players for each slot. Wins and losses are tracked through an ELO rating system, so you'll be matched against players at your skill level over time. Entry costs 1 token; winning pays out 3 tokens.
Pickem Grid is our spin on the sports grid format you may have seen elsewhere. A 3×3 grid appears with team or category labels on each row and column. You need to name one player who satisfies both the row and column criteria for each of the nine cells. The twist: you're scored on rarity, not just correctness. Picking an obscure player that nobody else chose earns you far fewer penalty points than picking the obvious star. Shooting for "Unicorn" picks — answers with a 0% selection rate — is the metagame.
Campaign mode takes you through a series of themed challenges with increasing difficulty. Each campaign chapter focuses on a specific era, team, or theme — like "The 2000s AFC West" or "College Football Pipeline Schools." Completing chapters earns badges and rewards.
Leagues are weekly competitive brackets where you pay a token entry fee for a shot at a larger prize pool. All participants complete the same puzzle, scores are compared, and tokens flow down through the top finishers. It's fantasy football draft trivia with stakes.
Pickem Trivia's database covers more than 25 years of NFL history, from the 1999 season through the present day. It includes over 4,000 fantasy-relevant players across all positions — quarterbacks, running backs, wide receivers, and tight ends — and more than 70,000 unique categories drawn from stats, teams, colleges, draft positions, and more.
Every player's score is calculated using half-PPR (half a point per reception) fantasy scoring, which is the most widely used format in fantasy football today. Passing yards score at 0.04 points each, rushing and receiving yards at 0.1 points, touchdowns at 4–6 points, and receptions at 0.5 points. Interceptions and fumbles are penalized. The scores are fixed and based on historical stats — the game doesn't make anything up.
As you play, you earn tokens that can be spent on card packs. Each card represents an NFL player, with rarity tiers based on how high that player scores: GOAT (rank 1 at their position), Epic (ranks 2–6), Legendary (ranks 7–16), Gold, Silver, and Bronze. Collecting cards doesn't give you an unfair advantage in games — Pickem Trivia is designed so that knowledge is the only edge — but building a collection and completing sets is its own satisfying meta-game.
Yes. The core game — daily Draft Battle, Pickem Grid, and reading leaderboards — is completely free with no account required. Creating an account (via Google sign-in) unlocks the ability to save your progress, track your ELO, participate in Head-to-Head, and earn rewards. A Pro subscription ($4.99/month) gives access to unlimited daily challenges, campaign mode, and bonus token packages, but it doesn't make you better at answering questions. Free players compete on equal footing in every game mode.
The game hits a sweet spot for three types of players. First, the hardcore fantasy football veterans who already have player histories memorized and want to put that knowledge to use in a structured competition. Second, the general NFL fan who watches games every Sunday and wants a quick daily challenge that's more interesting than a basic "name the team" quiz. Third, the fantasy football rookie who wants to get smarter about player values and scoring in a fun, low-pressure way.
If you've spent time on fantasy football forums, listened to NFL podcasts, or argued about historical rankings with friends, you already have most of the knowledge you need to do well. The game rewards depth of football knowledge more than any other factor.
Play today's Daily Challenge — no account required, takes about 5 minutes.
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