Football Squares: How the Grid Game Works

Football squares is a grid game played around a single match, most famously the American football final in February. A board of 100 squares is laid out in ten rows and ten columns. Each player claims one or more squares, then the digits 0 to 9 are drawn at random for each side of the grid. At the end of each quarter, the square where the last digit of one team's score meets the last digit of the other team's score is the winner. No knowledge of the sport is needed, which is why it has become such a common party game.

How a board is set up

1. Draw the grid. Ten columns across the top for one team, ten rows down the side for the other. Write the team names along the edges.
2. Fill the squares. Guests write their names in the squares they want. At this stage the squares are blank, so every choice is equally good.
3. Draw the numbers. Once all 100 squares are claimed, draw the digits 0 to 9 at random for the top row, then again for the side column. Pulling slips from a bowl or using a shuffled deck works fine.
4. Fix the prizes. Decide in advance what each quarter wins, whether that is a small treat, a choice of snack or simple bragging rights.
5. Watch the score. At the end of each quarter, take the last digit of each team's score and find the square where they cross.

Reading the winning square

Suppose the score at the end of the first quarter is 14 to 3. The last digits are 4 and 3. Find 4 along the edge for the first team and 3 along the edge for the second; the square where they meet wins that quarter. If the half-time score is 17 to 10, the digits are 7 and 0, and so on through the final whistle.

Why some squares feel luckier

In American football, touchdowns with the extra point add seven and field goals add three, so some final digits come up more often than others. That is why guests who draw a 0, 3 or 7 tend to look pleased, and a 2 or 5 can feel like a short straw. Because the numbers are drawn after the squares are claimed, nobody can pick a good digit in advance, and that randomness is what keeps the game fair.

Popular variations

• Reverse squares. A second, smaller prize for the square that matches the digits the other way round.
• Every score change. A prize each time the score changes, not just at the end of each quarter. Busier, and good for keeping everyone watching.
• Fresh numbers each quarter. Digits are redrawn after every quarter, so an unlucky number does not last all evening.
• Neighbour prizes. A token prize for the squares touching the winning one, which spreads the fun around a large group.
• Other sports. The grid works for any sport with scores in double figures, such as basketball, though digits change constantly there.

Running a fair board

• Draw the numbers in front of everyone, or on a video call if the group is spread out.
• Write all the rules on the board before squares are claimed: how the digits are read, which periods count and what happens if the match goes to overtime.
• Agree that the score after overtime counts as the final score, or say otherwise up front.
• Keep a photo of the finished board so nobody's square changes during the evening.

Squares fit well into a themed evening. Our guide to hosting a casino night at home has ideas for play-money games, and the note on poker chip values helps if you want a card table running at half time.

Keeping it a party game

Squares is at its best as a light game that gives everyone a reason to cheer, whether or not they follow the sport. Small, fixed prizes keep it that way. When groups collect money for a pot, the game can fall under gambling rules, and those differ widely between countries and states, sometimes depending on whether the organiser keeps a share. For a relaxed evening, prizes bought by the host and handed out per quarter avoid that question entirely. Readers interested in how actual sports markets work can start with our explainer on correct score bets, which is the closest betting relative of the grid.

Common questions

How do you pick squares?

Any way you like, since the digits are drawn afterwards. Many groups simply pass the board around.

What happens to unclaimed squares?

Decide in advance. Some groups leave them to the host, some redraw the prize, and some split unclaimed squares among the players.

Keep squares a game for grown-ups with token prizes, and if a cash pot is involved, find out first whether that is permitted where you live.