A fantasy movie game with a salary cap

You have a fixed budget and a set of positions to fill. Stars cost more than squad players. Balance matters more than any single signing, and people who have a history together play better as a unit. The difference is the season: here it lasts four minutes, and the result is a film instead of a league position.

There are eight positions in every production: two leads, two supporting actors, a director, a writer, a composer and a cinematographer. Each has its own price range and its own weight in the result, so a great director can matter more than a famous face in a small part.

Four things are scored. Critics reward skill and how well the crew suits the genre. Audiences care more about star power. Box office compares the worldwide gross with a goal set by the genre and the budget. Awards night puts your film up against a field of rivals in nine categories. The four are combined into a Movie Score from 0 to 100, which is the number rankings use.

Luck is part of it, as it is in any fantasy game, but it is the same luck for everyone who plays the same draft. That is what makes the daily ranking fair. The people are real; their ratings and prices, and every review, gross and award, are fictional values made for the game.

The Daily Challenge is one draft a day, identical for every player, with a single attempt. Your result is checked on the server and placed in that day’s ranking, and playing on consecutive days builds a streak. Special weeks, such as Horror Week, give the daily a theme.