As we shimmy towards Series 23 we thought we’d try and add a little more excitement to the mix with the launch of our new game – ‘Strictly Predictor’.

Last year, the StrictlyDB team played a game (with pencil and paper – not online!) where each week we tried to predict those at the top and bottom of the leaderboard, as well as those going home through elimination. We had great fun pitting our wits against each other so this year we thought we’d try and expand on the concept and make an online game we could all play together. And that includes you!

Strictly Predictor is a very simple game – each week you select two couples and predict their scores. The closer you get to their actual scores awarded on a Saturday night – the more points you get. But the fun doesn’t stop there – because there are jokers and bonus points along the way to add a little extra spice.

How to play

We can only launch the game properly when we know who the paired couples are. When we know those you can start making predictions for competitive dancing week 1 of the show – which will be aired on the 27th of September!

The launch show on the 20th of September will reveal the couples – so we’ll upload the pairings afterwards – and put a message on the site saying that the game is open!

In the meantime, if you haven’t already, you can register on the site, head to the game area and read more about the rules, scoring and how it all works!  If you would like us to notify you when the game is open, drop us an email at strictlyDB@gmail.com telling us so and we’ll add you to our notify list!

Rules & scoring

The rules and specific details on scoring, playing jokers and receiving bonus points are all explained in full in the Game section of the website. The key thing to remember is that your predictions for the week need to be made before 5pm on the Saturday of a show.

We will calculate the scores for everyone on the Sunday night after the elimination show. We’ll put a message on the site (there is a messages area in the game section) when the scores have been calculated and updated. You can then check the Leaderboard to see how you got on against your friends, family and other players like the team here at StrictlyDB!

Warning: You’re a pioneer!

Whilst Liv, James, Steve and myself have tested the game a number of times on old series data, this is a first for us. In fact we haven’t made a game before or played it for real yet! Obviously we’re hoping it doesn’t all go horribly wrong when it meets the new series and real players such as yourselves – but we shouldn’t rule out the possibility!

If you do sign-up to play, please be kind and patient with us if we do run into difficulties. We’ll try our best to fix any issues should they appear. In the worst case scenario we may even have to abandon the game and go back to the drawing board for this year – but let’s hope not.

At this  early stage of the game’s life it may be wisest to see yourself as an intrepid pioneer testing new Strictly fan grounds – and if things break – then you’re helping us learn lessons for future improvement of the game.  So in advance of playing – thank you from all of us here if you decide to give it a go and bear with us!

Matt does a demo

To help see how the game works I did a quick demo with some dummy dance data from Series 21. If you have a few minutes, do check it out and hopefully it will to bring to life how the game works.

Getting started

So are you going to join us? Please do – it’ll be fun! All you need to do is register on the site (if you haven’t already) and head to the Game section to have a look at the rules.

When the couples are announced after the launch show, we’ll update the game and you can make your predictions ready for week 1 of competitive dancing on Saturday 27 September.

Hope to see you there and if you’ve any questions in the meantime, don’t hesitate to contact us.