Run March Madness Squares the Easy Way
One board, every round. Fill it once, keep players updated, and track scores and winners automatically all tournament long.
How It Works
Create your board
All you need is one board for the entire tournament.
Share with others
Our host tools make it easy to share your board, fill the squares, and collect payments quickly.
Track scores & winners automatically
We update scores in real time, determine winners for each game, and notify players automatically so you don’t have to manage a thing. All tournament long.
See For Yourself
100 squares available
Playing as: You. Choose your squares!
Players (8)
Why Choose Our Squares Board
Built on three core principles: Easy, Fun, and Fast. One board covers the entire tournament. If this is your first squares pool of any kind, our walkthrough of how March Madness squares work covers the fundamentals and our mid-game rules for overtime and the reverse score rule cover the tricky moments.
Automatically track scores & winners
Scores and winners are updated in real time automatically.
Keep players updated
Players stay in the loop with updates and notifications for each game.
Mobile-optimized
Perfect for in-person events, and it works great on phones and tablets.
Multiple scoring options
Keep your players engaged with multiple game modes, like final scores, reverse scores, touching squares, and more.
Multiple game options
One board, multiple games. Run a slate for the Thanksgiving Day games, the March Madness Tournament, an NBA series, or just 1 game like the Super Bowl.
Multiple board types
Keep it classic with a 10x10 board, or tone it down with a smaller, 5x5 board for a smaller group.
Multiple sports
Choose from multiple football and basketball leagues, like the NFL, NCAA Football, NCAA Basketball, and the NBA.
Fun animations
Make game day more exciting with animations for key events, scoring changes, and winners.
Fill your board faster
Our host tools make it easy to share and fill your board.
Collect payments
Players can use one-click payment links through supported payment methods, like Venmo, Cash App, PayPal, or Zelle.
Players pick their squares
Players can pick their own squares and join the pool in seconds.
How We Compare
| Our App | PDFs/Sheets | Other Sites | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Automatic winner detection | Sometimes | ||
| Real-time updates | No/Manual | Sometimes | |
| Mobile-optimized | Yes/Limited | Varies | |
| Setup time | <5 minutes | 10-15+ minutes | 5-10 minutes |
| Fun animations | Rarely | ||
| Flexible payment options | Sometimes | ||
| Multiple games on 1 board | Rarely | ||
| Board Creation Limits | Unlimited | Per board | Per board |
| Cost | One Month Pass - $29.99 | Free | Free to $25/board |
What Hosts Are Saying
Real feedback from people running Play Squares boards.
“After years of using pen and paper, this was such a welcome upgrade. It was easy to set up and share for our Super Bowl party.”
“As a host, this saves so much time and eliminates manual errors. The interface is easy for players, and I'll use this for every event I host.”
“Even my older uncle had no issues picking squares. I felt confident sharing it with everyone, and it was completely worth the price.”
How Do March Madness Squares Work?
A March Madness board runs on the same mechanic as any other squares pool. Players claim squares on a grid, every square ends up holding one digit for one team and one for the other, and the matching pair takes a share of the prize pool when a scoring period ends. What changes for the tournament is that college basketball plays two halves rather than four quarters, and that a single board can carry the whole bracket, which is how most tournament pools get run.
Claim first, numbers get drawn after
Players pick a spot on the grid while it's still blank, and the randomizing assigns digits to the rows and columns once every square has been claimed. Whoever joined first has the same shot as whoever joined last, and the board locks as soon as the numbers are drawn. Filling out a bracket rewards knowing the teams, and this rewards nothing but luck, which is what makes the two work well side by side.
Two prizes a game, and no dead squares
College basketball has no quarters, so a game pays on the final score and often at halftime too, rather than four times. Many hosts pay only the final in the early rounds, then raise the prize each round and add halftime later on. It also changes which squares are worth holding: football scores pile up on 0, 3 and 7, while basketball teams pass through nearly every digit on the way to the seventies, so no pairing is close to dead before tip-off.
One board across the bracket
Most hosts run a single board for the whole tournament, and the numbers are the reason. The digits get drawn once, and every game added to that board is scored against the same grid, so the squares somebody claimed on the first Thursday are still theirs in the title game. Nothing gets set up again between rounds.
| Stage | Games it adds |
|---|---|
| Round of 64 and Round of 32 | 48 games across the opening weekend |
| Sweet 16 and Elite Eight | 12 games over the second weekend |
| Final Four and title game | 3 games to finish the bracket |
Sixty-three games from the Round of 64 to the title game, and one board follows every one of them. Most hosts leave the 12 Opening Round games off in 2027 and start on the first Thursday. Scoping a board down to a single weekend works too, but the tournament-long board is what most people run.
Our walkthrough of how March Madness squares work gives a round-by-round prize example and the digits that hit most across 315 tournament games, and our March Madness squares template prints a sheet if you'd rather run it on paper. Hosts raising money for a team or a cause can follow our guide to running a March Madness squares fundraiser, and once the nets come down the same format carries straight over to NBA squares and a playoff series pool. Every board tracks the live score for you and shows the pending winner while the half is still being played.
Simple, Transparent Pricing
One Game Pass - $12.99
Best for single-event hosts.
- Host a squares pool for 1 game
- Players join for free
- One-time purchase (no subscription)
One Month Pass - $29.99
Best for hosting multiple pools over a short period, such as playoffs, tournaments, or busy game stretches.
- Host unlimited squares pools for 30 days
- Add multiple games to a single board
- Players join for free
- One-time purchase (no subscription)
One Year Pass - $79.99
Best for frequent or season-long hosts.
- Host unlimited squares pools for 1 year
- Use across all sports and seasons
- Players join for free
- One-time purchase (no subscription)
30-Day Satisfaction Guarantee
If you're not satisfied, we'll refund you. No questions asked.