It is the 20 dollar draft, also called the $20 draft or the $20 bidding game. Every player gets an imaginary $20, options from one category go up for auction one at a time, and each player tries to buy the best set of five. It spread on TikTok as a two-player challenge, and you can play the 20 dollar draft free in your browser right here on CPSCount.
20 Dollar DraftPlay free in your browserPlay the 20 dollar draft now Free in your browser on one phone or several. Imaginary money, no sign-up.
Play free in your browser Deal a categoryThe names you might have heard
The game travels under a lot of names, which is why it can be hard to search for. “20 dollar draft”, “$20 draft” and “you have 20 dollars to spend” all describe the same idea. “Auction draft” is the general term, “budget draft” usually means a different amount of money, and a “muted draft” is the silent version, where players buy or pass with a gesture instead of shouting bids. We explain that one in how the muted 20 dollar draft works.
How one round works
Someone picks a category, say superpowers. Ten options are prepared for two players, five each, and revealed one by one. The first option might be teleportation. Both players bid in whole dollars until one stops; the higher bid buys it and pays from their $20. Then the next option appears.
The money is what makes it a game rather than a list of favourites. Spending $12 on teleportation feels great until the next option is stopping time and you only have $8 left. And once a player runs out of money, the other player hands out every remaining option, which is how somebody ends up with “turning into a potato” as their fifth power.
At the end both players show their five, and the group, a judge or the comments decide who built it better. The full details, including what happens when nobody bids, are in the rules.
Why it is so much fun
Every dollar is a decision. You cannot have everything, so each bid says how much you really want something, and everyone at the table can see it. Watching a friend pay $15 for “never needing sleep” is half the entertainment.
It also needs nothing: no board, no cards, no setup beyond a category. That is why it works in a car, at a party or in a two-minute video, and why people keep inventing new categories for it. If you need ideas, there are 60 categories with sample picks.
How to play it online
Our free browser version of the game runs on CPSCount. It deals a random theme from 60, gives everyone $20 and five slots, and runs the auction with a clock: 60 seconds for the first bid, then 7 seconds after every new bid. Pass one phone around the table, play with friends on your own phones through a private room, get matched with random players, or practise alone against AI players that are clearly labelled.
Prefer to play out loud? Use the category generator to deal a theme and ten options, copy the list into your group chat and keep score on paper.
Is it gambling?
No. The $20 is imaginary and never turns into anything real. Nobody pays to play, nothing can be bought with the dollars, and there is no prize. The money is only a way to make choices cost something.
