An introductory guide to Blaseball

Many people have heard of Blaseball, but the murmurs about players being incinerated and trapped in peanut shells make the game daunting.

Created by The Game Band, Blaseball is an online, alternate reality, surrealist fantasy baseball game. At the same time, it is none of those things at all. The game transforms week-to-week, and while it models itself after America’s favorite pastime, it’s slowly getting further and further away from the sport.

If you’re interested in the game or just confused about what nonsense you keep reading online, we’ve answered some of the big questions below.

What is Blaseball?

Blaseball is a fantasy baseball game that you can play online. You collect coins by betting on games and winning. You use those coins at the end of each week to vote for Decrees and Blessings that will change the game the next week.

Sometimes players will get trapped in peanut shells, and they’ll be unable to play until they’re freed. Sometimes the weather is Salmon. Sometimes a player will die and then come back to life, then owing a debt, requiring them to kill several other players to even the scales of life. It’s fun!

How do I play?

You start by picking one of the teams, most of which are based on real locations. You’ll get coins for every game your team wins. From there, you’ll use your coins to bet on games, which start at the top of the hour.

You’ll also use your coins to buy upgrades, which allow you to gain more coins from wins and bet more coins per game.

Additionally, you can set an Idol, picking a specific player to net you coins for every strike they throw or every ball they hit.

What team should I pick?

You should pick whichever team tickles your fancy. While one team may seem dominant in the moment, since the game is constantly evolving, the best teams will change from season to season.

You should pick a team that you vibe with. If you’re intense about winning and strategy, the Baltimore Crabs are probably a good choice. If you’re more chill and are just here to have a good time, the Hawai’i Fridays are probably the team for you. Each team is different!

Image: The Game Band via Polygon

The Blaseball Wiki will explain all the different teams to you, along with any notable lore or players a team may have. We also recommend jumping into the Blaseball Discord and seeing what team you mesh with, if you’re the social type.

What’s the best moneymaking strategy?

Bet the max amount you can on the team with the highest probability to win whenever you can. As you do this, upgrade your Snake Oil to allow you to bet more.

You can also use your Idol, which should be a player who has a gold income bonus. Using this, you should invest in Sunflower Seeds, which increase the amount of coins you get every time your Idol hits. Before you know it, you’ll be getting lots and lots of coins just from your Idols hitting balls.

What upgrades should I focus on buying first?

Invest in Snake Oil and Sunflower Seeds. Popcorn and Stale Popcorn, which reward you coins when your team wins or loses, respectively, is also a good way to passively earn money, especially if you’re not betting on every hour.

How long does a season last? What’s the Blaseball schedule?

Seasons take one week, and they begin on Mondays at 11 p.m. ET. From then until Friday at 3 p.m. ET, there will be new games starting at the top of almost every hour.

Votes for Decrees and Blessings close on Sunday at 3 p.m. ET. The results are shown shortly after this.

Throughout the season, there are Siestas — times when the players are “resting” and no games are played.

OK, I picked a team, but I changed my mind. Can I switch?

You can buy a Flute in the shop for 2,000 coins. This will let you switch teams.

What’s the deal with Blessings and Decrees?

You can purchase Votes from the shop for 100 coins each that can be used in a seasonal election. Use these to enact a Decree, which will change the rules of the game. You can also vote to try and win Blessings from the Blaseball gods, which will buff your team, steal players from other teams, or do a plethora of other things that will likely benefit you.

Blessings are rewarded through a lottery system. Just because your team submits the most votes for a specific blessing doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll get it, but they’ll be the most likely to get it.

What are Wills?

By buying a Cheese Board in the shop, you’ll have access to Wills for as long as you have the Cheese Board in your inventory. Wills are similar to Blessings and Decrees in that they require player votes, but they let you specifically pick players to buff, trade, or send away. They’re less random than Blessing and Decrees, and each team gets two Wills per election.

How do I know which Blessings, Wills, and Decrees to pick?

Fans often discuss this in the Blaseball Discord. You can select your team there and plot among the rest of your fanbase on what to do next.

Can I hold my coins forever and build up a huge amount of wealth?

No. The “Eat the Rich” Decree ensures that, at the end of the season, the 1% of players holding the most coins get their wealth redistributed to the 99%. Spend those coins or risk saying goodbye to all your money.

Can you tell me more about Idols?

You can pick one player to idolize, and every time they hit runs or pitch outs, you’ll get coins. You can change your Idol for 200 coins, but not while games are being played.

Why does the Idol leaderboard have a line sometimes?

It depends on the line. At the end of one season, there was a red dotted line that trapped players in peanut shells, rendering them unable to play. Idols with “peanut” in their name got a “honey roasted” buff.

Image: The Game Band

In general, you do not want your team’s best players above that red line, but the red line is not always there. We haven’t seen the line in a couple of seasons.

Sometimes, there’s a squiggly yellow line, which instead gives every idol above it a “Ego Boost.” So far, players with this buff have been immune to flooded bases.

Wait, buffs? There are player buffs?

When you click on teams, you can see individual players as well. Click on them, and some will have squares with mysterious little icons in them. Some of them explain what they do. Others don’t. We know just as much as you do when it comes to these scary squares.

What’s with the weird weather icons?

Weather in the Blaseball universe is not like weather in real life. Each weather condition has a different effect and can randomly cause special things to happen.

• Peanuts: Stray peanuts may fly into players’ mouths, forcing them to have a “yummy reaction,” which increases player stats, or an “allergic reaction,” which decreases player stats.
• Lots of Birds: There are birds. Sometimes they may peck a “shelled” player free.
• Feedback: Players can swap teams randomly.
• Solar Eclipse: The umpire may incinerate a random player. They’ll be replaced by a new player immediately.
• Reverb: Player positions may shuffle.
• Blooddrain: Players may absorb stats from another player.
• Flooding: Bases may occasionally get cleared by a flood, and players can be swept “elsewhere.”
• Salmon: Salmon sometimes swim upstream and reset the inning.

More weather is constantly being added, but this is the list as of season 15.

Why are there so many peanut-themed things?

After being voted as a Decree in season 2, peanuts have infiltrated the game. This added peanut weather, as well as peanuts you can eat. Eating peanuts doesn’t seem to do anything, but they are crunchy and delicious.

At the end of season 9, the Shoe Thieves fought against The Shelled One, the giant peanut god, and lost. In season 10, an all-star teamed up to take down The Shelled One. The god was defeated.

There are gods?

Yes, and we are at their mercy.

Shadows? Flooding? What do any of these terms mean?

Like we’ve stated many times in this guide, Blaseball is a constantly changing game. Luckily, the folks at The Game Band have put together a glossary of terms for easy understanding.

What are Blagonballs?

Nobody really knows, but they’re “found” by players when they play exceptionally, like pitching a no-hitter.

Who is Jaylen Hotdogfingers?

Jaylen Hotdogfingers was the first player to be incinerated by an umpire and then brought back from the dead as a community effort. One blessing allowed a team to steal the 14th ranked player on the Idol board, and many players picked Jaylen as their Idol, just to bump her to the 14th position and see what would happen. It was successful, and the Seattle Garages picked her up, resurrecting her in the process.

When she pitched again after returning, she beaned several players with the ball, giving them an “unstable” tag. These players were later incinerated by umpires, and they spread the instability to other players. These players were also later incinerated. Eventually, we learned that his was the cost of resurrecting her.

Is there canon lore for the players?

Yes and no. Dedicated fans have come up with designs, personalities, and backstories for the players, mostly based on the interesting names. The Blaseball team shares them on the website, so while they’re not official, they are supported by the developer.

You can find out more information about the players on the Blaseball Wiki.

This is extremely bizarre.

Welcome to Blaseball.

Update (April 8, 2021): We’ve expanded and updated our Blaseball guide with loads of new information.