82-0.com Explained: How the Viral NBA Lineup Game Works

82-0.com is a free basketball roster-building game. You spin for a random NBA team and decade, draft one player from that roster into your starting five, and then the game simulates an 82-game season to see whether your lineup can go undefeated. It began as a browser game and now has an official app, “82-0.com” from Vaulty Studios Inc., on the App Store and Google Play. That app is why the name is climbing the App Store games chart right now.

Below I cover where it came from, how a round works, how the scoring seems to work, and how to make sure you’re playing the real thing and not one of the many lookalikes.

What 82-0 is and who makes it

The game was created by developer Roy Saar. According to DNVR Sports’ interview with the team, it is backed by PlayVault, an Israeli gaming company whose CEO, Bar Almog, explained that Vaulty Studios is PlayVault’s publishing arm. That’s why Vaulty Studios Inc. is the developer name on both app store listings.

82-0 took off on NBA social media in early June 2026. Complex and Aftermath both covered it. Players, and even NBA accounts and players such as Tyrese Haliburton, shared their results and complained about falling a few wins short. The timing is a little murky: Aftermath noted that the site itself says it dates from 2025, even though it only blew up in 2026. App trackers list the mobile app’s first release as late June 2026.

It isn’t an NBA product. Coverage describes it as an independent fan-made game without an NBA license.

How to play 82-0

The official How to Play page and press coverage describe the same basic loop:

1. Spin. A slot-machine-style roll gives you a random franchise and a decade, for example a team in the 1990s.
2. Pick one player from that team-and-era roster.
3. Place him in an open position that he actually played: point guard, shooting guard, small forward, power forward or center. Some players qualify for more than one spot, and where you put them matters.
4. Repeat until all five positions are filled. That takes five rounds.
5. Watch the sim. The game runs an 82-game regular season and gives you a projected win-loss record.

Two rules catch most new players:

• Filled positions stay filled. In Aftermath’s words, if a later roll gives you a better player at a spot you’ve already filled, tough luck. Locking in a decent center on round one can cost you a dominant one later.
• You get limited skips. Reports on the official site mention one team skip or one era skip to escape a bad roll. Check the current rules screen, because this is the kind of detail that changes between updates.

How the season is scored

Coverage of the official game says your lineup is rated on five per-game stats: points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks. Better combined numbers produce more wins. The NBA didn’t track steals and blocks in its early decades, so the game estimates those for older players. That’s one reason fans argue about which old-school big men are “cheat codes”. The exact formula isn’t public, so treat any “guaranteed 82-0 lineup” posts with some skepticism.

Classic vs Hoop IQ modes

The game offers two ways to draft:

Hoop IQ is where the “I know ball” arguments online come from. You have to remember who actually put up big numbers on, say, a 1970s roster without the game prompting you.

Browser vs the official app

You can play at 82-0.com in any modern browser with no download. The apps add a mobile-friendly version of the same idea.

As of late October 2026, the US App Store listing showed version 1.10.4 and a rating of about 4.8 from roughly 14,000 ratings. Ratings vary by country storefront, though, and both numbers will change with every update, so check the listing yourself.

How to get the official app

1. On iPhone or iPad, open the App Store and search for 82-0.com, or use this App Store link.
2. Check that the developer is shown as Vaulty Studios Inc. before you tap Get.
3. On Android, open Google Play and search for 82-0.com, or use the Google Play listing. Its package name is com.vaultystudios.eightytwoand0.
4. Skip third-party APK sites and “PC download” pages. If you want it on a computer, the browser version at 82-0.com is the simplest official option.

Watch out for copycat sites

Because the game went viral, search results for “82-0” are now full of lookalike sites with similar names and logos. Some change the rules. For example, they draft from single seasons instead of decades, add a sixth man, or run a daily challenge where everyone gets the same rolls. Those can be fun, but they aren’t the game everyone is sharing screenshots of, and their records aren’t comparable.

To be sure you’re on the original:

• The web game lives at 82-0.com, with no extra words, hyphens or different domain endings.
• The official app is named 82-0.com and published by Vaulty Studios Inc.
• You never need to create an account or enter payment details just to play a round in the browser.

Tips for a better record

These come from how the rules work, not from any secret formula:

• Don’t panic-fill early. A strong but not elite player in round one can block a much better option later. If a player qualifies at several positions, put him in the spot that’s hardest to fill.
• Save your skip. Use it on a truly bad roll, such as an expansion-era team with thin talent, not on a merely okay one.
• Think in five stats. The sim rewards the combined box score, so a rebounding and shot-blocking center plus a high-assist point guard often beats five pure scorers.
• Remember the era estimates. Older players’ steals and blocks are estimated, which helps explain why some 1960s and 1970s bigs score so well.
• Try Hoop IQ once you know the pool. It’s the better test of basketball knowledge, and it makes your result feel earned.

The bottom line

82-0.com is a quick, free NBA draft-and-simulate game that’s easy to learn and hard to beat. Play it in a browser at 82-0.com, or install the official 82-0.com app from Vaulty Studios Inc. on iOS or Android. Expect some ads and optional purchases in the app. Store versions, ratings and some rules, like skips, may change with updates after October 2026.