A Hilliard man built "20-0," one of summer's most addictive games
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In "20-0," players spin to select players and build a simulated undefeated team. Screenshot: Via 20-0.com
One of the summer's hottest time-killing games came from an overnight project in Central Ohio.
Why it matters: NBA season simulator "82-0" started the craze, and copycat versions for nearly every sport followed — the popular NFL version was built for fun by a Hilliard software engineer.
How it works: Players spin for a random franchise and year, choosing one player at a time to assemble a team for a full-season simulation.
- The very best have a shot at going undefeated.
Flashback: One spring night, Nick Baumeyer and his friends chatted about "82-0" on Discord and decided it would be fun to build an NFL version.
- Baumeyer, a software engineer for legal AI company Filevine, dubbed it "20-0."
- He sent it to friends, tweaked it a bit and took it to X.
- "I made two viral tweets just by replying to other people and the rest was history," he tells Axios.
The intrigue: A day later, the project exploded — logging over a million plays and garnering serious media attention.
- Early players included NFL coach and Ohio native Jon Gruden and hosts of the massive sports podcast "Pardon My Take."
Overall, the game has received nearly 28 million plays.
- Baumeyer has added eight other sports as options of the same concept.
- He's not making money on it, but says he's using ads to recoup most of the web hosting expense.
The bottom line: A project he didn't think "would ever escape my personal circle" has become the highlight of Baumeyer's career.
- "I'm excited to see where it goes and what else I can come up with."
Editor's note: This story has been updated to clarify the game has received nearly 28 million plays (and has not necessarily been played by 28 million people).