If you are a free to play user, who doesnt want to spend real money to play on huddle, I completely understand. However, that also means that there will be a lot of things on the game that you will likely not want to bother yourself with, like the Throwdown challenges, or some of the more rare inserts. I think its definitely possible to achieve a top score in the game, but its going to take a lot of work. As long as you are ready, here is how I would approach it.

Choose A Type of Player to Be

There are many tempting reasons to be both a gamer and a collector, but its really tough to be both without spending money. If your main goal is to be a top collector on the game, you should dedicate your time to making that happen. It will suck up most of your coins, and your spot on the rankings may suffer as a result. If you want to be a top gamer, your focus should shift entirely, which might mean your insert collection may suffer. I think its best to make your choice and really hone in on the different targets you have.

Spend Your Coins WISELY

To be completely honest, there is really no reason to spend any coins on any other pack but the most loaded boost pack at any point. This goes for everyone, really. When I say loaded, I mean the boost pack that has the most active boosts, not the one with the most attractive boosts.

Right now, the top boost pack is the purple at 10k coins per rip. However, it also has about 35-40 active boosts that you can pull, and they are adding more by the day. What that means is that the odds you will pull a boost goes up exponentially. These boosts are so valuable that they can be traded for inserts if you are a collector, or more boosts if you are a gamer. It also shoots out ONLY silver and gold cards which can be traded for the lower level cards to complete team sets, or for other silver and gold cards.

I will say this – NOT EVERY PACK IS A WINNER. This is why I would say its a good idea to wait until you can buy at least two at a time before you dump your coins. Wait until the article is posted and buy your packs. If you pull nothing in the first pack, wait – DO NOT BUY ANOTHER. Come back in five minutes and buy your second. If you pull a boost, buy the second pack right away. I equate the pack pulls to a wheel that spins, and the boosts seem to come in bunches. If you are lucky, you might even end up with multiple per pack.

If you pull a bunch of lineman and defense in your pack, that’s okay! Trading is your friend which I will get to in a second. If you pull a boost and its not the best player, that is also okay! The boosts are in sets, which mean you can trade them for nicer players where the set award might not be active. There will be people who will do this, but you have to keep trying.

Trade Like Mad

If you dont spend your time on the app trading, you are missing out. Plain and simple. you will need to trade constantly, and trade wisely. The first target you should have is trading to get the white, green and red HS team sets for coins. Trade the silvers in your collection for multiple whites and so on and so forth. You can build up enough coins from about 7 or so awards to have enough for another boost pack. Then you can keep going.

I would find someone that has a ton of cards and trade for their doubles. Sort their sheet by cards you need, and do the same when you select the cards to give. If you have dupes that they need, you MIGHT be able to get them to overpay. DO NOT go nuts. That will get you ignored or 1 star rated.

You will also not likely be able to trade your Brandon Gibson boost for Peyton Manning, so dont try. However, you might be able to get two for one if someone needs that card for their set. You wont be able to do this if you are the one making the offer, however. If you are F2P, its best to field offers rather than make them. The person making the offer will likely have to overpay, which free players will not be able to afford.  Create a good hook and post on the feed. It will take at least 4 posts in a row, every 30 seconds to get offers, maybe longer if your collection isnt great. The best thing is to keep it general and not ask for specific cards. People will be more likely to look if you say “I have lots of stuff” vs “I have this specific card.” If they are looking for that specific card, they might bite, but you will attract more fish with a more broad hook.

Play for Points Regardless of Your Interests

The weekly helmet awards are easy pickings for a lot of them, and I have seen people get into the top 250 and below just playing regular cards from regular packs. You have to watch every game and Sundays get a bit packed. But, you will have more coins to spend, which means more cards, and better scores. From my count, at least 3 of the helmet awards should be attainable if you watch or follow along with all the games.

Do not play in the Throwdowns, as the coins will be wasted if you dont have a lot of boosts to play. If you are not in the top 30-40 players, its just not going to be worth your time. The tickets cost coins, which will be needed to buy other packs.

Dont Play the Victim

All of the apps require money to reach the top, and that is intentional. If you play the victim and say “woe is me, I will never be good, so why bother?” that is exactly what will happen. If you read back through some of my tweets, you can see that there are people who finished in the top 25 for the year on Bunt without spending a dime. They took it as a challenge to get to the top without money rather than just complaining that they are being left behind. It takes dedication, as does anything in life, and you would be surprised as to how far you can go without spending.

Bottom line, any app is ridiculously expensive to run and maintain, not to mention the salaries and benefits of the employees. This means they have to make money to keep it going and that means they will need as many people to buy in as possible. Dont fault them for it, just find the edge in your own way. People use the words “Money Grab” or “Greed” but its not that. Its marketing. They need the users to spend money, and as a for profit business, the more money the better. That’s not bad, that’s capitalism. If you want to exist outside of that mindset, you will need to work harder than the people who will spend.

Make Friends

There is no better opportunity for free players than making friends on the app. If you check in with this site, you will see a lot of people in the comments that are top players in the game. Similarly, if you join up with message boards like BuntHuddleKick.com, you can start building a name for yourself.

A friend you can trust will be more likely to help you out in your quests, lend you some support in your cards, and get you to the next level. Huddle is becoming a team sport more and more.

Message boards also have alternative trade methods that are more permanent, so if you post, your words wont get buried in 5 seconds like they do on the feed. Most of the message board users are much more invested in the game, so they might have more to offer as well. Be friendly, offer your feedback, but dont abuse your right. Speak intelligently and showcase your value and people will latch on. If you post like you text your high school buddies, that wont get you as far.

Friends will make the game easier. Trust me on this one. Dont demand or ask for help, build a rep first. Dont start asking for things until the help can be provided in a mutual fashion. No one is just going to give you handouts unless you have some value as a colleague.

If you have any questions, let me know. Ill do my best to help you out.