It’s that time of year again: Starbucks’ Summer Game is back! For some people, this might mean making a few extra coffee runs in order to obtain additional “plays” and, in turn, (hopefully) win more prizes. But, there’s a better way to shoot for Rewards as Starbucks allows you to request free plays without purchasing anything at all.
To claim your free plays, log in to the game using your Starbucks account username and password. Then, scroll down to the “To enter without making a purchase, click here” line, found below the official rules, privacy policy, etc. This will take you to a form where you’ll need to provide your name and email address as well as answer a few questions.
Thankfully, while there is a video that entrants will need to complete in order to submit their form, it’s easy to skip to the end (unlike last year’s, which had far more restrictions). Moreover, in contrast to the normal write-in answers, this year’s are all multiple choice. Between these adjustments and autofill, the whole entry process should only take a few seconds.
As a reminder, users can apply for up to two free plays per day. Additionally, you can claim no-purchase plays for the various activities. What’s more, this year’s game includes bonus opportunities, such as an extra play on Fridays and double the bubbles on Mondays. In the case of the latter, this doubling will apply to your free plays (meaning you’ll get up to four plays for filling out the form twice) but extra plays claimed via activities will retain their face value. Yes, I tried it in hopes of finding the ultimate freeloader loophole but alas.
In terms of what’s up for grabs, as you pop your bubbles with each play, you score bonus Stars, gift cards, 2-for-1 drinks, exclusive tumblers, and more. However, the most common outcomes of each play are either a sweepstakes entry — which will give you a chance to win a $100 gift card or a trip for two to Costa Rica — or a gameplay Booster (which we’ll talk about in just a second). Stars are probably the third most common prize, but I have won larger prizes in past games, so they do exist.
I should also mention that the video game element of Summer Game has benefits this time as well! Each week, a different prize will be up for grabs if you can complete the required number of levels. For example, this week (Week 2), beating three levels of the game earned me a coupon for 50% off a Starbucks Refresher. Meanwhile, next week’s deal will be 20 bonus Stars on your next purchase after completing the levels. So, even though the game Boosters you’re likely to “win” when popping bubbles may be kind of a bummer by comparison, they can still come in handy for helping you save money and get free items.
Thus far, after submitting my free plays each day for the past week and a half, I’ve won a total of 15 bonus Stars — in addition to amassing several sweepstakes entries. Plus, as mentioned, I won that 50% off a Refresher… that I likely won’t use. But, with more than two weeks left in the game, I’m pretty confident that I’ll be able to squeeze even more out of these free plays before the promotion’s conclusion. So, if you’re a Starbucks fan, I think it’s worth taking a few seconds each day to play the Summer Game to hopefully win some Stars or more.