Collecting bottles is fun. Making cocktails is fun. But doing both with a badge system tracking your progress, a running score you can break down at a glance, and a streak counter keeping you coming back? That's the kind of fun that turns a casual hobby into something you actually stick with.
Home Bar Hero has a full gamification system with 45 badges spread across 9 categories, each with 5 progressive tiers. There's a composite scoring system that balances collecting, creating, and socializing. And a daily activity streak rewards you for showing up.
Every badge and every streak milestone is on the free tier. No premium-only achievements, no pay-to-win, no locked tiers. The optional Top Shelf supporter upgrade buys you a bigger daily AI allowance and shelf art, never a shortcut up the badge ladder.
The 9 Badge Categories
Home Bar Hero tracks your activity across 9 distinct categories. Each category represents a different aspect of being a home bartender, and each has 5 tiers with increasing thresholds. That's 45 badges total, enough to keep you progressing for months.
Collector, Build Your Bar
Track how many bottles are in your collection. Every bottle you add brings you closer to the next tier.
| Tier | Threshold |
|---|---|
| Tier 1 | 5 bottles |
| Tier 2 | 15 bottles |
| Tier 3 | 30 bottles |
| Tier 4 | 50 bottles |
| Tier 5 | 100 bottles |
Starting at Tier 1 with just 5 bottles is achievable for anyone with a basic home bar. Reaching Tier 5 at 100 bottles means you've built a seriously impressive collection.
Mixologist, Make Drinks
Counts every cocktail you make and raise a glass to in the Open Bar. The more drinks you make, the higher you climb.
| Tier | Threshold |
|---|---|
| Tier 1 | 5 made |
| Tier 2 | 10 made |
| Tier 3 | 25 made |
| Tier 4 | 50 made |
| Tier 5 | 100 made |
This badge rewards doing, not just collecting. You earn Mixologist progress by actually making cocktails and sharing them with the community.
Explorer, Diversify Your Spirits
Tracks the number of unique spirit types you've used. It's not about quantity, it's about variety.
| Tier | Threshold |
|---|---|
| Tier 1 | 5 unique spirits |
| Tier 2 | 10 unique spirits |
| Tier 3 | 20 unique spirits |
| Tier 4 | 30 unique spirits |
| Tier 5 | 50 unique spirits |
Explorer rewards adventurous drinkers. If you only buy bourbon, your Explorer badge stays low. Branch into mezcal, amaro, genever, and absinthe, and you'll climb the tiers.
Creator, Share Recipes
Counts recipes you've shared to the community. Original cocktails, personal twists, rediscovered classics, every recipe shared earns Creator progress.
| Tier | Threshold |
|---|---|
| Tier 1 | 1 shared |
| Tier 2 | 5 shared |
| Tier 3 | 10 shared |
| Tier 4 | 20 shared |
| Tier 5 | 50 shared |
Twist Artist, Create Variations
Tracks cocktail twists you've created. Home Bar Hero's twist system lets you modify any recipe while tracking the full lineage chain, and this badge rewards that creativity.
| Tier | Threshold |
|---|---|
| Tier 1 | 1 twist |
| Tier 2 | 5 twists |
| Tier 3 | 10 twists |
| Tier 4 | 20 twists |
| Tier 5 | 50 twists |
Connoisseur, Curate Your Favorites
Counts how many cocktails you've favorited. Building a curated list of cocktails you love earns Connoisseur progress.
| Tier | Threshold |
|---|---|
| Tier 1 | 5 favorites |
| Tier 2 | 10 favorites |
| Tier 3 | 25 favorites |
| Tier 4 | 50 favorites |
| Tier 5 | 100 favorites |
Cheers Champion, Raise a Glass in the Open Bar
Tracks the drinks you post in the Open Bar, the one room every member shares. Every pour you put in front of the room earns Cheers Champion progress. Reading the Open Bar is free for everyone; posting in it comes with Top Shelf, so this is the one badge that waits on a stool.
| Tier | Threshold |
|---|---|
| Tier 1 | 1 toast |
| Tier 2 | 5 toasts |
| Tier 3 | 10 toasts |
| Tier 4 | 25 toasts |
| Tier 5 | 50 toasts |
Social Butterfly, Engage With Others
Counts your social interactions, comments, ratings, saves, and other engagement with community content. Each unique interaction earns 1 point.
| Tier | Threshold |
|---|---|
| Tier 1 | 5 interactions |
| Tier 2 | 10 interactions |
| Tier 3 | 25 interactions |
| Tier 4 | 50 interactions |
| Tier 5 | 100 interactions |
Daily Sipper, Show Up Every Day
Tracks your longest daily activity streak. Any app activity on a given day counts, adding a bottle, making a cocktail, browsing recipes, anything. Miss a day and the streak resets to zero.
| Tier | Threshold |
|---|---|
| Tier 1 | 3-day streak |
| Tier 2 | 7-day streak |
| Tier 3 | 14-day streak |
| Tier 4 | 30-day streak |
| Tier 5 | 100-day streak |
Tier 5 at 100 consecutive days is the marathon badge. Reaching it means you've engaged with the app every single day for over three months.
The Composite Scoring System
Badges are one layer. The scoring system is another. Your total score is calculated from multiple activity categories, each contributing points differently:
- Bottles: 1 point per bottle in your collection
- Shared Recipes: 10 points per recipe shared to the community
- Saves Received: 2 points per save on your community recipes
- Toasts Received: 1 point per toast on your recipes
- Trophies: Badge progression points from earned badges
Your total score is the sum of all categories. This composite approach means you can't max it out by doing just one thing. A user with 100 bottles but no community activity will score lower than someone with 40 bottles who also shares recipes, earns saves, and shows up in the Open Bar regularly.
The scoring balances three pillars of the home bartending experience:
- Collecting, building and diversifying your bar
- Creating, making drinks, creating recipes, developing twists
- Socializing, showing up in the Open Bar, sharing recipes, raising a glass
Engagement Deduplication
One important detail: the system prevents score farming. The trackEngagement function awards 1 point per unique piece of content you interact with. If you comment on a recipe, then rate it, then save it, you get 1 point for that recipe, not 3. Subsequent engagements on the same recipe don't award additional points.
This keeps the scoring honest. You can't inflate your Social Butterfly badge by repeatedly interacting with the same post. The system tracks every piece of content you've engaged with and deduplicates automatically.
How to Move Your Score
Because the scoring is composite, the most effective approach is balanced activity:
- Build your bar, every bottle is a point
- Share recipes, 10 points each, the highest per-action reward
- Create great recipes, saves from other users earn you 2 points each
- Show up in the Open Bar, the pours you post earn points too
- Earn badges, badge progression contributes trophy points
Sharing recipes is the highest-leverage activity at 10 points per share. But quantity alone won't do it, recipes that earn saves and reactions from other people multiply your score.
Badge Display and Profile Integration
Badges aren't just backend data. They're visible throughout the app.
On Your Profile
Your profile page shows:
- A large circular gradient badge with your total score
- Stat pills showing key metrics: bottles, shared, toasts, streak
- A horizontal scrollable badge row displaying every badge category you've earned, sorted by highest tier first
- Tier progress dots (1-5) under each badge, showing how many tiers you've completed
Tap any badge to open the Badge Detail Modal, which shows your current progress, the next threshold, and what you need to do to reach the next tier.
On the Home Page
Your score appears on the Home page. Tap it and you get a breakdown tooltip showing exactly where your points come from, bottles, shares, saves, toasts, and trophies.
Daily Streaks: The Habit Builder
The Daily Sipper badge deserves special attention because it drives habitual engagement. Here's how it works:
- Any app activity on a given day counts toward your streak
- The streak counter increments each consecutive day of activity
- Missing a day resets the streak to zero
- Your current streak is displayed on your profile with fire styling
- The badge tracks your longest streak, even if your current streak resets, your longest is recorded for badge progress
Streaks are simple but effective. A 3-day streak earns Tier 1. A 7-day streak earns Tier 2. A 14-day streak earns Tier 3. Making it to 30 days straight earns Tier 4. And 100 consecutive days of engagement? That's Tier 5, the most demanding badge in the entire system.
The streak display on your profile is a personal motivator. Seeing "12-day streak" makes you want to open the app tomorrow to keep it going.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are any badges restricted to paying users?
No. All 45 badges across all 9 categories are available on the free tier. There are no premium-only badges, no tier restrictions, and no pay-to-unlock achievements. Every user has equal access to every badge.
Can I see other people's badges?
Yes. When you visit another user's profile, you can see their earned badges, tier progress, total score, and recent activity.
How does engagement deduplication work?
The system tracks every unique piece of content you interact with. Your first interaction with a recipe (comment, rate, save, or any other engagement) awards 1 point. Additional interactions with the same recipe don't award more points. This prevents score inflation and keeps your score an honest reflection of engagement across many different pieces of content.
What counts as "activity" for the Daily Sipper streak?
Any meaningful app interaction counts: adding a bottle, making a cocktail, browsing recipes, posting in the Open Bar, commenting, saving recipes, favoriting. The system records activity per calendar day, and the streak increments each consecutive day. Miss a day and it resets.
How is my score calculated?
Your total score is the sum of: 1 point per bottle, 10 points per shared recipe, 2 points per save received on your recipes, 1 point per toast received, plus trophy points from badge progression. The composite approach rewards users who are active across collecting, creating, and socializing, not just one activity.
Make Every Drink Count
Home Bar Hero's gamification system turns the everyday act of making cocktails into a progression path. Every bottle you add, every drink you make, every recipe you share, every glass you raise in the Open Bar, it all counts toward your badges and your score.
45 badges to earn. 9 ways to progress. 5 tiers in each. No badge costs money, and the only one that waits on Top Shelf is Cheers Champion, because it counts the pours you post in the Open Bar and posting there is the supporter perk.