Free, no sign-up Bracket Generator

How to make a tournament bracket

1. 1Type the players or teams into the box, one per line. You need at least 2 and can have up to 32. If your group already saved names in one of our games on this browser, "Use saved players" fills them in.
2. 2Pick the "Seeding". "Shuffle" mixes the names at random. "As listed" keeps them in the order you typed.
3. 3Tap "Make bracket". Each round gets a familiar name, from Round 1 through the Quarterfinals and Semifinals to the Final, depending on how many players you have.
4. 4When a match ends, tap the winner's name to move it to the next round. Tapped the wrong one? Tap it again to undo.
5. 5When the Final is decided, the champion gets a banner.
6. 6Tap "Print" for a paper copy.

The bracket is saved in this browser, so you can close the page between matches and pick up where you left off. Nothing is sent to a server, and there's no sign-up or app.

Byes and seeding, explained

A single elimination bracket works out evenly with 2, 4, 8, 16 or 32 players, because every round cuts the field in half. With any other number, some players skip the first round. That free pass is called a bye.

The generator gives the byes to the first names on the list. With 6 players, for example, the first 2 names go straight to round 2 and the other 4 play in Round 1. From then on, every round is a normal set of matchups.

That's why seeding matters. With "As listed", put your strongest players or last year's champion at the top, so they get the byes, just like top seeds in a sports tournament. If you'd rather leave it to luck, choose "Shuffle". The shuffle uses your browser's secure random generator, so every name has the same chance of landing a bye.

Tournament ideas for parties, classrooms and game nights

How to run a bracket tournament without the chaos

• Agree on match rules before the first game: best of one or best of three, any time limit, and who settles close calls.
• Plan the time. A bracket always has one match fewer than it has players, so 16 players means 15 matches. At ten minutes a match, played one at a time, that's two and a half hours.
• Put the bracket where everyone can see it. A screen in the middle of the room or a printed copy on the wall saves a lot of "who do I play next?"
• Finish every match in a round before starting the next one, so nobody plays twice while others wait.
• For voting brackets, read each pair out loud and count hands. A tie goes to a coin flip.
• If someone has to leave early, their opponent moves on. Tap the opponent's name and keep going.
• Playing in teams? Make them first with the Random Team Generator, then type the team names into the bracket.

Printable brackets

Tap "Print" and the bracket prints with every name in place. Print right after you tap "Make bracket" for a clean copy to fill in by hand, or print at the end as a record of who won.

Paper works well where there's no screen handy, like a garage table tennis night, a backyard cookout or a classroom wall. Write the score next to each match with a marker and circle the winners. Keep the phone version going too, so you always have a tidy copy if the paper gets messy.

Party games that work as a tournament

Any game with a clear winner in each round can become a bracket. These one-phone games work well head to head.

• Forehead Guess: each player gets one round with the phone on their forehead. More correct guesses moves on.
• Charades: two teams act out the same number of prompts, and the team that guesses more moves on.
• Scoreboard: keep score inside each match, with a target such as 21 so everyone knows when it's over.

Questions