How to play
From the start button to a ranking takes about a minute. Here is the whole of it.
Step by step
- Press Start on the front page.
- Enter the names — two to ten of them. The leaf beside a name is the leaf that name will float. You cannot go on while a field is empty.
- Press “Choose where to drop them” and the river appears. Taking turns, each named player taps the water to drop their leaf in.
- When everyone is placed, press Start. From here you only watch.
- The ranking appears at the finish, with sharing, replay and a rematch.
Choosing a spot
Anywhere on the water will do — near the left bank, near the right, down the middle. You cannot tell by looking which is quickest.
If choosing is a chore, press the automatic placement. It spreads everyone evenly across the river and shuffles who goes where, so every player’s chance of coming first is exactly the same.
You can also drop a leaf slightly upstream of the line. That distance is a plain disadvantage and lowers the average finish — it is there as a handicap you give yourself.
About the names
Up to twenty characters each. They need not be people’s names — a nickname, an option, an object, symbols. You cannot move on while a field is empty, so remove the whole row rather than clearing it when there are fewer leaves.
Whatever you type goes into the share link as it stands. If a name is not for showing around, do not hand the link out.
Showing the result to someone
The result screen offers “Copy URL” and “Copy result and URL”. Send that URL and the same race runs from the beginning on the other person’s screen, ending in the same order. There is more in Showing a race to someone.
Running it again
Three things are on offer at the end. “Replay” shows the same run again. “Float the same leaves again” keeps the names and the spots but sends them down a new river — this is the one for a second round. “Back to the front page” starts over.
In a hurry, or if playback struggles
While the leaves are moving there is a 1× / 2× speed control and a skip. Skip jumps straight to the result. On an older device the picture may not move smoothly; the ranking is the same either way.
If a link will not open
Share links are long. Some messaging apps break them across a line or drop the tail, and the page then says it could not read the link. Check that the whole URL arrived in one piece and paste it again.