Where to use it

When the order itself is what you want

Rock-paper-scissors settles a winner, and ten people need many rounds of it. A die repeats itself. One race here produces a full order in one go, which suits things like:

• The order of talks, readings or presentations
• Chores, cleaning duty, whose turn it is to organise
• Seating at a meal
• Turn order in a game, or a queue for something scarce
• Convincing children that a turn order is fair

Compared with drawing straws

Straws or a ladder lottery need only paper, and drawing the lines is half the fun. But whoever draws them can arrange the outcome, and avoiding that adds ceremony.

Here, once it starts nobody can reach in. For as long as it runs, everyone is equally in the dark. And sending the result URL shows the same race to anyone who was not in the room.

You do not all need the same screen

Crowding round one device is the best way to play it, but for anyone far away, send the result URL: the whole race runs again from the start on their screen.

In practice

Setting the order of business before a meeting. Type the names, run it once, take the ranking as the agenda. Nobody arranged it, so nobody negotiates about it.

Passing round a duty — cleaning, the bins, organising, chairing. One race gives ten people an order to work through, which beats another round of rock-paper-scissors every week.

Seating at a meal. Float one leaf per person and sit down in the order they arrive. The first five minutes of the evening entertain themselves.

Whose turn it is, for children. The slide, the console, the bath. “The river decided” lands rather better than “I decided”.

Playing with children

Nothing is written on screen during a race, so a child who cannot read yet can still follow a shape. Putting an emoji in the name field makes the result screen easy for them too.

Ads appear on the written pages only; there are none while anyone is playing.

Agree the rule first

Arguments about a draw are nearly always arguments about something nobody said beforehand: what first place actually wins. Whether the winner picks first, or takes whatever is left. Say it before the leaves go in and the result stands on its own.

Rematches are the same. “One race decides it” and “best of two” are fine rules; choosing between them after seeing the result is not. The result screen will happily float the same leaves again — whether you are going to is worth settling in advance.

What it is not for

Not for staking money or goods (Terms of Service). Not for official draws or any selection that has to leave an audit trail either — nothing is recorded on this side.

How many players

Two to ten. For a larger group, the practical route is to settle groups first and then run a race inside one.