A ping-pong table in the break room, a darts board, a foosball table nobody uses after March. An office tournament gives them a reason to get busy, and gives people from different teams a reason to talk. The hard part isn't the games, it's the admin: who plays whom, what happens with an odd number of people, and where everyone can see the results. This guide covers how to plan one, then how to run it with Bracket Cat, our tournament bracket maker for iPhone.
Pick the game and the time
Start with two questions:
- How long is one game? A game of ping-pong to 11 is quick. A darts leg or a board game takes longer.
- When do people play? Lunch breaks over two weeks, one Friday afternoon, or one game a day before the holiday party.
The answers decide the format, because formats need very different numbers of games.
Choose a format by the number of games
With n players or teams:
- Knockout: lose once and you're out. There are n − 1 games, because every game knocks out one player and all but one have to go. 12 players play 11 games.
- Double elimination: lose twice and you're out. About twice as many games as a knockout: 2n − 2, or one more if the final needs a reset. 12 players play 22 or 23.
- Round robin: everyone plays everyone once. n × (n − 1) ÷ 2 games. 12 players play 66.
Multiply by the length of a game to see if it fits. On one table, 11 knockout games of 10 minutes is under two hours, a Friday afternoon. 66 round robin games is a league that runs for weeks.
A rough guide:
- One afternoon, any headcount: knockout.
- A week or two of lunch breaks, and nobody wants to be out after one bad game: double elimination.
- A small group, 4 to 8, over a few weeks: round robin, so everyone plays the same number of games.
Take sign-ups
Post a sign-up sheet or a message in the team chat with the game, the dates, the format and a closing day. If people play in pairs, ask them to sign up as a pair. For a poster in the kitchen, see how to make a flyer on iPhone.
When sign-ups close, copy the names into one list, one per line.
Make the bracket
- Open Bracket Cat and tap New bracket (the + button once you have brackets).
- Type a name, like "Office ping-pong".
- In the format buttons under the name, pick Knockout or Round robin. Double is part of Bracket Cat Pro.
- In Teams, paste or type the names, one per line. Empty lines are skipped.
- Check the line under the list. For a knockout it counts the byes, like "12 teams, 4 byes." For a round robin it counts the games, like "12 teams, 66 matches." If a name is in the list twice, a Listed twice line names it.
- Tap Shuffle for a random draw. In a knockout, the order of the list is the seed order, so if you'd rather keep last year's finalists apart, type them first instead.
- Tap Create.
Not a round number of players? A knockout needs a power of two of places: 2, 4, 8, 16, 32 and so on. With 12 players, Bracket Cat makes a 16-place draw and fills the 4 gaps with byes, which go to the top of your list. In a round robin with an odd number, one player sits out each round, and each round's footer says who, like "Lee sits this round out."
Put it on the wall and in the chat
Tap the share button (Share or print):
- Print gives you pages on Letter or A4, picked by your region. A knockout prints landscape. The first round prints with names, and every place that waits on a game not played yet prints blank, so you can pin it up before the first game and let people write in the winners. A round robin prints the table and then every round, as a fixture list.
- Share PDF sends the same pages as a file.
- Share image makes one picture of the whole bracket, for the team chat.
A big knockout that wouldn't fit on one page at a readable size is split into parts, one per page, plus a finals page, where each empty place says which part's winner goes there.
Keep the results up to date
After each game, open the bracket and tap the winner. In a knockout, the winner moves on, the loser is crossed out, and places that wait on a game not played yet show as Waiting. In a round robin, tap the winner or Draw, and the table updates itself, with 3 points for a win and 1 for a draw.
- Entered the wrong winner? Tap the right one, or use Undo, which steps back one change at a time, even after you close and reopen the app.
- A name spelled wrong, or someone who goes by a nickname? Tap More (the ⋯ button), then Rename. Results stay with the player, so renaming changes no results. You can't add or remove players after Create, so close sign-ups before you make the bracket.
Every few days, share a fresh image in the chat or print a new page for the wall. People like to see their name move on.
The final and the prize
When the knockout final is played, the champion's name appears above the bracket with a trophy, and printed in the box marked CHAMPION. A round robin has no champion banner: the table puts the most points on top, then the most wins, so check the top two rows for a tie before you hand out the prize. A printed certificate makes a cheap, fun prize: see how to make a certificate of appreciation.
Double elimination, seeds and your logo (Pro)
Bracket Cat Pro adds three things:
- Double elimination, with a losers bracket and a grand final that goes to a reset if the losers-bracket player wins. More in how to make a double elimination bracket.
- Seeds: drag players into order or type a seed number, and show each seed on the board and on paper. Seeds lock once the first result is in.
- Logo and colour: your company's logo beside the bracket's name, on screen and in print.
What it costs
Knockout and round robin brackets for any number of players, tapping winners, Undo, Rename, Print, Share PDF and Share image are free, with no limit on brackets and no watermark. There are no ads and no account. Bracket Cat Pro is an optional one-time purchase that adds double elimination, the seed editor, and a logo and colour. Your brackets are kept on your phone and leave only when you share or print them. More on the Bracket Cat page.
Quick answers
Which format suits an office ping-pong tournament?
It depends on time. For one afternoon, a knockout: 12 players need only 11 games. For a few weeks of lunch breaks with a small group, a round robin, so everyone plays the same number of games.
How do you handle an odd number of players?
In a knockout, use byes: the next draw size up, with the gaps going to the top of the list. In a round robin, one player sits out each round, and each player sits out once.
Can people play at different times?
Yes. Enter each result when it's played. In a round robin, any round's game can be entered at any time, and every change is saved as you go.
Can I print a blank bracket?
Yes. Make the bracket and print it before tapping any results. In a knockout, the first round prints with names and every place that waits on a game prints blank to write on. In a round robin, each game not played yet prints a blank line between the two names.
Try Bracket Cat
Try Bracket Cat: free, no watermark, no sign-up → iyio.com/apps/bracket-cat