Ladder Game (Amidakuji)
Enter names and results, choose a start and follow the ladder down – a fair random draw.
The ladder game, known as amidakuji in Japan and ghost leg in China, is a classic way to assign tasks, prizes or turns fairly. Every participant starts at the top; random rungs send the path left and right until it ends at one result.
How does the ladder game work?
Each participant owns one vertical line. Horizontal rungs are drawn at random between neighbouring lines. When you follow a line down and turn onto every rung you meet, you always end on a different result than any other participant – every start maps to exactly one end.
Because the rungs are random and hidden results stay hidden until a path is traced, nobody can predict or steer the outcome. Press “New ladder” for a fresh random layout.
How to play
- Type the participants and the results (tasks, prizes or order), one per line.
- Click a name to trace its path; the result appears at the bottom.
- Use “Reveal all” to show every path at once, or “New ladder” to redraw the rungs.
Frequently asked questions
- Is it fair?
- Yes. The rungs are generated randomly in your browser, and every participant ends on exactly one distinct result.
- How many players can I add?
- Between 2 and 12. Add as many results as participants; missing results are shown as “–”.
- Is my list uploaded?
- No. It stays in your own browser.