How the teams are made
The generator shuffles everyone into a random order using your browser’s secure random number generator, then deals them out like cards: one to Team 1, one to Team 2, and so on, round and round. That keeps team sizes within one of each other, and every possible way of splitting the group into teams of those sizes is equally likely.
When sizes can’t be equal, the first teams get the extra person. With captains turned on, each team’s captain is the first person dealt to it, which is just as random as anyone else on the team.More on how WheelSpinny picks.
Teams, team size, or pairs
- Teams sets how many teams you get. Eighteen people in 4 teams makes teams of 5, 5, 4, and 4.
- Team size sets how many people go in each team, and rounds down. Ten people in teams of 3 makes teams of 4, 3, and 3, so nobody ends up in a team of one.
- Pairs puts people in twos. With an odd number, one group has three, so nobody is left out.
Keeping people together or apart
Open Rules when some combinations matter. Write one group per line, separated by commas:
- Keep apart spreads people across different teams. Put your most experienced players on one line (“Dana, Emeka, Freya”) so each team gets one, or keep two siblings off the same side.
- Keep together puts people on the same team, such as a new student and the classmate looking after them.
With rules, the generator deals fresh random splits until it finds one that follows all of them. It never moves people around to make a split fit, so every split that follows your rules is still equally likely. If two rules contradict each other, or a group can’t fit in one team, it tells you which. Each rule makes the teams a little less random, so use as few as you need.
In the classroom or on the pitch
- Put it on the big screen. After making teams, Full screen shows them large enough to read from the back of the room, where available.
- Balancing skill. The generator doesn’t know who’s strongest. A keep-apart rule for your top players is the simplest way to stop them landing on one team.
- New partners each week. Press Shuffle teams again for a fresh split. The generator doesn’t remember past teams, so a pair can come up again by chance.
Copying, exporting, and privacy
Copy gives you each team’s name followed by its members, ready to paste into a chat or document.CSV downloads a spreadsheet with one row per person and columns for team, member, and captain.
Your names, team names, and rules are saved in this browser so they’re ready next time, and they’re never uploaded. The teams themselves aren’t saved; copy or export them to keep them.