How to use the Ladder Game (Ghost Leg)
- Choose the Number of players (2 to 12). Type the player names in the top boxes and the outcomes (winner, blank, forfeit, order and so on) in the bottom boxes.
- If you'd rather not type every outcome, fill them all at once with 1 winner + blanks or Order 1 to N.
- Press Build ladder to draw a new ladder with randomly placed rungs. For extra suspense, turn on "Hide the rungs."
- Tap the names at the top one at a time. Each person's path is drawn down in color and their result is revealed. To see everything at once, press Show all results.
- Don't like the ladder? Press Rebuild ladder to shuffle it again. Use Copy results to paste the outcome into a group chat.
Why does every player always get exactly one result?
The ladder game, also called ghost leg or amidakuji, has one rule: you move down a vertical line, and every time you reach a rung, you must cross over to the neighboring line. Each rung simply swaps the positions of two neighboring lines. That means no matter how many rungs you add, the final outcome is always a permutation that pairs each player with exactly one result. Two people can never land on the same result, and no result can be left empty. That's guaranteed by the math.
The only problem would be two rungs at the same height on both sides of one line, because then it's unclear which way to go. Tooljip's ladder never creates that layout in the first place.
Is an online ladder game really fair?
To place the rungs, Tooljip uses your browser's cryptographic random number generator (crypto.getRandomValues). It's harder to predict than the usual Math.random, so no starting position gets an advantage. The tool also makes sure there are at least two rungs between every pair of neighboring lines. That prevents a "boring ladder" with so few rungs that people end up right below where they started.
For extra fairness, build the ladder with Hide the rungs turned on while everyone is watching, then reveal the results one name at a time. Nobody can see the ladder ahead of time, so nobody can choose a starting spot to get the result they want.
Coffee runs, chore rotas and presentation order: ways to use the ladder game
| Situation | Example outcomes |
|---|---|
| Who buys coffee or lunch | One "Pays" + the rest "Blank" |
| Chore or duty schedule | Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri (one person per day) |
| Presentation or interview order | Fill in automatically with the Order 1 to N button |
| Assigning roles | Host, note-taker, timekeeper, presenter |
| Gift exchange or Secret Santa | Enter the names of the gift givers as the outcomes |
It's fine to repeat the same outcome more than once (for example, three blanks). If you need to split a big group into teams, Team Generator works better. If you only need to pick one person, Spin the Wheel is faster.
How to make the ladder game more fun
- Reveal one at a time: Skip Show all results and tap each name in turn until the last person. The fewer results left, the bigger the suspense.
- Order doesn't matter: You can put the winning outcome first, because the ladder is random anyway. If it still bothers you, feel free to list the outcomes in a different order.
- Share your screen: In meetings or video calls, share your screen so everyone can watch, then use Copy results afterward to keep a record.