If you are organising a board game tournament for a group of people, you might find The Dark Imp’s Tournament Organiser a useful tool.
There are tournament set ups for 8 to 24 players, each one designed so that each player plays every game.
- Download The Dark Imp Tournament Organiser (1.45MB xlsx file)
- Select the tab according to number of players you have.
- Write your players’ names in the column under ‘Players’. Replace the text that is already in this column (i.e. ‘Player 1’, ‘Player 2’…)
- Write your chosen games in column under ‘Games’. Replace the text that is already in this column (i.e. ‘Game A’, ‘Game B’…)
- The rest of the sheet will update with your player names and game names.
- Print your sheet out. Keep a copy and post a copy on the wall for everyone to see.
Different player counts require you to select games to play that suit that number of participants. For example, with 12 players, you need to have four games that can be played with three players. Some tournament set ups will require games that can be played with 3 or 4 players. In this case, every game you choose must be able to be played at both player counts.
The set ups for 8, 9, 12, 15, 16, 18, 20 and 24 players allow team play where players compete in each game as individuals but earns points for their team. One person from each team plays in each game.
When each game is completed, award points as follows:
- Winner – 3 points
- Second place – 2 points
- Third place – 1 point
Keep track of the scores as the games are played.
Please note, mathematically The Dark Imp Tournament Organiser does not necessarily provide the most optimal solution – in which participants play with the greatest variety of opponents – at every player count. But it does work.