Choosing a format
The format decides how many matches each team gets, how long the tournament runs, and how much the result depends on the draw. FairGame ships the systems below; picking one generates the right fixtures, and changing it regenerates them.
Round-robin groups
Teams are split into balanced groups — four is the default — using serpentine seeding, then every team plays every other team in its group once. Final standings rank the group by points.
Use it when fairness matters more than a decisive finish, and the field is small enough that everyone can play everyone. Match counts grow with the square of the group size, which is why groups stay small.
Single-elimination knockout
Teams seed straight into a bracket, top seed against bottom seed, winners advancing. The losing semi-finalists meet in a third-place play-off.
Use it when the field is large and the time is fixed. It is the shortest route to a champion — 16 teams need 15 matches — at the cost of half the field going home after one game.
Groups then knockout
A round-robin group stage seeds a single-elimination bracket: the top teams in each group advance, optionally with a plate competition for the rest. The classic cup weekend.
This is the default recommendation for youth and club tournaments. Everyone gets guaranteed group matches, the finish is decisive, and a plate bracket means nobody stops playing early.
Re-seeding ladder
For large multi-day youth fields. Every day is a round-robin in groups of four, arranged as a ladder of tiers. An uneven field is divided into groups of similar size; for example, 66 teams form fifteen groups of four and two groups of three. Short groups and finals byes can mean different match counts for some teams. Between days, each group's top finishers climb a tier and its bottom finishers drop, so teams settle among opponents of their own strength within a day or two.
It solves the problem a straight draw cannot: with 300 teams of wildly different strength, the first day's results are the only reliable seeding information you will ever have, and this format uses them.
Re-seeding ladder with cup finals adds per-tier finals on the last day, so every team plays a meaningful final among its peers rather than a dead rubber.
Each category runs its own ladder. You can include several age groups or divisions in one tournament; their teams, standings and finals stay separate. In Groups, select a category before advancing it to the next day or drawing its cup finals. One category can advance while another is still finishing its matches.
The setup wizard applies your chosen system to each category that has teams. You can also finish with empty categories, import teams later, then open Manage → Tournament systems and apply the system to each category. Choose the target category before applying; replacing its draw keeps the other categories' fixtures and results. Categories share the calendar and the group-stage day-spread setting, so applying an incompatible calendar or day spread is rejected.
Choosing
| Your situation | Format |
|---|---|
| Fewer than about six teams per division | Round-robin groups |
| Large field, hard time limit, one champion | Single-elimination knockout |
| Guaranteed matches and a real winner | Groups then knockout |
| Hundreds of teams over several days | Re-seeding ladder |
Changing your mind
The format is a setting, not a commitment. Change it and the fixtures regenerate; the preview shows the new match count and finish time before you accept anything. Model two options and compare them before you announce the tournament — that is much cheaper than discovering on the Saturday that Sunday does not fit.
Regenerating fixtures replaces the matches that exist. Do it during setup freely; once results are being entered, change the format only if you genuinely intend to restart the competition.