Team maker
Paste the names, choose how many teams, and let the shuffle take the blame.
How to use it
- Type or paste everyone’s name. One per line is easiest; commas work too.
- Choose how many teams you want.
- Press Make teams. Press it again for a fresh shuffle.
- Read the teams out, or press Copy teams to paste them into a group chat.
Picking the number of teams
Most party games run best with teams of three to five. Smaller than that and one quiet player sinks the team; larger and half the team stops paying attention. With a dozen people, three teams of four usually beats two teams of six.
For relay races, make the teams the same size or the smaller team runs one person twice. For guessing games such as Charades or Fishbowl, a one-person difference does not matter.
Why shuffle instead of picking captains
Captains choosing teams is slow, and someone is always picked last. A shuffle takes ten seconds and the result is nobody’s fault. If the teams come out lopsided, with all the trivia fans on one side, shuffle once more and say so out loud. People accept a second deal far more easily than a swap.
Questions people ask
Are the teams really random?
Yes. The names are shuffled with your browser’s cryptographic random number generator, then dealt out one at a time, the way you would deal cards. Nobody is placed by hand.
What happens when the numbers do not divide evenly?
The extra players are spread one per team, so no team is ever more than one person bigger than another. Seven people in two teams gives a four and a three.
Do you keep the names I type?
No. The names never leave your device. They are not sent to Roundlark or anyone else, and they disappear when you close or reload the page.
Can I keep two people apart or together?
Not automatically. The quickest fix is to shuffle again, or to enter a pair as one line, such as “Sam and Jo”, so they are dealt as one player.