Game Room · Tournaments
Run tournament night.
Walk-ups play free.
For arcades, bars, and pinball rooms. Players scan a sticker and they’re in: no app, no account. They snap their score, a TD checks the photo, and the TV over the bar counts down to the buzzer.
New members try it free for 14 days. Then US $9.99 a month, or US $79.99 a year.
Players never pay.
What’s in a tournament
A start, an end,
and a winner.
Set it up on the website in a couple of minutes. Players use any phone.
TonightFriday Night Flips7:00 → 11:00
- Walk-upsScan, type a name and initials, play. No account.
- Photo proofEvery score is a photo of the display. We read the number.
- TD deskApprove, fix, or reject each score from your phone.
- The TVCountdown, live boards, a ticker, and a full-screen New #1.
- Alerts“D. R. just beat your score.” Players come back to the machine.
- ResultsWinners on the TV at the buzzer, and a standings page to share.
Web · any phone · any TV with a browser
01 · Walk-ups
Scan the sticker.
You’re in.
Anyone at the venue can play. They scan the QR sticker on a machine, or the code in the corner of the TV, and type a name and up to three initials for the scoreboard. That’s the whole sign-up. No app to install, no account, no password, and nothing to pay.
If they leave an email, they can ask to hear when someone beats their score and to get the results. It’s optional, it’s never shown, and every email has a link to stop them.
Names show up on a public board, so each one gets a quick check. Anything questionable shows as the player’s initials until the TD lets it through. Nobody’s ever kept from playing.
02 · Play
Snap the score.
See who to beat.
After a game, the player takes a photo of the score display. The Room reads the number, they check it, and it’s posted. Their page shows exactly where they stand, “Beat 54,992,030 to pass C. H.,” and how many attempts they have left.
The format is best game per machine: each player’s best score on each machine is what ranks. Allow unlimited attempts, or one, two, three, or five per machine. A tie goes to whoever posted it first.
Walk-up photos are re-encoded when they arrive, so no location data from the phone is kept, and they’re private: only the people running the tournament see them.
03 · The TD desk
Every photo,
checked.
Turn on Check every score and each score waits for the tournament director before it goes on the board. The desk runs on the TD’s phone: the photo, the number the player typed, and what the Room read from the photo, with a red flag when they don’t match. Approve is one tap. Fix number starts from what the Room read, and Reject has quick reasons. A rejected score gives the attempt back unless you say it counts.
The desk also has the player list (remove someone, or move their entry to a new phone when theirs dies), the name checks, and the clock: add 15, 30, or 60 minutes, or end it now. If scores have waited more than two minutes, the TD gets a push on their iPhone.
Your Room’s editors can run the desk too, so a few staff can share the night.
04 · The TV
The whole bar
watches the board.
Open the TV link on any screen with a browser. It counts down to the buzzer, shows the top ten on each machine and rotates between them, and runs a ticker of the latest scores along the bottom. New scores land within seconds, and a new #1 takes over the whole screen with confetti. The code in the corner says Scan to play, so the TV signs people up all night. At the buzzer it says FINAL and shows the winner on every machine.
05 · Alerts
Knocked off #1?
They’ll be back.
When someone takes the top spot on a machine, or pushes a player out of the top three, that player hears about it while there’s still time to win it back. Players from your Room get a notification. Walk-ups who left an email get one, with a Win it back button that opens their board.
At most one per player per machine every ten minutes, and none after the buzzer. After the night, walk-ups who asked get their results: their place on each machine and the winners.
How a night runs
Before, during,
and after the buzzer.
- Before. In your Game Room, open Tournaments and start one: a name, when it starts and ends (two hours, four, all night, a day, a week, or a month), which machines, and where you are. At a venue turns on walk-ups, photo checks, and initials on the TV. Print a sticker for each machine and put the TV link on a screen.
- During. Players scan, play, and post. You check scores at the desk, approve names, and stretch the clock if the night runs long.
- After. The TV shows the winners. The standings page has the final results to share, and scores posted before the buzzer can still be checked afterwards.
06 · At home, too
Game night
in the basement.
Choose At home and it’s a tournament for the people in your Room: no walk-ups, scores count the moment they’re posted, and first names on the TV. Every setting can be changed either way, and every score posted in a tournament also counts on your Room’s own leaderboards.
Questions
Before the first ball.
Do players need the app or an account?
No. Walk-ups scan a QR code, type a name and initials, and play in their phone’s browser. No app, no account, no password. People in your Room can also post from the iPhone app.
What does it cost?
Tournaments are part of the Room owner’s membership. New members try it free for 14 days. Then US $9.99 a month, or US $79.99 a year. Walk-ups always play free, and they don’t count toward your Room.
How do you stop cheating?
Every score is a photo of the machine’s display. With Check every score on, nothing reaches the board until the TD approves it, and the desk shows the number the player typed next to what the Room read from the photo. You can limit attempts per machine, and the TD can remove a player and all their scores.
What format does it run?
Best game per machine: each player’s best score on each machine ranks them on that machine’s board, and a tie goes to whoever posted it first. Attempts can be unlimited or capped per machine.
What do I need at the venue?
A QR sticker on each machine (print them from your Game Room), a TV or tablet with a web browser for the scoreboard, and a phone for the TD. There’s no hardware to install and nothing to wire into the machines.
Can my staff help run it?
Yes. Anyone you add to your Room as an editor can run the TD desk. Up to 15 people can join your Room free while you’re a member.
What happens to players’ photos and emails?
Walk-up photos are re-encoded without location data and are only seen by the people running the tournament. An email is optional, used only for score alerts and results, never shown, and every email has a link to stop them.
What if a player’s phone dies?
The TD opens them on the desk and shows a New phone code. Their entry, scores and all, moves to the new phone, and the old one stops.
Can I run one at home?
Yes. Choose At home and it’s just for the people in your Room: no walk-ups, scores count at once, and first names on the TV.
Game Room · Tournaments
Friday night
needs a winner.
Open your Game Room →
New members try it free for 14 days. Then US $9.99 a month, or US $79.99 a year. Players never pay.