LADDER GAME
LADDER GAME is a free web game version of the Korean ladder game, also called ghost leg or amidakuji: follow a ladder drawn on a whiteboard to decide who gets which result. It runs in your browser with no download.
A ladder is drawn in black marker on an office whiteboard. Yellow sticky notes with names sit at the top, and pink sticky notes hide the results at the bottom. Tap a name and a marker in that person’s color travels down, turning every time it meets a rung; when it reaches the bottom the pink note falls off and the result shows. Any result that is not Pass gets circled in that person’s color.
Pick anywhere from 2 to 50 players. Names start out numbered and results start with one Win and the rest Pass. You can add more winners, fill in ranks from 1st down, or type your own result in each box, such as coffee or cleaning duty. Paste a list with one name per line and it fills the boxes below in one go. With many players the ladder lies on its side and you scroll down to follow it.
Reveal All sends everyone down at once, and when they are done a results sheet lists the winners first. Copy the results as text or send a link: whoever opens it sees the same names on the same ladder. Shuffle and Again redraw the rungs and reshuffle where the results sit. Names and results are not saved, so a refresh starts over.
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- Type
- Ladder game · Ghost leg · Indie game
- Built in
- 1 day
- Tech
- Canvas 2D · Web Audio · share links that rebuild the same ladder
- Players
- 2 to 50 on one device
- Plays on
- Phone · PC
- Status
- Finished
- Released
- 2026-10-05
- Last update
- 2026-10-05
Good for — settling who buys coffee or takes out the trash, splitting a class or a team into groups, picking a speaking order, and any group too big to draw a ladder for on paper.
Frequently asked questions
How does the Korean ladder game work?
Each name sits at the top of a vertical line and each result at the bottom. Follow the line down from your name, and every time you meet a horizontal rung you must cross it to the next line. Where you end up is your result. No two people can end up in the same place.
Is the ladder game fair?
Yes. A ladder only moves you one line sideways per rung, so if the results always sat in the same order, people near the Win box would win more often. That is why the result boxes are reshuffled every time a new ladder is drawn. We ran thousands of rounds with 9, 20 and 50 players and checked that everyone won about equally often.
Can more than one person win?
Yes. With Win / Pass selected, press the plus next to Win to add winners. Ranks fills the results from 1st to last, and you can tap any result box to type your own.
Can I paste a list of names?
Yes. Copy names with one per line and paste them into the first name box. They fill the boxes below in order, and the number of players goes up if there are not enough boxes. Results can be pasted the same way.
Can I share the result?
Copy puts every name and result on its own line with the link added at the end; Link copies only the address. Anyone who opens the link sees the same names, results and ladder, and can tap a name to trace it themselves.
Does it work with 50 people on a phone?
If everyone fits across the screen the ladder stands upright. With more players it lies on its side with names on the left and results on the right, and you scroll down to follow it. When one person goes alone, the screen follows their marker.
