Pinball Picker
Pinball Picker
Name balls fall through a long course of pin forests, turning crosses, windmills, lanes, bumpers and funnels, and you can give a name extra balls to raise its chance. Pick the all-round Classic; Roller Coaster, whose warp portals throw a ball back up; Hourglass, whose time gates hold the whole field and release it at once; Popcorn Plinko, whose pads pop balls rows back up; or Droplet Hell, where balls slosh round glass bowls looking for the hole. The finish order decides the result, and the camera follows the target rank all the way down.
Names or items
Names
Give a name more balls (up to 10) to raise its chance; every ball races on its own. Balls on the course: 5/50
Target rank
The ball that finishes first is the result.
Starting positions
Tap two names to swap their places.
Pinball guide
- Pick 1st, Last, or type any other rank to choose which finisher is the result.
- Starting positions are drawn at every start; tap two names to swap them, or untick the draw to keep your own order.
- Type a ball count next to a name to give it more balls and a better chance; each ball counts in the finish order.
- Orange boosters fling a ball back up, red cages hold it for a moment, and the ring round each ball fills up to its next shockwave.
- Gold portals are shortcuts that carry a ball far ahead, and comeback chances throw a random ball from the back right behind the leader, so no lead is ever safe.
Five long courses of pin forests, turning crosses, windmills, lanes and funnels. Classic mixes a bit of everything; Roller Coaster has warp portals that send a ball back up; Hourglass holds the whole field at time gates, then lets it go; Popcorn Plinko pops balls rows back up; Droplet Hell sloshes them round glass bowls looking for the hole.
Classic course
Start pinball to preview the long course, then follow the target-rank ball.
Course
Pin forests, turning crosses, windmills and lanes, one after another
Purpose
Add tension to a random order or rank decision by showing a longer game-like reveal.
How to use
- Pick a course and enter names or items.
- Choose the target rank if needed.
- Start the race; starting slots are drawn as it starts.
- Watch the finish order as the balls arrive.
A physics simulation with a fair outcome
The balls bouncing off obstacles are driven by a real physics engine. Starting slots are drawn afresh at every start, each ball gets a small random push, and the course is mirrored left to right in half of all races. Everything after that follows the physics, so no name starts from a structurally better spot.
The course is laid out with obstacles and boosters, which flips the standings repeatedly. A ball in front can miss a booster and fall back, or the reverse, which is what makes the result genuinely uncertain until the end. Just above the finish, a final gate holds the first ball for a few seconds and drops it together with the balls that have caught up, so first place is often settled on the very last fall.
How the five courses differ
Classic runs through pin forests, slanted ramps, turning crosses, big windmills, four lanes, a bumper diamond and boosters. Roller Coaster races down rainbow switchbacks from wall to wall, past warp portals on two of the lower ramps. A portal blinks open only now and then, and a ball that touches it while it is open is thrown back up to an earlier ramp, so even the leader can drop to the back in a moment. Half way down, a funnel and a turning cross shuffle the single-file train into a new order.
Hourglass stacks six glass hourglasses. Three of the necks have time gates: while shut they hold every ball that arrives, and when they open the whole pile drops at once, so a big lead is wiped out at the gate. Popcorn Plinko scatters popcorn pads through a dense pin board that pop a falling ball several rows back up, and Droplet Hell sends the balls through four glass bowls, where they slosh round a frictionless floor until they find the small drain.
Every course is equally fair, so pick by mood: Roller Coaster or Hourglass for late comebacks, Popcorn Plinko for bouncing fun, and Droplet Hell for chaos right to the end.
Why the speed matches on desktop and mobile
Stepping a physics simulation once per drawn frame makes it run twice as fast on a 120Hz device as on a 60Hz one. It is a common reason the same tool finishes at different speeds on different devices.
This tool accumulates real elapsed time and advances the physics only in fixed increments. However often frames are drawn, the simulation moves at the same rate, so a phone and a desktop feel identical.
You can choose the speed
Slow, normal, and fast are all available. Slow suits a classroom or a stream where the process itself is the point and you want reactions along the way. Fast suits getting to the result quickly.
Changing speed does not affect fairness. Only the rate at which the simulation advances changes; the same physics is computed either way.
How many entries stay readable
Too many balls overlap and become impossible to follow. When a group is watching and cheering, around eight is where individual balls stay distinguishable.
With a larger group, use it to pick the top few rather than ranking everyone. If you need a full ordering, the order picker is far quicker.
Going full screen
The course is tall, so balls look small at normal size. Full screen mode scales the course to use the whole display, which keeps the balls distinguishable from the back of a room.
For projecting in a classroom or meeting room, full screen combined with the slow speed setting is the best pairing.
Examples
- Choose a winner
- Create a suspenseful order
- Pick a penalty target
- Run a classroom activity
Notes
- The tool uses a browser physics engine, so motion can vary slightly by device.
- Up to 14 names and 50 balls in all fit on the course.
- For formal draws, use a separate verification process.
FAQ
Does the finish order decide the result?
Yes. The order is based on when each ball reaches the finish area.
How are the courses different?
Classic runs through pin forests, turning crosses, windmills, lanes and bumpers. Roller Coaster races down rainbow switchbacks past warp portals that, when open, send a ball back up to an earlier ramp. Hourglass has six necks, three of them with time gates that hold every ball, then let them all go at once. Popcorn Plinko pops balls rows back up from pads among the pins, and Droplet Hell makes them slosh round four glass bowls to find a small drain. Every course is equally fair.
Does the starting position matter?
By default starting slots are drawn afresh at every start and the course is mirrored at random, so no name starts from a better spot. You can also tap two names to swap their slots, or turn the draw off and race in your own order.
What are boosters, cages and shockwaves?
Orange boosters fling a passing ball back up the course, and red cages hold a ball for two or three seconds; both blink on and off, so only an unlucky ball gets caught. With the ball skill on, every ball fires a shockwave every few seconds that knocks its neighbours away, once the ring round it fills up.
Can one name get more than one ball?
Yes. Type a number in the Balls box next to a name (up to 10) and that many of its balls race. More balls means a better chance of landing the target rank, and every ball is ranked on its own. In the all-at-once box, write name*3. Up to 50 balls fit on the course in all.
Does the ball in front always win?
No. Every course has a gold shortcut portal that drops a ball far down the board if it slips in while the portal is open, and with comeback chances on, up to three times a race a ball from the back is picked at random and thrown right behind the leader. Who gets picked is random every time, so the order can turn over right to the end. On top of that, every course has a final gate just above the finish: the first ball there waits a few seconds for the pack, and they take the last drop together.