How to use Wheel of Names
Spin a colorful interactive wheel to pick a random winner from your list of names or options. Enter entries one per line, click Spin, and watch the wheel land on a cryptographically random choice — every entry has exactly equal odds thanks to the Web Crypto API. Perfect for classroom name draws, contest winner selection, party games, decision-making, and team assignments.
- Type or paste your list of names or options — one entry per line — in the text area.
- Review the colorful wheel preview, which updates automatically as you edit the list.
- Click "Spin the Wheel" and watch the animated spin slow to a random stop.
- See the highlighted winner prominently displayed below the wheel.
- Click Copy to save the winner, or spin again for a fresh random pick.
Your data never leaves your device — 100% private processing.
Equal probability and fair randomness
Each entry on the wheel occupies exactly the same arc length — (360° ÷ n) degrees — so no entry has a statistical advantage regardless of the order they were added or their position on screen. The winning index is selected using window.crypto.getRandomValues(), a cryptographically secure source drawing from OS-level entropy (hardware events, timing jitter). This is the same source used to generate cryptographic keys, making results genuinely unpredictable rather than just appearing random.
When to use a spinning wheel picker
A spinning wheel is psychologically more satisfying than a plain random number because the visual animation builds anticipation and the result feels fair to all participants. Common uses include: teachers picking students to answer questions without repetition bias; competition hosts selecting raffle winners; teams deciding which task to tackle first; families choosing a restaurant or weekend activity; content creators picking giveaway winners on stream; and board-game nights replacing physical spinners. The shareable link feature lets you set up a wheel on desktop and spin it on a phone or projector.
| Use case | Typical entries | Tips |
|---|---|---|
| Classroom picker | Student names | Add each name once for equal chance |
| Raffle draw | Ticket numbers or names | Add duplicate entries to weight odds |
| Team rotation | Team member names | Remove winner after spin for no-repeat |
| Decision maker | Options like "Pizza, Sushi, Burger" | Spin to break decision paralysis |
| Prize wheel | Prize names | Add "No prize" multiple times to adjust odds |
Weighted entries
Want some entries to have a higher chance of winning? Add them multiple times — one extra line per additional weight unit. For example, if Alice should have twice the chance of Bob, enter "Alice" on two lines and "Bob" on one. The arc length allocated to each entry adjusts automatically. This mirrors how real raffle drums work: each ticket is a separate entry with equal weight, so buying more tickets increases the odds proportionally.
Spin a shared wheel with friends in real time
The Wheel of Names also works as a Shared Spinner room so a whole group can watch the same spin together. Choose "Play with friends", create a room, add your entries, and share the code — when the host spins, everyone in the room sees the identical seeded result land on the same name at the same moment. Because the outcome is seeded server-side, nobody can claim the wheel was rigged, which makes it ideal for raffles, giveaways, classroom picks, and prize draws done remotely. It is free, instant, and runs in any browser with no sign-up. Explore more shared-randomness games on the multiplayer games hub.
Worked examples
Classroom picker
Inputs: 25 student names
Result: wheel lands on one; each name is a 14.4° arc (1/25)
Weighted entries
Inputs: Alice ×2 · Bob ×1
Result: Alice gets twice the arc, so twice Bob's odds
Glossary
- Cryptographically secure RNG
- A random number generator that draws from hardware entropy sources, making its output unpredictable even to an attacker who knows the algorithm.
- Arc segment
- Each colored slice of the wheel representing one entry, sized as 360° divided by the total number of entries.
- Ease-out animation
- A spin animation that starts fast and gradually slows to a stop, mimicking the physics of a real spinning wheel.
- Entropy
- Unpredictability or randomness in a system — higher entropy means less predictable outcomes.
- Weighted draw
- A random selection where some items appear more than once, increasing their probability of being chosen.
Related reading
Frequently Asked Questions
Why use Wheel of Names?
- Animated spin builds group anticipation and perceived fairness before the result
- Equal-arc slices guarantee every entry has the same probability regardless of position
- Duplicate entries adjust odds naturally without any probability configuration
- Remove past winners after each spin to run no-repeat sequential draws
Common use cases
- Pick a student to answer a question without calling on the same names repeatedly
- Select a raffle winner from ticket-holder names during a livestream event
- Choose which team member leads the next sprint retrospective meeting
- Decide on dinner by spinning between four cuisine options the group shortlisted
- Assign random prize tiers to contestants at the end of a competition
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