Brackelope: Tournament Builder app review: an indispensable tool for anyone who wants to host an elimination-based tournament

Introduction

Brackelope: Tournament Builder by Isaac Ruiz is a handy app that allows you to create, manage, and run your own elimination-based tournament.  I used to work in a bar, and we always had trouble trying to do a nice billiards tournament. There was always someone moaning that the draw wasn’t fair or that the timings didn’t work. I really wish I had this app back then as these problems are now history, all thanks to Brackelope: Tournament Builder!

How It Works

Starting a new tournament, first you enter in the name of the tournament. An option appears about Brackelope Live, but more about that later. You can then choose a format of the tournament, being an elimination bracket or a knockout. Then you pick the amount of strikes, which in the free app only one is available (more about that later as well!). Then you can choose how the app will create the draw.

Next, you'll move on to adding players. This is done one by one. Then you add an arena, meaning the playing field. This is especially handy when you have multiple arenas available, as the app will simply spit out a schedule for you.

 

Brackelope Live and Other Features

With Brackelope Live, you can have a live scoreboard and bracket update on the Internet. When you use this option, the app will spit out a link for you, which you can give to all contestants interested and all other people who might want to follow the event live! When looking at the bracket, you can also search player names. When tapping on a name, the app will show you exactly where the player stands within the tournament. The app does the draw for you (being singles or doubles) automatically, though you can also make the draw a bit more balanced.

You can get more options, like the amount of strikes mentioned earlier, though you will have to upgrade to Brackelope Pro, which costs $9.99. You will also make double eliminations and three-strike tournaments available with this upgrade.

 

 

Pros and Cons

Pros

• It’s really easy to use
• Share the scores Live with Brackelope Live
• Multiple arenas manageable

 

Cons

• The steep upgrade cost of $9.99
• You’re not able to cut and paste tournaments

 

Conclusion

Brackelope is a great app for any tournament organizer. With this app, you will never need pen and paper again. You can easily create and share a tournament, and if people want to know what the score is, you can just easily send them the link to your live bracket on the Brackelope website. The app is designed for both iPhone as well as iPad and only requires a bit less space than 3 MB. I can only say I wish I had this app when I was working in the bar. It would have made my life as a tournament organizer a lot less stressful.