How to Create Brackets for Elimination Games

Draw a single horizontal line near the right-hand edge of a sheet of paper at the center of the edge. This line represents the eventual winner of your game. Make the line just long enough so you could write down that player's name legibly.

Make a two-pronged design, similar to a sideways U with sharp corners, that connects to the first line at the left end of the line. The final design will look like a sideways tuning fork. These two new connecting lines represent the two players competing in the game's final round.

Add more of these U-shaped brackets to each individual line of the previous bracket. You'll travel from right to left across the paper, and the number of "bracket lines" will double on each new column you create, going from two to four to eight, and so on. Continue until you have a column of lines equal to your number of players.

Write down the names of each player on the lines in the first (left-hand) column on the paper--this is actually the last column you drew out. Each individual bracket in this column will have two players in it--one on each line. These two players will face off against each other in the first round, with the winners moving on the the next column and facing the players in the next connecting brackets.

Copy this sheet of paper if you want each player to have a copy of the brackets--make enough copies for the number of players. If you want a larger "master bracket" for the game, use the above method to draw it out on a large board, such as a chalkboard or a large dry-erase board.