How brackets work
By Pickside · Updated October 14, 2026
A Pickside World Cup turns a collection into a series of two-way choices. Each choice removes one contender; the winner advances. The final gives you one favorite from the contenders in that game.
Choose the size that fits your session
A bracket of 8 contenders takes 7 choices. A bracket of 16 takes 15, and a bracket of 32 takes 31. The number of choices is always one fewer than the starting size, because each choice eliminates exactly one contender.
| Starting contenders | Choices |
|---|---|
| 8 | 7 |
| 16 | 15 |
| 32 | 31 |
| 64 | 63 |
Pick a smaller size for a quick game. Pick the largest available size if you want every contender in that collection to be considered. When the collection has more entries than your selected bracket, only a random selection enters your game.
Why two games can feel different
Pickside shuffles the contenders when a game starts. It does not seed the bracket using the public rankings. Your two strongest favorites might meet in the first round in one game and the final in another. Choosing one early does not make the other your least favorite; it only means they lost that particular matchup.
After the first round, winners advance in the order of their matches. There is no new random draw between rounds. For example, with eight contenders the winners of matches one and two meet in the first semifinal.
What a champion tells you
A champion is your winner from one bracket, under the topic and choices you used that day. A knockout game does not produce a complete personal ranking of everyone who entered. The runner-up lost to the champion, but another early loser might also have been your second favorite.
To compare preferences with a friend, choose the same topic and bracket size, then discuss the difficult matchups as well as the final winner. Different random draws are part of the game.
Leaving and returning
Your browser saves access to the game so you can use Continue previous game on its World Cup page. Access expires after seven days. Clearing site data or changing browsers can remove that access. If the operator edits the collection, the old game no longer belongs to the current edition and you will need to start again.