All 7 Scoring Modes Explained

Why Seven Different Modes (plus a Tournament mode)

Real team activities are scored in different ways. A relay race is scored by position. A scavenger hunt is scored by quantity collected. A trivia round is scored by direct points. Trying to fit all activities into one scoring model creates frustration. So we built seven core scoring modes, plus a Competition (Tournament) mode for match-based formats like Round Robin and Single Elimination.

This article explains each mode with examples.

Mode 1: Position

Use when: Teams finish in a clear order (1st, 2nd, 3rd...) and you want to award points based on rank.

Example: A relay race where Team Alpha finishes first, Team Beta second, etc.

How it works:

1. Set the differential (default 10) — the points difference between consecutive positions
2. Click each row to assign team positions (or use the dropdown variant)
3. Points are auto-calculated:
   • With differential 10 and 8 teams: 1st = 80, 2nd = 70, 3rd = 60… 8th = 10
   • With differential 5 and 6 teams: 1st = 30, 2nd = 25, 3rd = 20… 6th = 5

Tie handling: If two teams tie for a position, click ↑ Tie with row abovebetween them. Each game has a Tie handling setting (on the game's edit page) that controls how points are awarded to tied teams.

Split Points (Averaged) — the default. Tied teams share the averaged points across the slots they occupy:

• Two teams tied for 3rd in 8-team event (diff 10): both get (60+50)/2 = 55 points each. Next team is 5th.
• Three teams tied for 2nd: all three get (70+60+50)/3 = 60 points. Next team is 5th.

Take Highest Position— every tied team gets the higher slot's full points; lower slot points are not awarded:

• Two teams tied for 3rd in 8-team event (diff 10): both get 60 points each. Next team is still 5th.
• Three teams tied for 2nd: all three get 70 points each. Next team is still 5th.

Two input modes:

• Key In Team Number (default) — large number input, fast for typing
• Pick From Dropdown — better for touchscreens

Mode 2: Quantity

Use when: Teams collect, measure, or count something, and you want fair points based on rank.

Example: Most marbles collected, fastest completion time, most items found in a scavenger hunt.

How it works:

1. Set sort direction: highest wins (most) or lowest wins (fastest, least)
2. Set the differential (same logic as Position Mode)
3. Enter each team's quantity
4. GamesTally auto-ranks teams and awards points based on rank. Ties handled the same way as Position Mode (averaged points).

Example calculation (highest wins, differential 10, 6 teams):

• Team A: 100 marbles → rank 1, 50 points
• Team B: 80 → rank 2, 40 points
• Team C: 60 → rank 3, 30 points
• Team D: 60 → tied rank 3, also 25 points (avg of 30+20)
• Team E: 40 → rank 5, 10 points
• Team F: 20 → rank 6, 0 points

Mode 3: Direct Points

Use when: You have your own scoring system and just want to type the score directly.

Example:A trivia round where each team's score is determined by the trivia rules, not GamesTally's logic.

How it works:

• Type the score for each team
• That's their score for that game
• Negative numbers are supported (for penalty rounds)

Mode 4: Multiplier

Use when: Score = quantity × multiplier.

Example: A bake-off where quality (1–10) × number of judges (5) = points.

How it works:

1. Set the multiplier (e.g. 5)
2. Enter each team's quantity
3. Points = quantity × multiplier

Mode 5: Win / Loss / Draw

Use when: Activities have clear win/lose outcomes, like head-to-head matches or knockout rounds.

Example: Tournament-style football matches between teams.

How it works:

1. Set points per outcome (e.g. Win=10, Draw=5, Loss=0)
2. Click the corresponding button per team:
   • Win (red button)
   • Draw (amber button)
   • Loss (grey button)
3. Points awarded automatically

Mode 6: Custom Bonus

Use when: You need to award arbitrary bonus points, penalties, or special recognitions outside the structured scoring.

Example:"Most creative team" bonus, "Best dressed" award, late penalties.

How it works:

• Type any number (positive or negative) for each team
• Use this for special recognitions that don't fit the other modes

Mode 7: Podium

Use when: Only the top few finishers matter, and everyone else deserves the same participation reward regardless of finishing position.

Example:A costume contest with gold, silver, bronze awards, and a small "thanks for playing" bonus for the rest.

How it works:

1. Set the podium size (top N, default 3) — how many finishers earn ranked points
2. Set the differential (default 10) — the points difference between consecutive podium slots
3. Set the participation points (default 1) — flat points for everyone outside the podium. Enter 0 for all-or-nothing podium.
4. Pick the top-N teams in order. Non-podium teams auto-earn the flat participation value — you never have to touch them.

Example calculation (topN=3, differential=10, participation=1, 12 teams):

• 1st → 30 points
• 2nd → 20 points
• 3rd → 10 points
• 4th through 12th → 1 point each

Tie handling: Same options as Position Mode. Only ties inside the podium share ranked points; teams tied outside the podium all still earn the flat participation value.

Bonus: Competition (Tournament) Mode

Use when: You need entrants to play each other in matches — Round Robin, Single Elimination, or Round Robin followed by a knockout Finals.

Example: A pickleball tournament during a corporate offsite. Every team plays every other team once, standings decide the winner. Or a Squid Game–style knockout with 16 entrants and 4 rounds.

How it works:

1. Add a game and pick Competition (Tournament) as the scoring mode.
2. Pick the tournament format:
   • Round Robin — every entrant plays every other, standings by points then goal difference then goals scored.
   • Round Robin + Finals — group stage, then the top N advance to a seeded knockout bracket. Finals auto-generate when the group stage completes.
   • Single Elimination — seeded bracket, loser is out. Winners auto-advance to the next round.
3. Choose entrant type: Teams (import from your event teams) or Individuals (add by name).
4. Set match points (Win / Draw / Loss — defaults 3 / 1 / 0). For Round Robin with multiple groups, set Number of groups(1–8, groups labelled A–H).
5. Add entrants and click Generate Fixtures. Score each match as it happens.

Group stage math (Round Robin): each entrant plays every other in their group once. Points = wins × win-points + draws × draw-points + losses × loss-points. Standings by Points → Goal Difference → Goals For → seed → name.

Knockout math (Single Elimination):seeded bracket. Byes go to top seeds when entrant count isn't a power of two. Winners auto-fill the next round's slots.

Composite (Round Robin + Finals): group stage is the round robin above; when it completes, the top N (per Finals size) auto-generate as a seeded single elimination.

Leaderboard contribution: a competition game feeds the event leaderboard using its final standings — the winner gets maximum points, subsequent placings get progressively less. You can also apply the Weight % modifier to make the tournament count more or less than other games in the event.

Mixing Modes In One Event

You can use different scoring modes for different games in the same event. The leaderboard sums points across all games regardless of mode. So Game 1 (Position Mode) + Game 2 (Quantity Mode) + Game 3 (Direct Points) all combine into one final ranking.

Need Help Choosing

When in doubt, Position Mode is the safest default for most team-building activities. Direct Points Mode is the safest for trivia and quiz-style rounds. Quantity Mode is best when teams are physically collecting or measuring things.

See Getting Started With GamesTally if you haven't set up your first event yet.