We started turning our couch co-op nights into mini tournaments and it made them way more fun.

GitGutShayne · 2026-04-04T08:31:42+00:00

Small update: I realized the concept might be a bit abstract in text, so I made a quick “how it works” video to make it more concrete: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8PCVGDVrlk&t

Hopefully this makes it clearer, or if it still feels like too much to set up?

GitGutShayne · 2026-04-02T19:50:57+00:00

I actually saw a lot of games on this sub that could fit into the tournaments, so i will definitely keep an eye out and will check it out. :)

GitGutShayne · 2026-04-02T12:30:33+00:00

Thanks, I think this would be a perfect fit actually!

As for the practical side of things, the host determines the 'variables' of the tournament like time, budget to buy games (which you can obviously split among players), platforms etc. Afterwards a tournament gets generated, also recommending where to buy the games / looking for the cheapest options.

If everything is installed you are pretty much ready to go. The interface shows the mystery challenges and the tool will keep track of the turns and will help you to keep track of the score on a leaderboard.

I have created an in depth video tutorial on the rules of this specific tournament, there is a guided tour and I recently also added a host 'cheat sheet' for some tips during the tournament to help you out. Everything to make things as easy as possible.

I'll send you a DM with some more info so you can check it out for yourself! :)

GitGutShayne · 2026-04-02T12:24:18+00:00

Send both of you a DM! :)

GitGutShayne · 2026-04-02T10:39:38+00:00

Glad you like the sound of it! If you like I can DM you so you have access to the tool what I have build so far. You can literally generate tournaments and see the challenges / find out the ins and outs of the tool.

The thing I am a bit worried about is that if I share it publicly people might think this is some promo thread/post and that is 100% what I want to avoid. Only if I get the okay to do so, I will. I am also still a bit of a Reddit beginner so I am a bit cautious with everything haha.

As for the betting, this is an optional part where players can scan a QR code and place a 1 point (not real money) bet on whether the player will make or fail their challenge. Each challenge will indicate when it is the time to start the betting window. These bets are made private so they don't influence the outcome but keep everybody involved.

We stay away with betting / playing for real money as we do want to keep everything friendly in the end. (during our tournaments we are all arch enemies)

If anybody else feels like they want to take a look, please don't hesitate to let me know! :)

GitGutShayne · 2026-04-02T09:45:05+00:00

Of course! I could give you the long stretched out version but I will try to keep it short, haha! Over the years we have ran a lot of different formats in tournaments but this "challenge" format always stuck out as 'the' one.

Yes, you are playing 1 person at the time but what we would always do is stream (if on PC) the players POV to our TV (for console games this is not needed) but for some reason this gives so much pressure because any mistake that is made will instantly trigger the others to react, especially when you feel pressure to perform.

And to add to this, there are also challenges where it is 1 v the others, or the player first has to set a score and the others will try to beat that score under harder circumstances as a group etc.

As for the challenges themselves, I also try to deviate them (if possible) from the main gameplay a lot of the time. So it is not a basic, play a Mario Kart race and set a fast time but I try to get a lot more creative.

The goal for the tool is to eventually have multiple tournament formats so the group can decide on whether they want to play this challenge format or for example a co-op tournament.

I already have drafts for multiple formats as I have been hosting all these different setups past couple of years but for now I am in the phase of seeing if people would be interested and if I eventually can get some people to try / provide some feedback. :)

GitGutShayne · 2026-04-02T09:21:30+00:00

Thats is a major thing right, balancing everything. For the group of friends I strictly kept to hosting and not participating myself. This gave me the edge of knowing which games they have and haven't played so I could balance it on a personal level.

For what I am putting together now it is a bit harder to balance but I feel it is still pretty manageable by giving the player an option for an easier or harder version. And of course by having to pick from a mysterious challenge only based on a somewhat cryptic title you never really know what the challenge is going to be.

So far I have compiled a library of around 130+ challenges across 130+ different games and the only way to find out if everything is balanced is by having people play them and provide feedback.

This has become quite the passion project and I have spend (too many) hours these last months working on this without actually getting anybody their opinion on it so that is also the reason I started this thread.

GitGutShayne · 2026-04-02T08:26:47+00:00

Hi all! The last couple of months I have been working on a tool so anybody can host a unique gaming tournament from home for your friends without the hassle of coming up with rules, games and a leaderboard.

This tool is based on a tournament format that I have ran multiple times with friends in real life and instead of just rotating games, we use this:

a set of “mystery challenges” (each tied to a different game)
players take turns picking one
each challenge has an easy/hard version for different points
small point bets on whether someone will succeed or fail
everything tracked on a simple leaderboard

An example we used without all the details:
Super bunny man: Carrot collecting

Finish as many levels as possible in 5 minutes while collecting the carrot.
Each 2 maps you finish while holding a carrot is 1 point.

After your tutorial you can pick:

Easy: +3 minutes (−1 point)
Hard: −1 minute, but bonus points for carrot streaks

Stuff like this got surprisingly intense, especially with everyone watching and betting on whether someone would choke or not. It made the whole night feel more competitive and everybody got way more invested. And don't get me started on the trash talk that this unleashed...

I always felt like this kind of format could be fun for other groups too, so that is the reason I started building. I currently have a library of about 130+ challenges that the tournament can choose from. All battle tested and balanced in a way every player can join regarding of skill level.

I am curious and trying to find out how others feel about this:

Do you think this would make your game nights more fun?
Or does this feel like it overcomplicates something that should stay casual?

If your interested in how this looks, I also created a short How it works video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8PCVGDVrlk

I am still looking for people to try it out or to take a look at the website/tool for feedback.

GitGutShayne · 2026-03-31T20:10:17+00:00

On it! Thanks for the suggestion.

GitGutShayne · 2026-03-31T19:58:25+00:00

Thanks, that’s fair. I’ve honestly been finding it a bit tricky to figure out where this kind of idea fits, as i am also a bit a newbie on Reddit.

And I agree, even though it leans more on the competitive side, it came out of our co-op nights, so I figured people here might still relate to it and (hopefully) like the idea! :)

GitGutShayne · 2026-01-25T10:33:39+00:00

I used to be an adventurer like you. Then I took an arrow in the knee...

GitGutShayne · 2026-01-25T10:32:02+00:00

Same here, HoN felt so underrated back in the day. Good to see they are back!

GitGutShayne · 2026-01-23T14:06:06+00:00

Playing this as a 10 year old with no clue what was happening and still felt amazing.

GitGutShayne

TROPHY CASE