Benchwarm

Weighted spin-the-wheel lineup picker for game teams. No spreadsheets, no accounts.

What it does

When a team has more players than match slots, Benchwarm fairly decides who plays each week using a weighted random draw. Players who sit out accumulate "bank entries" that increase their chances in future spins. A player who sits out two consecutive matches is guaranteed a spot next time.

Match flow:

1. Mark which players are available for the match
2. Review each player's bank entries and guaranteed status
3. Spin the wheel — guaranteed players are auto-included, the rest drawn by weight
4. Confirm the result and record the match

Tech stack

• Next.js 16 (App Router, Server Actions, React 19)
• Neon Postgres (serverless)
• Tailwind CSS 4 + shadcn/ui
• Framer Motion (wheel animation)
• TypeScript

Getting started

Prerequisites

• Node.js 20+
• A Neon database (or any Postgres instance)

Setup

npm install

Create a .env.local file:

DATABASE_URL=your_neon_connection_string

Apply the schema:

psql $DATABASE_URL -f schema.sql

Run the dev server:

npm run dev

Open http://localhost:3000.

How it works

No accounts. Teams are created with a unique slug and a 4-digit admin PIN. Anyone with the link can view the team; write operations require the PIN.

Seasons group matches together. Only one season can be active at a time.

Bank entries are derived at runtime from match history — never stored directly. This means the fairness calculation is always consistent and auditable.

Selection algorithm (src/lib/selection.ts):

• Players guaranteed a spot (2+ consecutive sit-outs) are picked first
• Remaining slots filled via weighted random draw from the available pool
• Each bank entry adds one ticket to the draw