Each name gets a rubber duck. Count down from three, tip them off the bridge and see whose duck the river carries home first.
The Duck Race turns your list of names into a pond's worth of rubber ducks, each in a bright color. They line up on a wooden footbridge, and after a 3, 2, 1 countdown they're tipped into the river. From there the current does the work. The first duck to drift past the checkered finish line is your random winner.
Each river has a bit of everything. There's calm water where the pack spreads out, bends and narrows where it bunches up again, rapids, a small waterfall, and an eddy with a whirlpool in it. One or two ducks can get caught in it and spin for a moment while the others float past. Press New River to build a different course, or keep the one you have for the next race.
Up to 30 ducks race at once, which is enough for most classes. With a longer list, the winner and 29 other names chosen at random take to the water. The top three are shown live as the lead changes, and the last stretch plays in slow motion as a photo finish. If you blinked, Replay the finish shows it again from a low camera at the finish line.
A quick race takes about ten seconds and suits a fast pick between lessons. A normal race is about fifteen. An epic race runs about half a minute down a longer river, which is worth saving for a prize draw. Turn the sound on for running water, splashes, a rubber squeak at the line and a crowd that cheers the winner.
Simple, fast, and fun
Type them in or paste a list. Each name becomes a duck, and up to 30 race at a time.
Pick quick, normal or epic. New River builds a fresh course, or you can race on the one you have.
After a 3, 2, 1 countdown the ducks drop off the footbridge and the current carries them downstream.
The final stretch slows down as the leaders reach the line. The first duck across wins.
The duck race works as an OBS overlay too: a see-through river on your stream, with the countdown, live standings and photo finish for chat to follow, and a slow-motion replay of the finish whenever you want it. With room for 30 ducks on the water, it suits giveaways with a lot of entrants. Open the race and click Use in OBS to get the link.
Built for fairness and fun
Calm water, bends, narrows, rapids, a small waterfall and an eddy with a whirlpool that can catch a passing duck. New River mixes them into a different course.
Enough for a full class or a busy giveaway in a single race. With a longer list, the winner and 29 other randomly chosen names race.
The final stretch plays in slow motion. Replay the finish, or Replay on the winner card, shows it again from a low camera at the finish line.
The top three update as ducks overtake each other, so the room can follow who's in front.
Quick (about ten seconds), normal (about fifteen) and epic (about half a minute, on a longer river).
Running water, splashes, a rubber squeak at the line and a cheering crowd for the winner. Turn it off for a quiet classroom.
The winner is picked with the Web Crypto API before the ducks leave the bridge. Every duck has exactly the same chance, whatever its color or wherever it starts.
Share a link with your names and the exact river, length included, so others can run the same race on the same water.
Get the most out of this tool
A quick race is right for picking who answers the next question. Use the epic length on a projector when there's a prize at the end, because half a minute of rapids and whirlpool is a lot more fun to watch together.
Race everyone, remove the winner and race again. Keep going to rank a whole list, which is handy for presentation order or a raffle with several prizes.
The course stays the same until you press New River or change the length, so "best of three" really is on the same water. A share link keeps it too, so another class or another room can race the same course.
With more than 30 entries, 30 ducks race but every entry still has the same chance, because the winner is drawn from the whole list before the race begins.
Great for any occasion
Thirty ducks fit a whole class, so nobody sits out. Use it to choose who presents first or who takes the class pet home for the weekend. Students tend to spot their own duck early and cheer it all the way down.
Rubber duck races have raised money for schools and charities for decades. A virtual duck race works the same way without the waders or the cleanup: sell entries, paste in the names or ticket numbers, and race it on a projector at the fair or on a call for families at home.
Put your entrants on the river and let chat follow along. The countdown, the drop off the bridge and the slow-motion finish give a giveaway a proper moment.
Who takes notes, who opens the next meeting. A chore lands more gently when a duck decided it.
Settle who picks the movie. Younger kids especially like hunting for their own duck in the pack.
A duck race name picker gives every name on your list its own rubber duck and floats them down a river to choose one at random. Whoever's duck crosses the finish line first is the pick, so choosing a name becomes something the whole room watches.
The idea comes from the rubber duck race, a fundraiser held by towns, schools and charities in many countries. Supporters buy a numbered duck, hundreds or thousands of them are tipped into a real river, and the first one past the finish wins a prize. The virtual version keeps the suspense, needs no ducks to fish out afterward, and can be run as often as you like.
The ducks look like they're racing, but the result is settled before they hit the water. The Web Crypto API, the random number generator built into your browser for security work, picks the winner. The race is then timed so that duck finishes first, often only just. Every duck has exactly the same chance of winning.
Everything you need to know
Yes. The winner is picked with the Web Crypto API before the race starts, and the animation is timed so that duck crosses the line first. The overtaking, the whirlpool and the close finish are all part of the show. Every duck has exactly equal odds.
Up to 30. With more names on your list, the winner and 29 other names chosen at random race. Every name on the list still has the same chance of winning, including the ones not on the water.
Yes. Sell entries the way you would for a real duck race, then type in the names or ticket numbers and race them on a projector or a video call. If you have more than 30 entries, the winner is still drawn from the full list.
Only when you want it to. It stays the same until you press New River or change the race length. The randomness comes from which duck wins, not from the shape of the river.
A duck can get caught in the whirlpool and spin for a moment before the current lets it go. It doesn't change the result, because the winner was picked before the race began.
Yes. Press Replay on the winner card, or Replay the finish under the race, to see the last stretch again in slow motion from a low camera at the finish line.
Yes. The Share button copies a link with your names and the exact river, including its length. Anyone who opens it gets the same race on the same water, ready to start.
Yes. The water, splashes, squeak and cheering crowd can be switched on or off, which helps in a classroom or an open-plan office.
Yes, completely free, with no sign-up, no app and no limit on races.
Jump in. It's free, instant, and actually fun. No sign-up, no nonsense.
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