Good Game Sports
Ladder Formats

Up and Down the River

Up and Down the River is the simplest ladder format in Good Game Sports. Players are ranked and split into groups of four, one group per court, with the best players on the top court. Every round is a single doubles match. The two winners move up one court and the two losers move down one court. If you lose on the top court you drop to the court just below it. If you lose on the bottom court you stay there and rotate with whoever is sitting out. When your player count does not divide evenly into fours, the leftover players form a bye group that sits out the round. Choose this format when you want predictable, one-court-at-a-time movement with minimal overhead.

How it works

  • Players are ranked and split into groups of four.

  • Each group is assigned to one court.

  • Every round is a single doubles match.

  • Winners move up one court.

  • Losers move down one court.

  • A winner already on the top court stays there.

  • A loser already on the bottom court stays there and rotates with the bye group.

Individual and Set Partners

Up and Down the River comes in two variants.

  • Individual: Players register solo and get a new partner every round. Ladder position is based on individual results.

  • Set Partners: Two players register as a fixed pair and stay together the entire season. They are seeded by combined rating and move as a single unit.

Bye handling

When your player count is not a multiple of four, the leftover players form a bye group. They sit out the round. You can control how byes are assigned with the Bye Mode setting:

  • By Position (default): the lowest-ranked players sit out.

  • By Rotation: everyone takes turns sitting out evenly over time.

For more on bye settings, see Bye Mode for Ladder Leagues.

Settings that apply

  • Player Movement — controls how many players or teams move up and down at each court boundary. Set to 1 or 2. Default is 2.

  • Group Size Priority — when the count is not a clean multiple of 4, decides whether groups of four or five sit on the top courts. Default: 4s on top.

  • Scoring Type — Match Wins (default) or Individual Game Wins.

When to choose it

Pick Up and Down the River when you want a casual weekly night with constant, predictable movement and essentially no setup overhead.

For how movement is calculated, see How court movement works in Ladder formats. To start your first round, see Starting games in Ladder formats.

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