How to Make a Decision Wheel (and Use It Fairly)

By KT Apps · Updated October 16, 2026

Step 1: List your options

Write down everything that could be chosen. A few tips make the wheel work better:

• Only include options you are genuinely happy with. If "cook from scratch" is on the dinner wheel, everyone has to accept it when it comes up.
• Keep each option short so it fits on a slice: "Tacos" rather than "Tacos from the place on the corner".
• Make options the same kind of thing. Mixing "Pizza" with "Eat out" causes debate when the wheel lands.
• Between four and twelve options is easy to read. More is fine on a larger screen, but text gets small.

Step 2: Build the wheel

On paper

1. Draw a circle on card using a plate or a compass.
2. Divide it into equal slices: halves, then quarters, then eighths, using a protractor if you need other numbers (360 degrees divided by the number of options).
3. Write one option in each slice and colour them so neighbours are easy to tell apart.
4. Push a pin or a pencil through a paper-clip at the centre as a spinner, or mount the wheel on a pin and mark a fixed pointer.

On a phone or computer

Open a wheel spinner, type each option into its own field, save, and spin. This takes a minute and gives perfectly equal slices automatically.

Step 3: Keep it fair

A decision wheel only works if everyone accepts the result, so agree the rules before spinning:

1. Agree the list of options before anyone spins.
2. Agree that the first spin counts. "Best of three" usually means someone is waiting for the answer they wanted.
3. If a slice lands on a line, agree in advance how to settle it, such as spinning again.
4. Let someone other than the person who most wants a particular result press spin.

If you find yourself hoping for a particular answer while the wheel spins, that is useful information too. Some people spin a wheel precisely to find out what they actually want.

Step 4: Give some options a better chance

Sometimes you want a favourite to come up more often, or a chore that needs doing more often to appear more. The simplest way is to add that option more than once. With five options where one appears twice, that option has two chances in six; the others have one in six each.

You can also remove an option after it has been picked, so the next spin chooses from what is left. This is handy for chore rotations or picking turn order for a whole group.

Ideas for decision wheels

• What to eat for dinner, or which takeaway to order.
• Which chore to do first, or who does the dishes.
• Who goes first in a board or card game.
• Splitting players into teams.
• Which film, show or game to play next.
• Weekend activities, drawing prompts or workout exercises.
• Fun forfeits or challenges at a party.

Paper wheel, coin, dice or a wheel app?

Coin or dice

Perfect for two to six options, and everyone trusts them. Beyond six, you need extra rules, such as re-rolling certain numbers.

Paper wheel

Fun to make with children and satisfying to spin. Slices are rarely exactly equal, and a homemade spinner can favour the same spots, so it is better for fun than for strict fairness.

Drawing names from a hat

Fair and simple, and easy to remove options as they are picked. It needs paper and a hat, and is less of a show than a wheel.

Online wheel or app

Equal slices, as many options as you like, and a big visible spin everyone can watch. The only downside is needing a device to hand.

How to make a decision wheel in Roulette

Roulette is a decision wheel for everyday choices; there is no betting or money involved.

1. Tap the round gear button in the lower-right corner to open the item editor, which starts with six empty slots.
2. Type an option into each field. Blank fields appear on the wheel as "Item 1", "Item 2" and so on.
3. Press Add Item for more slots, or tap the bin icon to remove one. To weight an option, add it more than once.
4. Press Save to apply the list.
5. Press SPIN. The wheel turns for a few seconds and slows to a stop.
6. The slice under the pointer at the top is the result, and its name appears below the wheel.

In the web version, the list is not saved when you reload or close the page, so keep a long list somewhere you can paste from. The wheel is also available for iPhone and Android.

Frequently asked questions