Join the League
Pinwheel Fates is a basketball league where the players write the rules. Games run automatically. Between rounds, you propose changes in plain English, vote with your team, and reshape the game.
Join the Discord/join TEAM to enroll on a team.
Current teams: Burnside Breakers, Rose City Thorns, St. Johns Herons, Hawthorne Hammers, Rose City Thorns.
You're locked to that team for the season.
A season is a round-robin schedule. 5 teams play each other. After each round, proposals are tallied and winning proposals take effect immediately.
Regular Season
Round-robin — every team plays every other team. Games run automatically every 15 minutes.
Playoffs
Top teams enter playoffs. Semifinals (best of 3), then finals (best of 5). View the bracket →
New Season
The champion is crowned. Rules carry forward. Teams keep their hoopers. A new season begins. Past seasons →
Every round follows the same cycle. Rounds advance every 15 minutes.
Games Play Out
3-on-3 basketball, fully simulated. Each team has three hoopers with unique attributes, archetypes, and special moves. Every game ends with an Elam Ending — first to the target score wins. No clock, no garbage time. You can follow every possession, every shot, every steal.
The Floor Opens
Propose rule changes and vote any time — proposals stay open until the next governance tally (every 1 round). Write proposals in plain English: "Make three-pointers worth 4 points" or "Reduce the shot clock to 15 seconds." The AI interprets your words into specific parameter changes. You confirm the interpretation, then your team votes. Majority wins.
The Reporter
After each round, the AI files three reports. Simulation Report (public): what happened in the games, statistical patterns, effects of rule changes. Governance Report (public): voting trends, coalitions, who is proposing what. Private Report (DM to you): your own governance behavior reflected back. Patterns you might not see. Never prescribes — only describes.
The Rules Change
Passed proposals take effect immediately. The next round plays under the rules you wrote. Three-pointers worth 4? A 20-second shot clock? Bonus free throws after 3 team fouls? The league becomes whatever its players decide it should be.
You receive tokens when you join. Spend them to propose, amend, and boost. Tokens are tradeable between players via /trade.
Submit a rule change to the Floor. Costs 1 per proposal (2 for wild proposals). Regenerates 2 per tally cycle.
Modify someone else's proposal before it goes to vote. Regenerates 2 per tally cycle.
Double your vote weight on a single vote. Scarce — does not regenerate at tally. Only restored between seasons.
Type /vote YES or /vote NO on an active proposal.
boost: True to your vote to double your weight. This spends one BOOST token.
Proposals are classified by what they change. Higher tiers need more support to pass.
Want to change the rules? Propose new ones — anything.
Want to make the floor lava? Introduce a maximum height rule? Switch to baseball? Require all players to hop on one foot? Write it in plain English. The AI interprets your proposal into mechanics. Your team votes. If it passes, it reshapes the game. The simulation engine evolves to match.
These are the numbers that define the game right now. Governors can change any of them.
Watch
Follow your team's games. Read the play-by-play. Study the box scores. Know your hoopers — their strengths, their tendencies, their special moves.
Propose
See something you want to change? Use /propose in
Discord. Write it in plain English. The AI interprets it into a
parameter change and presents it to your team.
Vote
Your team votes on proposals together. Think strategically — the rules you pass shape the game your hoopers play. A rule that helps your team might also help your rivals.
Reflect
Read the reports. The AI surfaces what the data shows — not opinions, not instructions, just patterns. You also get a private report via DM with your own governance patterns reflected back.
The Floor is on Discord. Here are the commands you'll use.
/join
Enroll on a team and become a governor
/propose
Submit a rule change proposal in plain English
/vote
Vote yes or no on an active proposal (add boost: True to double your weight)
/strategy
Set your team's game plan and offensive focus
/bio
Write a backstory for one of your hoopers
/tokens
Check your PROPOSE, AMEND, and BOOST token balances
/trade
Trade tokens with another governor
/trade-hooper
Propose trading hoopers between teams
/standings
View current league standings
/schedule
View upcoming game matchups
/reports
View the latest AI reports
/profile
View your governance record and activity
/proposals
View all proposals and their status
What's the Elam Ending?
After the 3rd quarter, the leading team's score plus a target margin becomes the number to hit. From that point, the first team to reach the target wins. No clock — every possession is sudden death. It's borrowed from real basketball (the NBA All-Star Game uses it) and it means every game ends on a made basket.
What happens when a proposal passes?
The rule changes immediately. The next round of games plays under the new rules. You can see every rule that's been changed by the community on the Rules page. The change history is permanent — nothing gets erased.
Can I break the game?
Every rule has a valid range (the AI won't let you set the shot clock to negative infinity). But within those ranges, you can push things pretty far. That's the point. The game is a sandbox for collective self-government — you learn what works by trying things.
What does the AI actually do?
Three things. First, it interprets your plain-English proposals into specific parameter changes. Second, it writes reports — public analysis of what's happening in the league, plus a private DM report reflecting your own governance behavior. Third, it provides game commentary. It never makes decisions for you. It never votes. It never proposes rules. It's a reporter, not a player.
What happens between seasons?
When a champion is crowned, the season archives. Teams, hoopers, and governor enrollments carry over. Rules carry forward unless you write otherwise. Everyone gets fresh tokens. A new season begins — no need to re-enroll. Browse past seasons →
Is this free?
Yes. Pinwheel Fates is open source and free to play.
Use /join TEAM once you're in.
Pick from: Burnside Breakers, Rose City Thorns, St. Johns Herons, Hawthorne Hammers, Rose City Thorns.
You'll be assigned to that team and the next time the Floor opens is your first chance to shape the game.