> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.rafflex.io/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.rafflex.io/instant-win-games/spin-the-wheel.md).

# Spin the Wheel

A prize wheel that customers spin once for every ticket, landing on a prize segment or a "No Win" segment.

***

### What Is It?

A classic prize wheel. Each of your instant win prizes gets its own segment, with a "No Win" segment between each one. After checking out, customers spin the wheel once for every ticket they bought and watch it land on their result.

In the **Game Type** dropdown, this game is called **Spin The Wheel**.

{% hint style="info" %}
Like every game type, Spin the Wheel only appears once the competition has at least one [instant win prize](/create-your-first-raffle/add-instant-wins.md). Without one, customers simply see their ticket numbers.
{% endhint %}

***

### How It Works

1. After checking out, the customer lands on their order confirmation page and sees the wheel. It is slightly blurred, with the message "Spin the wheel to start!".
2. Above the **Spin!** button, a counter shows how many spins they have left (for example **5 Spins Remaining**). They get one spin per ticket.
3. The customer clicks **Spin!**. A spinning sound plays and the wheel turns for a few seconds before slowing to a stop.
4. If the ticket is a winner, the wheel lands on that prize's segment, a win sound plays, and a **Winner!** message shows the prize name.
5. If not, the wheel lands on a "No Win" segment and a short **No Win** message appears.
6. They keep spinning until every ticket has been played.
7. When the last spin finishes, a summary appears over the wheel. Winners see **Congratulations!** with a list of each winning ticket number and its prize. Everyone else sees **Game Complete** and "Better luck next time!".

{% hint style="info" %}
Short on time? Customers can press **Reveal All** at any point to skip the remaining spins and go straight to the summary.
{% endhint %}

#### How the wheel looks

You do not need to design the segments yourself. The wheel is built automatically from your instant wins:

* **Prize segments** use your site's **Primary Color**, with the prize name written in your **Button Text Colour** and your **Site Header Font**. You can change these under [Choose Site Colours](/customise-your-site/choose-site-colours.md) and [Choose Site Fonts](/customise-your-site/choose-site-fonts.md).
* **No Win segments** are white with a ❌ symbol.
* The **surround** is the decorative ring and pointer that sits on top of the wheel. This is what the theme setting below changes.

{% hint style="warning" %}
**Keep the number of prizes sensible.** Every prize adds two segments to the wheel (the prize and a No Win). If you add a lot of [instant win prizes](/create-your-first-raffle/add-instant-wins.md), the segments get thin and the names become hard to read, especially on a phone. Short prize names (for example "£50 Cash" rather than "Fifty pounds cash paid to your account") fit much better, and giving every prize a different name makes each segment easy to tell apart.
{% endhint %}

***

### Setting It Up

1. In the **admin panel**, find the **Competitions** group in the left-hand menu and click **Competitions**.
2. Click **Edit** on the competition you want to use (or click **New Competition** to start a fresh one).
3. In the right-hand column, open the **Game Type** dropdown and choose **Spin The Wheel**.
4. A panel called **Spin The Wheel Settings** appears underneath. Choose a theme from the **Spin The Wheel Theme** dropdown (see below). This setting is required.
5. Click **Save changes** (or **Create** on a new competition).
6. Make sure the competition has at least one instant win. See [Add Instant Wins](/create-your-first-raffle/add-instant-wins.md).

***

### Customisation Options

All of these options live in the **Spin The Wheel Settings** panel, under the **Game Type** dropdown.

#### Spin The Wheel Theme

Choose which surround appears around your wheel:

| Option                | What it looks like                                                          |
| --------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Default Surround**  | The standard wheel border. A good neutral choice for any site.              |
| **Atlantis Surround** | A blue themed border.                                                       |
| **Circus Surround**   | A red themed border.                                                        |
| **Custom Upload**     | Your own surround artwork, uploaded using the extra fields described below. |

The three preset surrounds need no further setup. Pick one, save, and you are done.

#### Custom Upload

When you choose **Custom Upload**, two more fields appear:

| Field                               | Required? | What it does                                                                    | File rules                                                           |
| ----------------------------------- | --------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Wheel Surround**                  | Yes       | Your own ring and pointer artwork, placed over the spinning wheel.              | **PNG** only, exactly **1400px wide by 1400px high**, max **872KB**. |
| **Wheel Background Image Override** | No        | An optional image shown behind the whole wheel area, to complete your branding. | Any standard image file, max **872KB**.                              |

{% hint style="info" %}
The **Wheel Background Image Override** field only appears when **Custom Upload** is selected. So if you want your own background, you will need to supply your own surround as well. The default surround template (see below) makes that quick, and you can keep the design simple if the background is the main thing you want to change.
{% endhint %}

***

### Creating a Custom Wheel Surround

The easiest way to get a surround that lines up perfectly is to start from the default one.

1. In the **Spin The Wheel Settings** panel, choose **Custom Upload** from the **Spin The Wheel Theme** dropdown.
2. Under the dropdown you will see "Download Default Wheel Surround and create your own!" followed by a download link. Click the link to download the default surround as a template. It is an SVG file, which most design tools (including Canva and Figma) can open.
3. Open the template in your design tool (Canva, Photoshop, Figma or similar).
4. Design your surround over the top of the template. Keep it the **same size and diameter** as the default so it lines up with the wheel underneath.
5. Keep your artwork **outside the inner wheel area**, and leave the centre **transparent** so the spinning wheel shows through. Anything you place over the middle will cover the segments and hide the prize names.
6. Add a clear **pointer or arrow at the top** (the 12 o'clock position). This is where the wheel stops, so customers need to see exactly which segment it has landed on.
7. Export the finished design as a **PNG with a transparent background**, at exactly **1400 x 1400 pixels**.
8. Back in the admin panel, upload it to the **Wheel Surround** field.
9. Optionally, upload a **Wheel Background Image Override**.
10. Click **Save changes**.

{% hint style="warning" %}
**Upload refused?** The most common reasons are:

* The image is not exactly 1400 x 1400 pixels. Check your export settings, as some tools add or remove a pixel or two.
* The file is not a PNG. JPG files cannot be used for the surround because they do not support transparency.
* The file is over 872KB. Large transparent PNGs can easily go over this. Run it through a free image compressor (such as TinyPNG) and try again.
  {% endhint %}

***

### Tips

* **Always preview after uploading.** Spin a few times to check the pointer lines up with the segments and that your border does not cover any prize names. The **Preview Game** button (below) is the quickest way to do this.
* **Check it on a phone.** The wheel shrinks on smaller screens, so fine detail and small text in your surround may be lost.
* **Pick colours that work with your Primary Color.** The prize segments always use your site's Primary Color, so design your surround to complement it.

***

### Want to try it first?

Once the competition has been saved, a **Preview Game** button appears just under the **Game Type** dropdown. Click it to open the **Game Preview** page, where you can play Spin the Wheel with your own settings before any customer sees it.

* The **Game Settings** panel on the left holds the same **Spin The Wheel Settings** described above. Any change you make, including a new upload, shows in the preview straight away.
* The **Live Preview** on the right plays the game with a few sample tickets, some of them winners. Nothing is entered and no one is charged.
* Use the desktop and mobile buttons above the preview to see both layouts, and the circular arrow to replay the game.
* Click **Save** when you are happy. Your changes are not applied to the competition until you do. Click **Back to competition** to return to the edit page.

{% hint style="warning" %}
The preview page has its own **Game Type** dropdown, so you can compare different games. If you change it and then click **Save**, the competition's game type changes too. A message under the page title warns you when this will happen.
{% endhint %}

{% hint style="info" %}
The preview uses your real instant win prizes, so it is most useful once you have added them. If the competition has no instant wins yet, it shows some example prizes instead so you can still check the look.
{% endhint %}

For other ways to check a game before launch, see:

{% content-ref url="/pages/llkGYVvQNWvOv6PJtv5g" %}
[Preview a Game](/instant-win-games/test-a-game-type.md)
{% endcontent-ref %}