How Brum Roulette works

Say yes to the night

Most nights out start the same way: the same group chat, the same three pubs, the same "I don't mind, you pick". Brum Roulette flips it. You agree to go wherever the wheel lands, and that's when nights get interesting: a back-street boozer you've walked past for twenty years, a cocktail bar tucked under a shop, a karaoke room nobody would ever have suggested.

The nights you didn't plan are the ones you're still laughing about the next morning, and a year later. And if you live here, you can do it again next week and it'll be a completely different night.

It's also a reason to put the phone down and get out. See your mates, chat to the people at the next table, make a new friend at the bar, and end up somewhere for the first time or the hundredth.

Your night, step by step

1. Round up your crewStart a group wheel, add everyone's names and share it by QR code or a short code. Everyone gets the same wheel on their own phone. Take turns to spin, let anyone spin, or wait until everyone taps ready.
2. Pick your patchOne area, a few, the whole city, whatever's a 5 or 10 minute walk away, or the pubs near New Street, Snow Hill or Moor Street before your last train.
3. SpinFate takes it from here. No debate, no compromise, no ending up in the same old place.
4. Walk thereTap Walk there and Google Maps opens with walking directions to the door. No typing, no searching, no wrong turns.
5. Tap We're hereIt goes in your night's history, and you can give the pub one to five stars while you're there.
6. Spin againNext stop, then the next, all the way to last orders. Then the wheel picks the takeaway for the walk home.

Make the wheel your own

Every group has its in-jokes. Use the popular forfeits as they are, untick the ones you don't fancy, and add your own: the dares, nicknames and running jokes only your lot will understand. Put your mates' names on the whose-round wheel and decide what's at stake, from the next round to the crisps, the waters or who books the taxi. Your forfeit list is saved on your phone, ready for next time.

Got ten or fifteen pubs you love but can never decide where to start? Save them as favourites, from the star on any pub or from the places you've recently visited, then tap Load all favourites & spin. The wheel picks your starting point from pubs you already know you like.

When the night changes plans

The group lives online, not on one phone. If someone's battery dies, their turn passes on and everyone else keeps spinning; they can rejoin by scanning the QR code on a mate's phone. If someone heads home early, the rest of you carry on. Not feeling a pub? A veto sends the wheel round again. Want more chaos? Add a wildcard from the next area over.

Rate it for the next group

When you tap We're here, give the pub one to five stars. Ratings are anonymous and add up to the Brum Rouletters' score on every pub's page, so the next group knows what they're walking into, and good pubs get the credit they deserve.

Deals on the way

We're working with Birmingham pubs and bars to bring you offers of the night: a deal that appears on your screen when the wheel lands on a pub that's running one, and an Offers wheel for the nights you fancy a bargain. Watch the Offers tab.

There are more than five ways to spin this wheel

• The whole cityAll 219 pubs and bars in one spin.
• By areaDigbeth, the Jewellery Quarter, Broad Street and 7 more.
• Near meWherever you're stood, within 5 or 10 minutes.
• Near your stationA last stop you can walk back from in time.
• First pub, last pubAnd first drink, last drink, surprise drink. Alcohol-free included.
• Whose round?Rounds, crisps, waters and taxis.
• ForfeitsOur dares, or your group's own in-jokes on a wheel you build.
• The takeawayChinese, Indian, chippy or 15 more.
• Your favouritesOnly the pubs you love.
• Your group's wheelThe whole crew joins with one scan.

Who's it for?

Anyone over 18 with a bit of adventure in them.

• Students and freshersLearn the city a pub at a time, with your mates and no plan.
• The same-three-pubs crowdTwenty years in Brum and still finding new locals two streets from the old ones.
• VisitorsDrink where the wheel sends you, not where the guidebook does.
• Anyone who fancies feeling young againIt's not just for the young ones. A couple in their seventies told us it's just the thing to get them out of their comfort zone and back out on the town.

Why Birmingham?

Birmingham has more miles of canal than Venice, dontcha know. It's also got more pubs than you'll ever get round on your own: back-street boozers and railway arches in Digbeth, grand Victorian banking halls on Bennetts Hill, canalside terraces at Brindleyplace, craft taprooms in the Jewellery Quarter and cabaret in the Gay Village. Every spin's a different Brum.

Fair play, no funny business

Every spin is genuinely random. If a pub's paid for an extra spot, it's marked on the wheel before you spin, so you always know what you're spinning.

Look after each other

Everyone can pass, and alcohol-free drinks are on the wheel too. Check opening hours before you set off, look out for each other, sort the route home before the last spin, and never pressure anyone into a drink. Drinkaware has more on drinking sensibly. How we handle your data is on the privacy page.

Questions people ask