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What BJJ game should I play?
Eight questions about the body you actually have. No signup, nothing stored, nothing sent anywhere.
How this quiz decides
There is no secret formula here, so it is worth explaining exactly what happens when you press the button. Your eight answers award points to four games. The one with the most points is shown first, the runner-up second. Nothing is stored, nothing is sent to a server, and the whole thing runs in your browser — you can read the code by viewing the page source.
The weighting reflects three things that decide whether a game stays comfortable as you age: how much deep knee flexion it needs, how much it relies on speed rather than structure, and whether your bodyweight helps or hurts you in that position. Preference gets real weight too, because a technically optimal game you resent drilling loses to a decent game you actually practise.
What each answer pushes toward
- Limited squat depth pushes away from butterfly and deep open guards, and toward closed guard or a top game.
- Knees that hurt from the bottom push hard toward pressure top. This is the single strongest signal in the quiz.
- Being heavier than your partners favours top pressure, where weight is an asset rather than something to carry.
- Being lighter favours knee-shield half guard and butterfly, which work on structure and angles.
- Long limbs favour closed guard and knee shield, where frames have reach.
- Gi nudges toward closed guard, because grips reward patience. No-gi nudges toward butterfly and top pressure.
- Age applies a mild shift toward the lower-impact options at 45+, and a stronger one at 55+.
The four games
Knee-shield half guard
The most forgiving starting point for most grapplers over 35. The shin frame does the work that hip speed used to, it creates space by default so you are rarely flattened, and it leads to sweeps that use your partner’s pressure rather than your explosiveness. If the quiz puts two games close together, this is usually the safer pick — it also transfers into the other three later.
Closed guard
The lowest-variance option in jiu-jitsu. Your legs are locked, so the position holds itself while you think, and grip fighting is a skill that improves with age rather than declining. It asks the least of your hips of any bottom game, which is why limited squat depth pushes toward it.
Pressure top game
Gravity is the one attribute that does not decline. Everything here runs on weight distribution rather than speed, you dictate the pace, and fewer scrambles means fewer of the chaotic moments where older bodies get hurt. If your knees complain from the bottom, this is where the quiz will almost always send you.
Butterfly and seated guard
You sit up rather than lying flat, so your neck and lower back take less load across a session, and elevation sweeps use your partner’s weight against them. It asks the most of your hips of the four, which is why it needs a comfortable deep squat to be a sensible recommendation.
Frequently asked questions
Is there one best BJJ game for older grapplers?
Knee-shield half guard is the best default for the largest number of people over 35, which is why the quiz leans on it when the result is close. But “best” depends on your knees, your mobility and your size far more than on your age. Someone who is 50 with good hips and a light frame is better served by butterfly guard than by a game chosen purely on birth year.
Should I really change the game I already play?
Only if it is costing you. If you are training three times a week, recovering fine and enjoying it, the answer is no. This quiz is for people who have noticed the game that got them to blue or purple is starting to hurt, or is now losing to people it used to beat.
How long before a new game feels natural?
You will lose more in weeks one to four than you did before you started, because you are trading a game you know for one you do not. Eight weeks is a realistic floor for it to stop feeling foreign. Most people who are happy with their game spent six months to a year building it.
Can I play more than one of these?
Eventually, and most people do. But picking two at the start is the most common way to end up with neither. Build one until you have two reliable attacks from it, then add the second — the runner-up in your result is a sensible place to go next.
Where to go next
- Old man jiu-jitsu — the strategy behind every game in this quiz
- BJJ after 40 — the full guide to training as an older grappler
- Training BJJ with bad knees — read this before committing to a bottom game
- Rolling with bigger opponents — relevant if you answered “lighter”
- All free tools
This tool is general training information, not medical advice and not a substitute for your coach. It cannot see your injury history, and no quiz can. If something hurts in a way that worries you, speak to a physio or a doctor.