LAN play
A LAN game is hosted by one device and joined by others on the same network: no account, no internet, nothing leaves your network. New game → LAN opens the setup with two tabs.
Hosting
Section titled “Hosting”Host a game asks for your name, the port (any free one; the default is fine) and the game’s options: whether undo is allowed, whether spectators may watch, and whether they need a code. Start it and the lobby shows a seat code for each other seat. Tell each player the code for their seat.
The host device announces the game on the network, so other devices see it in Games found without typing an address. A device that can’t hear the announcement (another subnet, a restrictive Wi-Fi) can type the host’s address instead.
- New code for a seat replaces its code: for a player who lost the device they joined with, so the old device can’t come back.
- The spectators’ code, when required, is in the lobby for you and the players to pass on.
- The host may watch instead of playing (under Show debug options): the other devices or the computer take the seats.
Joining
Section titled “Joining”Join a game lists the games found on your network; open one, type your seat’s code and join. Watch joins as a spectator, with the spectators’ code if the host set one. A player who drops off the network can reconnect to the same seat (the lobby offers it); the seat is theirs until the host gives it a new code.
What travels on the wire
Section titled “What travels on the wire”LAN games travel over TLS. Each device makes its own key and certificate the first time it hosts, and a joining device trusts a host’s certificate on first use, refusing it later if it changes (as SSH does). Every player receives only what they are allowed to see: hidden cards never leave the host, and what each seat gets is checked by the same rules the game plays by.
Across the internet
Section titled “Across the internet”LAN play has no relay: for a game with someone elsewhere, use online play, or a VPN that puts both devices on one network.