Online play

Online play puts you at the same board as people elsewhere on the internet. The server runs the match and keeps everyone's board identical.

★ Where it is — from release 1.1.1, nobody needs a mode for it. Online play is simply there on the mode list.

1. Before you start

You can only play with the same engine version (a release and a test build share a table when their engine version is the same). A different version is turned away at the door with "Version mismatch — please update": start the launcher and update to the latest. When everyone keeps up to date through the launcher, the versions match
The first time, you are asked "Use this server?", with the name that will be sent

Agree and create the account — play with an account
No thanks (play as a guest) — carry on without one. You can create one later from the Account screen (you need one to play on the official server — see the next point)

Online play on the official server needs an account (to queue for matchmaking, and to create, join or watch a room). As a guest you are told "this server needs an account for online play"; create one on the Account screen

Choosing Online play on the mode list opens the screen that picks how you play.


Matchmaking	Pick a goal band and queue; the server finds opponents
Custom room	Build a room and decide the player count, the rules and the pieces yourselves

Pick a goal band and queue
While you wait, the screen says it is searching. Enter / Esc leaves the queue
The match starts when the table fills. If not enough people come, CPUs fill in

In matchmaking, a disconnected player's turn is played by relief (a CPU) straight away (section 6).

Pick one from the room list. Each room shows its host, board, player count and state (gathering / playing).

Join — take an open chair. Chairs can only be taken before the match starts
Watch — watch without a chair (section 5). You can watch a room whose match is already running
Join / watch with an invite code — a room with an invite code (password) cannot be entered from the list. Type the code the host gave you and press Enter

＋ Create a room makes a room with you as host. The room screen sets:

Row	What it does
Board	A board published on the server, or one you made. Players who do not have it receive its art and sound too
Rules	The same rule-settings screen as offline: goal, starting money, the clock… Teams are available too
Players	The player count and the seats. Chairs nobody takes are played by CPUs
Visibility	Listed, or reachable by invite code only
Spectators	Whether watching is allowed, and how spectators are shown: count only / names too / hidden
Disconnected player's turn	Relief on timeout / relief at once / wait for them

The host decides the board and the rules; everyone else can check them with See the rules
To kick a player or a spectator, press confirm (Enter, a click or the pad's confirm) or Delete twice on their row (they cannot come back to this room)
Disband the room closes it

Each player presses Ready. You cannot be ready until the board's art and sound have arrived (a percentage shows the progress)
When everyone is ready, the host starts with Start the match
Before the start, a seated player can also leave the chair and watch instead

A room holds up to 16 people, players and spectators together
A spectator sees exactly the screen the player on turn is looking at (a "… 's screen" label at the top), with the text in the spectator's own language
While watching, the pause menu opens the map and the data screens (the match keeps going meanwhile)
A room whose host does not allow spectators cannot be watched

Every online table, matchmade or custom room, starts with this clock (in a custom room the host can change it in the rules):

	Default
Time bank	10 minutes
Max time per move	10 minutes
Grace after the bank runs out (per move)	120 seconds

The clock at the top right is how much this turn may still use. Each seat card shows that player's bank
On a timeout, the turn is played by relief (a CPU). You keep your chair
On a disconnect, the room's "disconnected player's turn" setting applies (custom rooms default to relief on timeout, matchmaking to relief at once)
You can also ask for relief yourself (Menu → Other)

When it is not your turn you still see the on-turn player's screen. CPU turns play with the same screens and effects as offline
On other players' turns, V opens the map, B the data, U the stock prices, O the settings (read-only)
Result screens that only need closing move on by themselves after 5 seconds
To leave mid-match, use Leave the match on the pause menu (you are asked to confirm)

Buying, selling and swapping shops, and item deals, work between people online too.

The player asked has 45 seconds to answer: accept, counter with new terms, cancel, or refuse outright
While they think, the proposer's clock is stopped
Other players and spectators see the deal, read-only
After a refuse outright, the proposer cannot offer the same deal on the same shop to the same player again that turn

If your connection drops or you close the game while the match continues, Rejoin puts you back in the same chair
The room's clock settings carry over when you return
Spectators are not brought back automatically; enter the room again

Online play is where reports from real matches help the most. If anything looks wrong, however small, tell us on Discord.