Play board games online with a friend
Every board here seats two and runs in the browser. Start one, send the link to whoever you are playing, and go — no account, no email, no app.
13 game boards, from 12 places
- Chess India, by way of Persia — the game the rest of this board room was built around.
- Draughts France, twelfth century, on a board borrowed from chess.
- Reversi England, 1883 — the oldest game here with a named inventor and a disputed one.
- Nine men's morris The Roman Empire — boards scratched into the stone of buildings that are still standing.
- Four in a row United States, 1974 — much the youngest game on this site.
- Dots and boxes France, 1889, from a mathematician who published it as a puzzle.
- Oware Ghana, the Akan — the most widely played mancala in West Africa.
- Makruk Thailand — a chess that never took the long-range queen and bishop.
- Hnefatafl Norse Scandinavia — the board the Vikings played before chess reached them.
- Adugo Brazil, the Bororo — jogo da onça, the first game on this site from the Americas.
- Dara Nigeria, the Dakarkari — and much of the Sahel, under half a dozen other names.
- Fanorona Madagascar — fanoron-tsivy, played on nine points by five.
- Bagh-chal Nepal — bagh-chal, the moving of the tigers.
Before you start.
How do we play a board game online together?
One of you picks a board and starts a game, which makes a link. Send it however you like — message, email, anywhere — and whoever opens it takes the other seat. Neither of you is asked for anything on the way in.
Do we need to download anything?
No. Every board here runs in the browser you are reading this in. There is nothing to install and no app store to visit, on a phone or on a computer.
Do we need accounts?
No. Neither player signs up, and neither gives a name, an email address or a password. The link is the whole of what puts you both at the same board.
How many people can play?
Two. Every board on this page is a two-player game — one of you on each side, taking turns.
Is it free?
Yes. Nothing to pay, no card to enter, no ads, and no trial that runs out.
Which board games can we play?
Chess, draughts, reversi, nine men's morris, four in a row and dots and boxes, plus oware, makruk, hnefatafl, adugo, dara, fanorona and bagh-chal — thirteen boards from twelve places, and the last seven are hard to find anywhere else.
Does it work on a phone?
Yes. The boards were drawn to fit a phone screen before anything else, so one of you on a phone and the other on a laptop is the ordinary case rather than the awkward one.
Do we have to finish in one sitting?
Mostly, yes. A table lives while you are both at it, and there is nowhere to send a your-turn to somebody who has closed the tab. A board you can come back to tomorrow is what the chat site below is for.
Talk anonymously with strangers
The same thirteen boards are in there, beside the chat. A game can run for days — you move when you like. Play with people you know, or find someone who wants the same board.
You have to be 18 or over to chat. The boards on this page ask for nothing.
