Play the machine. Or play a person.
Chess, draughts, oware, Tetris and Pong — on your own against a machine, or against another member inside a live conversation. Solo runs go on the highscore boards; games against people go on your record.
Queue anywhere on the network, or narrow it to a channel where the people you want are already tuned in. Either way you land in a live conversation with Pong on the table.
- PRACTICING A LANGUAGEpractise with native speakersLANGUAGE-EXCHANGE
- SIGN LANGUAGEsign with deaf and signing peopleASL
- TECH & BUILDtalk shop with buildersTECH
- MUSIC & CULTUREswap music with people who careMUSIC
- CLIMATE & FUTUREScompare notes across bordersCLIMATE
- PHILOSOPHYthink out loud with someonePHILOSOPHY
Prefer to read the room first? Every channel has a page of its own under the directory.
How a 1-on-1 game works
- Pick a game. It becomes your topic.
- Look across the whole network, or narrow it to one channel.
- Someone answers, you see their profile, you say yes — and the board opens inside the conversation.
No lobby full of usernames. The person across the board is someone you can say hello to.
Questions
Can I play against another person, or only the computer?
Both. Every game has a machine to play on your own, and every game can be played 1 on 1 against another member. Pick a game, choose “find an opponent”, and the game becomes your topic — the next person looking for the same one lands with you, and the board opens inside the conversation.
How do I find people who want to play a specific game?
Use the channels on this page. A channel is a group of people who came to talk about one thing, so looking there puts you in front of them rather than the whole network. If none of them fit, start your own — it is live for members straight away.
Do the games use video?
A 1-on-1 game happens inside an ordinary conversation, so you see and hear the person you are playing unless you turn your camera off. That is the point: the game is something to do while you talk.
Which scores go on the highscore board?
Only solo runs against the machine. Games against another member count towards your own win–loss record instead — a result played out on somebody else’s computer is not something we can check, so it never ranks anyone.
What are the 6 games?
Pong — the arcade original, with a ball that burns a trail through a fluid simulation, 10 lives and no score limit. Tetris — seven shapes, a level every 8 lines, and cleared rows that bury the other player’s well. Chess — real chess against 5 machines, from one that hangs its queen to one that does not lapse. Oware — the Akan game of Ghana, 48 seeds round 12 pits, first to 25. Draughts — international 10×10 draughts, 20 men a side, compulsory capture and flying kings.
Is this the same draughts I played as a child?
Probably not, and the difference is the point. Draughts is the international game: ten squares by ten, twenty men a side, men capture backwards as well as forwards, kings move any distance along a diagonal, and capturing is compulsory — if two chains are available you must play one that takes the most pieces. That last rule is the one casual sets drop, and it is what makes the game a matter of counting a combination rather than shuffling forwards. The 8×8 English game was solved as a draw in 2007; the 10×10 game has not been.
Is there a mancala game?
Yes — Oware. Oware is the Akan game of Ghana and the best-known member of the mancala family, and this is the Abapa version used in tournaments rather than a simplified one: the grand slam rule and the obligation to feed a starving opponent are both in. Five machines to play solo, or another member 1 on 1.