Play on nearby phones
Games for the journey. No internet needed.
Rummy, Teen Patti, Twenty Eight, Call Break, Poker and Bridge for friends on the same train, the same bus or in the same room - and Blank Atlas, if the table would rather argue about where Montevideo is. Everyone plays on their own phone, the phones connect to each other directly, and there is no sign-in and no real money anywhere.
Why it works on the move
No signal? No problem.
The phones talk to each other, not to the internet. Tunnels, ghats, flight mode and the long stretch between towns do not stop a hand.
No mobile data used
The game sends nothing over the internet, so a six-hour journey of cards costs no data at all.
Your hand stays yours
Each phone shows only its own cards. No handset passed round the berth, and no cards sliding off it.
Short of players?
Bots fill the empty seats, so two friends can still sit down to a full table of four, six or eight.
Out of range, back in
If someone walks to the next coach and loses the connection, their phone can join the same table again.
Just the game
No account, no sign-in and no real money. Chips and points are only ever part of the game.
The games
Six card games, all built on the same table, so what you learn in one is true in the others. And one that is not a card game at all: Blank Atlas puts the same nearby table round a map with every name rubbed off.
How to start a game
- Install before you set off. Everyone who wants to play needs the game on their phone. This is the one step that needs the internet, so do it at home or on station Wi-Fi.
- One phone hosts. The host taps Host and chooses the table: how many seats, the house rules, and whether to fill empty seats with bots.
- Everyone else joins. The other players tap Join and enter the short code on the host's screen.
- Deal. The host starts the game. From here the phones need only each other.
Ways to connect
- Bluetooth needs no network at all, which makes it the natural choice on a train or bus. It reaches across a compartment or a few rows of seats.
- Wi-Fi works whenever the phones share a network, even one with no internet connection, such as one phone's hotspot.
- Google Nearby finds the other phones for you, on phones with Google Play services.
Tips for trains, buses and flights
- On a flight, turn on flight mode and then switch Bluetooth back on, where the crew allows it. The game does not need anything else.
- Sit within range. Bluetooth is happiest when the phones are in the same compartment or a few seats apart.
- Charge the host. The host's phone keeps the table going, so give it the charging point if there is one.
- Everyone on the same version. Update the game before the journey, so every phone is playing by the same rules.