How Online Duels Work

A room code, a direct browser-to-browser connection, and no account at either end.

Online play in TETERI connects two browsers directly to each other. There is no game server, no account, and nothing persistent.

Starting a match

One player picks Create room and receives a five-character code. The code avoids characters that get misread aloud, so there is no confusion between O and zero, or I and one.

Share the code however you like. The other player types it in and the two browsers connect. There is also a copy invite link button that produces a URL which opens straight into the join screen.

What is actually happening

The two browsers need to find each other, which requires a brief exchange of network details. That is the only part involving a third party: a public relay passes the handshake between the two sides and is then dropped entirely.

After that, all game data travels directly over a peer-to-peer connection. Board snapshots go across about fifteen times a second so each of you can watch the other, and attacks are sent as discrete events.

The same-device option

Ticking same device in the lobby uses your browser's own messaging between tabs instead of any relay. Two tabs on one machine can then duel with no server involved at all, which is genuinely useful for two people at one computer with separate keyboards.

Fairness

Both players are seeded with the same piece sequence, so the match is a test of what you do with an identical bag rather than who got luckier.

What happens if someone disconnects

The match is scored as a forfeit rather than freezing. If you lose connection mid-duel, the other player is credited with the round.

The honest caveat

The public relay used for the handshake is convenient rather than guaranteed. If it is unavailable, room-code play will fail to connect and the game will tell you so. You can point the game at your own relay with a query parameter, and the same-device, CPU and split-screen modes never touch it at all.