Phones in hand, a TV if you have one

Board games to play with friends online, on your phones

No box to set up, no app to install. One person opens a room, everyone else joins with a code, and the game keeps the rules so you can keep talking.

Play Candlewake Play The Hollowing

How it works

The host opens a room on rucksy.fun. It takes a few seconds.
Friends join with the room code on their own phones, tablets or laptops. No download, no account.
Put the board on a TV if you are in one room. In Candlewake a TV or laptop can show the house for everyone. Apart? Play over a video call instead.

Each player’s phone is their own hand of cards: private choices stay private, and the shared board stays shared.

That split is what makes a board game work over the internet. Nobody has to hold up cards to a webcam or trust a friend to move their piece. The game knows the rules, rolls the dice where everyone can see them, and tells each player only what they are meant to know.

Candlewake: explore a haunted house, then wonder who to trust

Candlewake is a party game for 3 to 6 players. You explore a mansion that builds itself as you walk it, draw Events, find Items and uncover Relics, and roll dice against your traits. One Relic too many and the house turns: one of 48 finales begins, and someone at the table may be working against everyone else.

It is best for a group that likes to talk, accuse and laugh about it after. A night takes about 45 minutes, a narrator reads the story aloud, and AI investigators fill any empty seats. It is free.

Candlewake also comes in seven other themes, from cats and dogs to a pirate ghost ship and a casino heist. See them all.

The Hollowing: everyone on the same side

Last Call: survivors holding the roadhouse

The Hollowing is a co-op survival game for 1 to 6 players. Marrow Falls went hollow one October night in 1996, and your team has a job to do before the round track runs out: carry fuel to the bus, hold the roadhouse, light flares for a helicopter.

Everyone acts at once, three actions each, then the horde moves toward whoever it sees or the loudest noise. So the whole game is a team conversation: who searches, who fights, who makes the noise. There are ten missions, a campaign, and a daily mission that is the same for everyone. It is free.

Which one tonight?

You want to bluff and accuse	Candlewake: 3–6 players, about 45 minutes, with a possible traitor
You want to win together	The Hollowing: 1–6 players, about 45–60 minutes, fully co-op
Only two of you	The Hollowing: two players can split the team, or one leads it all
Mixed ages	Candlewake’s cats-and-dogs or toys themes keep the spooky light

Questions

Do my friends need an account or an app?

No. They open the link or type the room code in any browser, on a phone, tablet or laptop.

Can we play if we are not in the same place?

Yes. Everyone plays on their own device, so you can join from anywhere and talk over a video or voice call.

What if a phone goes to sleep?

Keep the tab open: the game reconnects you when the phone wakes, right where the table is.

Are these games free?

Candlewake and The Hollowing are both free to play.

How many people can play?

Candlewake takes 3–6 seats, and The Hollowing 1–6 players.

The Hollowing and Candlewake are original games by Rucksy.