Online Multiplayer in MakeCode Arcade
Last week (under the radar) Microsoft MakeCode Arcade released the ability to play your games online with friends!
Here’s what you need to know.
Sharing
To play one of your games online, you need to have used multiplayer controls somewhere inside of your game. Then, when you share, you’ll get a prompt that allows you to host a multiplayer game.
When you select the multiplayer option, you’ll be given a code that you can share with your friends. Note that we do not provide a method of chatting or communicating with other players. You’re expected to be in the same room with them if you want to play together.
Players will show up in a color that corresponds to their player number. Player 1=red, 2=blue, 3=orange, 4=green. It can be helpful to code the sprites for your game that way to keep everyone from getting confused during gameplay.
You may also want to use one of the multiplayer game-over options located within the “Carnival” extension. To load that extension, click “Extensions” in the toolbox, then search for “carnival”.
Playing
Once you’ve received a game code, you need to visit aka.ms/a9 to enter the code and join the game.
Once users are in, the host can start the game and you’ll all see the console. It can be helpful for the game creator to add a message in the beginning to make sure the game doesn’t start until everyone is ready.
Safety
This entire process has been built with user safety in mind. Any user is allowed to kick any other user from any game. The kicked user will then be banned from rejoining the same session.
Note: Kicking the game host will end the game for all users.
During the game, users can press number keys (from 1–6) to send emoji to the rest of the players. Deliveries are limited to 4 per second to keep the game from being affected if someone decides to spam the group.
For more information on building or playing online multiplayer games, check out our documentation here:
https://arcade.makecode.com/multiplayer
