I built deckroom, an online board game site you can play over a call, even with just two people

2026.10.29 · 3 min read · POST

deckroom Online Board Games Side Project

CONTENTS

Introduction

Hi, I’m kittchy.

With help from AI, I can write a whole board game, but I had nowhere to put it so the people I was on a call with could play it right away.

So I built deckroom, an online board game site where everyone joins from a single URL while on a call. It has 14 games right now, from two-player matches to games for a big group.

What you can do with deckroom

The deckroom top page, with games lined up on shelves such as two-player games and group games

Keep your Zoom, Google Meet, or Discord call going and join the same game in your browser. It works on phones and computers, and there is nothing to install.

The room creator: signs in with Google and presses “Create room” on a game’s page
Everyone else: opens the URL pasted into the call chat and enters a name (no sign-in needed)

The game starts once everyone is in. Each game’s page explains how to play in three steps with an example.

The game page for Narabete Number, with the create-room button, three how-to-play steps, and an example prompt

Once you are in a room, your screen shows only your own hand. Below is Narabete Number in progress: the prompt is “Things I want to do over summer break,” and I’m about to describe my card, 30, in words.

The Narabete Number play screen, showing the prompt, a card with 30 on it, and a button to play it

For couples, play Reversi

My spouse and I play deckroom together, and for two players Reversi is the most fun. The board marks the squares where you can place a stone and shows whose turn it is at the top, so you can play without getting lost even while talking.

The Reversi screen, with dots on the squares where you can place a stone and a “Your turn” label at the top right

Games you can play

There are 14 games, and you can pick one from the game list. The game pages are in Japanese.

Two-player matches

Reversi (2 players)
Four in a row (2 players)
Koi-Koi (2 players)
Concentration (2-4 players)

For icebreakers in online meetings

Mannaka Ate (3-10 players)
Onaji Kotae: everyone answers a question and scores if they match the most common answer (3-10 players)
Se-no-de Nyusatsu (2-6 players)
Narabete Number: a co-op game where you describe how big your number is with words that fit a prompt, without saying the number, and line everyone up (2-10 players)

More picks are on games for icebreakers in online meetings.

For online drinking parties

Ittara Out (3-8 players)
Magiremono (3-8 players)
Yoake no Mura (4-8 players)
Narabi Fuda (2-10 players)

See games that liven up online drinking parties for details.

For team building

Hitokoto Hint: a co-op game where one-word hints help one player guess the answer (3-7 players)
Himitsu no Aizu: split into two teams and find your team’s words from the leader’s one-word clue (4-8 players)

Online games for team building also walks through how to get started.

Wrapping up

I built deckroom, an online board game site you can play from one URL over a call, and it has 14 games now. Players join by entering a name without signing in, so it works for a two-player Reversi match as well as meeting icebreakers and online parties.

Give deckroom a try. See you next time.