Play an online board game with friends

Set up a private game

1. Enter your name. Go to the Mates Rates home page and type the name your friends will see. You don't need an account; signing in just keeps your stats and friends list.
2. Create a private game. Press Create a private game. You're taken to your own room, hidden from the public rooms list.
3. Copy the invite link. The room shows an Invite your mates box with the room's link. Press Copy. The link ends in the room's code (like KOALA-7F3), which you can read out instead.
4. Send it to your friends. Paste it into a group chat, a message or an email. If you're signed in, you can also invite friends from your friends list.
5. Friends join. Opening the link takes them straight to your room. They type their name and pick a colour.
6. Start the game. As host, choose the board and house rules, add bots if you're short of players, and press Start game once at least two players are ready.

Good to know

• Games take 2 to 6 players. With Mates Rates Plus the host can open a room to 10.
• It works on phones, tablets and computers, in any modern browser, so everyone can play on whatever they have.
• If someone's connection drops, their seat is held for two minutes. Refreshing the page puts them straight back in.
• There's chat in every room, so the table talk (and the trash talk) happens in the game.
• A turn timer keeps the game moving, and anyone can give a slow mate 30 more seconds.

No friends online right now?

Press Play on the home page to join a public game with other players, or browse All rooms to pick one. You can also play against Easy, Normal or Hard bots.

New to the game? Read how to play Mates Rates before your first game, or find out more about this online property trading game.