Building LinkMe Around the Host's Browser

LinkMe is a party quiz for up to 16 friends. Each card has four questions whose answers share a link. Players write down their answers, but the game keeps those answers hidden until the card is over. You can call the link at any point. Guessing after the first question earns more points than waiting for the fourth, while a wrong guess takes you out of that card.

The whole room runs in the host’s browser. That choice gives the game a useful constraint: there is no game server to keep in sync, but the host has to stay connected. The static site serves the game, and players join the host through a room link or QR code. PeerJS handles the initial connection; the game messages then travel over WebRTC data channels.

Keeping one version of the game

The host’s browser owns the deck, scores, clock and current phase of each card. Player browsers send actions such as locking an answer or calling the link. The host sends back a view of the game state. During a card, that view includes the questions reached so far and who has locked in, but leaves out the card’s answers and link. Those appear in the reveal.

This also makes the host tab a real dependency. If it closes, the game ends. If the host refreshes, the room can reopen under the same code in a paused state and players can reconnect. A player who drops can rejoin with their score intact.

A clock that follows the room

On Normal speed, a question starts with 45 seconds. As players lock in, the clock drains faster, up to four times its starting rate. When everyone still playing has locked in, a three-second countdown moves to the next question. The timer pauses while someone is naming the link.

That keeps a large group from waiting out the full clock after most people are ready. It also leaves time for a player who is still working through a clue. After the fourth question, the game gives a final hint in letter tiles, or a custom hint supplied with a pack card.

The reveal is where written answers become part of the game again. It shows the real answers and everyone’s guesses. The host can use TV mode as a shared display while players answer and buzz from their phones.

Judging and building cards

There are two ways to call a link. Players can type it for automatic, typo-tolerant checking, with a host override, or shout it and let the host judge. That matters for a quiz where the right idea might be phrased several ways.

The current deck has 264 cards across 13 categories. There is also a browser-based pack creator with JSON import and export, so a host can bring custom cards to a room. Card ratings use a separate Cloudflare D1 database through Pages Functions. The live game does not need that database to run; without it, ratings stay on the device.

LinkMe is a fan-made game inspired by the board game Linkee and is not affiliated with Linkee or its publishers. Play LinkMe.