Start together · 4 min read

Play browser games with friends: live rooms or city challenges

For a quick game with friends, choose Drift Clash for one-minute car battles, Oxygen Rush for two-minute moon chases, or Neon Rift for FPV drone racing. For a slower strategy challenge, build separate cities in Your AI Startup Ate the Economy and exchange saved results. Each opens in a browser without an account or a separate game installation.

This guide compares the four games in our arcade. Everyone plays in their own browser on their own device; there is no shared-keyboard or split-screen mode. The racing and party games have live rooms. The city builder uses shared snapshots, so friends can play at different times.

Choose your game
First-person Neon Rift race approaching glowing gates, with timer and course map
First-person Neon Rift race approaching glowing gates, with timer and course map — captured on AIAppsHQ.

Choose by device, time, and the kind of competition you want

Pick Neon Rift if you want to compare racing lines without knocking each other off course: its live drones cannot collide. Pick Drift Clash for car control and playful bumps. Pick Oxygen Rush for a moving objective that friends can steal with a pulse.

Rooms support up to 16 real players in Neon Rift, eight in Drift Clash, and 12 in Oxygen Rush. These are room limits, not a promise that a public room will already be full. A private invite is the simplest way to bring your own group.

Choose the city builder when you want to discuss different decisions without arranging a live session. Invite a friend immediately, then exchange results at months 12, 24, and 72. Its clock can pause or run faster, and your city saves in your browser.

GameControlsSessionYour objective
Neon RiftKeyboard and mouse, or touchSprint race; Freeflight has no time limitThread gates for a faster time, or collect style points
Drift ClashKeyboard required60-second roundsBuild drift combos, boost, and score bumps
Oxygen RushKeyboard and mouse, or touch2-minute roundsCarry the Oxygen Cell, cool it, and extract
Your AI Startup Ate the EconomyMouse or touch; keyboard shortcuts72 months; about 24 minutes at normal speed before pausesBalance jobs, residents, spending, and two budgets; compare saved results

For racing and party games, join the same room

  1. Have one person open the chosen game. In Drift Clash or Oxygen Rush, select Create Private Room. In Neon Rift, choose a track, open Online, and select Private Room.
  2. Share from inside that room. Drift Clash uses Share Room; Oxygen Rush uses Invite Friends. Neon Rift offers Copy Invite Link in Online and a friend invite in its pause menu.
  3. Everyone opens that same room link in their own browser. Check the room code, connection status, and player names before starting. Opening the ordinary game page or Quick Play separately does not select your private room.
  4. Start the round. Give new players one practice attempt, then rematch. For a Neon Rift time comparison, use the same track and handling mode.

For the city builder, exchange results at your own pace

Want to show your city now, including continued play such as month 200? Share opens the current city, with its actual month and a preview. Share or copy its read-only result link, or save a city image for a post. More options includes X. The current result stays separate from the frozen month-72 campaign, and opening it keeps your friend’s city intact.

These are friendly, self-reported snapshots. They do not show who is online, update in real time, or create a global leaderboard. An invitation carries a starting setup and saved comparison checkpoints; a current-city snapshot carries only its displayed month and measures. Neither transfers the complete city save.

  1. Open Your AI Startup Ate the Economy and select Share → Play with a friend. Send the link so your friend can start with the same city seed and rules. You can do this at month zero.
  2. Each person builds their own city. At month 12 or 24, share a fresh link containing that saved checkpoint. A link already sent does not update when you play another month.
  3. Open your friend’s updated link and use Compare with my city or Compare with saved challenge when offered. Compare friend results in Economy brings you back to the comparison. Both cities must have reached the same checkpoint with a compatible start.
  4. At month 72, compare the full campaign results. Share → Saved campaign · Month 72 offers link sharing and further sharing options. You choose where and whether to publish.

A room invite and a record challenge do different jobs

A room invite brings connected friends into a live session. Neon Rift also offers Challenge Friend after a result: that link carries a target time, track, and handling mode so someone can try it later. It does not join your live room or transfer your saved ghost replay.

Your Neon Rift personal-best ghost is a replay saved in your browser. Rift Rival is a built-in opponent, and Freeflight can show ambient Rift Ghosts. Oxygen Rush can add practice astronauts with names ending in “-Sim” when few people are present. Those practice characters are not connected friends and do not use real-player room slots.

If the first attempt does not work

  • Friend missing? Compare the complete room link and room code, then check both connection indicators. An offline or full room cannot bring another live player into the session.
  • Controls not responding? Click or tap back into the game and resume. On desktop, mouse-look games may need you to let the browser capture the pointer again.
  • Playing on a phone? Neon Rift and Oxygen Rush offer touch controls; landscape leaves more room. The city builder has touch construction and map controls. Drift Clash needs a keyboard.
  • City result missing? Ask your friend for a newly shared link after the checkpoint, then check that both cities have reached that month. Later progress is not added to an earlier link.
  • Game still loading? The browser must fetch game assets, and gameplay needs JavaScript. The three 3D games also require WebGL; live rooms need an internet connection.

Give it a go

Put the guide into practice. No account or download required.

Choose your game ↗