Help

Help for game night

Everything you need for your first night, step by step. Stuck? Email us at hello@gatherupstairs.com.

• Laptop to TV with a cable
• Cast a Chrome tab
• Join with your phone
• My phone can't join
• No sound
• The screen went to sleep

What you need

• A laptop with an internet connection, for the host.
• A phone for each player. Any phone with a web browser works.
• A TV, if you'd like a big screen. For a small group, the laptop's screen is enough.

Connect a laptop to the TV with a cable (HDMI)

This is the simplest way, and the picture never lags.

1. Plug an HDMI cable into the TV and into the laptop. If the laptop has no HDMI socket, you need a small adapter, usually USB-C to HDMI.
2. On the TV's remote, press Source or Input, and pick the HDMI socket you used (for example HDMI 1).
3. On a Windows laptop, if the TV stays blank, hold the Windows key and press P, then pick Duplicate. On a Mac, the TV usually shows the picture by itself; if not, open System Settings, then Displays.
4. On the laptop, open play.gatherupstairs.com and press F11 for full screen (on a Mac, Control, Command and F together).

The sound usually comes out of the TV with the picture. If it doesn't, see No sound below.

Cast a Chrome tab to the TV

No cable? If your TV has Chromecast or Google TV built in, or a Chromecast plugged in, you can send a Chrome tab to it.

1. Make sure the laptop and the TV are on the same Wi-Fi.
2. Open play.gatherupstairs.com in Chrome on the laptop.
3. Click Chrome's menu (the three dots at the top right), then Cast, save and share, then Cast.
4. Pick your TV from the list. The game appears on the TV, with its sound.

Keep the laptop open and plugged in while you play. A cast picture can lag a little; a cable never does.

Join with your phone

1. Open your phone's camera and point it at the square code on the TV. Tap the link that pops up.
2. No link? Open your phone's browser, go to gatherupstairs.com/join and type the four letters shown on the TV.
3. Type your name, pick a character, and tap Join.

The first phone to join is the host's: it chooses the games and starts the night. Your phone needs the internet, on Wi-Fi or mobile data. It doesn't have to be the same Wi-Fi as the TV.

Quick fixes

My phone can't join

• “No game found with that code.” Check the four letters on the TV and try again. If the TV was restarted, it may show a new code.
• “The host has locked this game to new players.” The host can unlock it with Lock the room on the TV.
• “This room is full.” Each plan allows a set number of players. Pricing lists them.
• “This page is out of date.” Refresh the page, then join again.
• Nothing happens at all? Check the phone has the internet (open any other website), then refresh the join page and try again.

No sound

• Click or tap once on the game's screen. Browsers keep sound off until the page is tapped, so the TV asks: Tap to start with sound.
• Check the Sound on button at the bottom left of the game's screen, and the night's Music setting in the lobby.
• Turn up the volume on the TV and on the laptop.
• With a cable, the laptop may still be sending sound to its own speakers. On Windows, click the speaker icon at the bottom right and pick the TV. On a Mac, open System Settings, then Sound, and pick the TV under Output.
• Want the sounds on the phones too, for family in another room? The host can turn on Sounds on phones too in the lobby.

The screen went to sleep

• While a game is on, it asks the laptop and the phones to stay awake. Low battery or a power-saving mode can still send a screen to sleep, so plug the laptop in for the night.
• On the laptop, you can stop the screen sleeping: on Windows, Settings, then System, then Power; on a Mac, System Settings, then Lock Screen.
• If the laptop did sleep, wake it straight away: the game carries on where it was. Leave it too long and the room closes, and you start a new one.
• If a phone slept, unlock it: it reconnects by itself. If it has been a while, open the join page again and join with the code on the TV.

Still stuck?

Email us at hello@gatherupstairs.com and tell us what you see on the screen. We're happy to help.