How to play Chaos Online

Chaos Online is Julian Gollop's 1985 ZX Spectrum game Chaos, played over the internet. Up to eight wizards fight on one board, casting spells and summoning creatures, until one wizard is left. Every player's browser runs the original game, so it plays exactly as it did on the Spectrum.

Starting a game

• Create a game on the front page. Type your name (or log in, and you play under your username), choose the options, and press Create game. You are the game's host.
• Invite people by giving them the five-letter game code, or with the Copy link button on the game page. They enter the code under Join a game, or just open the link.
• When everyone has joined, the host presses Start game. People who join after that can only watch.

The options when creating a game:

• Players can see each other's spells: otherwise, while a wizard picks a spell, everyone else's screen is covered.
• Anyone with the link can watch the replay: otherwise only the players can watch it.
• Anyone can watch it live: the game is listed under Watch live on the front page. The host can switch this on or off at any time on the game page.

Setting up

After the start, the game asks the original's setup questions. The host answers the first two: how many wizards (2 to 8) and the level of the computer wizards. Then each wizard is set up in turn: its name, whether it is computer controlled, its character and its colour. Wizard 1 is the first seat in the Wizards list, wizard 2 the second, and so on.

• Each player answers the questions for their own wizard. Answer N to Computer controlled? to play it yourself.
• The host answers for wizards nobody has joined as. Answer Y to make them computer wizards, or N to play them yourself.

Keys

• QWE A D ZXC move the cursor, in the eight directions they surround S on the keyboard.
• S selects: a spell's target, or a creature to move.
• K cancels.
• I shows information about the creature under the cursor.
• 1–8 show a wizard's creations on the board.
• 0 ends your turn (or leaves a menu).

Only the player whose turn it is can press keys that count. The status above the Wizards list says whose turn it is.

A turn

Each round has two parts.

• Choosing spells. Each wizard in turn gets a menu: 1 to examine their spells, 2 to choose the spell to cast (press the key shown next to it), 3 to look at the board, and 4 to finish. A creature spell asks whether to cast it as an illusion: an illusion always works, but another wizard's Disbelieve spell destroys it.
• Casting and moving. Each wizard casts their spell, aiming with the cursor and S. Then they move: select one of their creatures (or their wizard) with S and move it with the direction keys. Moving into an enemy attacks it, and creatures with ranged combat get a shot after moving. Press 0 when you have finished.

Lawful and chaotic spells shift the balance of the world towards law or chaos, which makes spells of that kind easier to cast. A wizard dies when attacked successfully, and all their creations vanish with them. The last wizard standing wins; if several are still alive after the last round, the game is a draw.

Absent players

The dot next to each name in the Wizards list shows who is connected. You can close the game and come back later: your seat is kept, and the game continues where it left off. If a player is away, the host can press Take over next to their name to answer for their wizard.

Watching and replays

• Games that anyone can watch are listed under Watch live on the front page while they are being played (a game with no move for 10 minutes drops off until its next move). Players can share the game with Copy watch link. People watching can't play or chat, and the watch link can't be used to join.
• When a game is over, Watch the replay plays it back from the start.

Accounts

You can play without an account: this browser remembers your games. If you sign up or log in:

• your games are listed on the front page, in any browser, and the ones waiting for you are highlighted;
• you always play under your username, and nobody else can use it. A ✓ after a name shows a registered player;
• games you played in this browser before logging in are added to your account.

Cancelling a game

The host can cancel a game that has not finished, with Cancel game on the game page (or Cancel in their list of games). Everyone in it is disconnected and nobody can play or watch it any more. Cancelled games are listed under Cancelled, where the host can delete them for good.