Virtual LAN (backup)

The normal way to play on game-play.net is the hosted servers — that is what the connecting guide covers and what the status page tracks.

This page is only about the backup: the handful of titles that are too old or too niche to be worth a hosted instance but still support local-network play. For those few, a small private virtual LAN (Hamachi) lets members treat the internet as one big local subnet. If a title appears on the status page, use the hosted server instead of this.

First connection (backup mesh)

1. Install Hamachi on the machine you play from (Windows or macOS).
2. Sign in with a LogMeIn account. Any free account works.
3. Accept the mesh invite you were sent with your session details.
4. Open the mesh and confirm the people you play with show green in your peer list.
5. Launch the title and join using the address in your mesh entry — for example connect 25.50.10.20 in a game's console.

Reading the peer list

• Green — connected and ready.
• Yellow — still negotiating a route; give it a moment.
• Grey — no connection to that peer. Work through the list below.

A peer will not connect (grey or timing out)

1. Confirm you are both in the same mesh and accepted the same invite.
2. Let Hamachi through the firewall. On Windows, allow the Hamachi application and its helper service on private networks — this is the most common fix.
3. Set your network profile to Private. If Windows marked your connection as Public it silently blocks most peer traffic.
4. Check versions. A peer on an old 2.x build stays grey against newer clients; everyone should be current.
5. Toggle the IPv6 setting in Hamachi's preferences, then reconnect. Old games are IPv4-only and occasionally pick the wrong adapter.
6. Restart the virtual adapter — disable and re-enable it, then rejoin the mesh.

Still grey after all that? Ask in the circle — the usual culprit is a routing quirk between two regions, and someone has usually hit it before.