The short answer
Open your game in the dashboard, find Share with players and press Turn on sharing. You get one link and a QR code. Anyone who opens the link sees your game's title, whether it is online, starting or asleep, the player count if your game reports one, and a button that opens your game's website. Nothing is public until you turn it on, and you can replace the link or turn it off at any time.
What a player sees
The page is plain and works without JavaScript. It shows the title and one line of description you chose (or your game's name), a status in words and colour, the player count, a button to your website, the link with a copy button, the QR code, and the line "Hosted by NetCraftGames". If a script is allowed to run, the status refreshes by itself every 15 seconds.
| Status | What the player reads |
|---|---|
| Online | The game is online. Players can join now. |
| Starting | The game is starting. This can take a few minutes. Check back soon. |
| Sleeping | This game is sleeping. Ask the owner to start it. |
| Not open yet | This game is not open yet. Check back later. |
| Unavailable | This game is not available right now. Try again later, or ask the owner. |
When your game does not report how many players are connected, the page says so. It never shows zero unless your game reported zero.
What it does not do
- It does not host your game's web page. A browser game stays wherever you put it. The button on the share page is a plain link to that address.
- It does not wake your game. A sleeping game stays asleep until you start it, so strangers cannot spend your hours. Players are told to ask you.
- It does not show private things. No name, email, plan, hours, costs, builds, activity or problems appear on the page.
- It is not indexed by search engines, and it counts nothing about visitors.
Steps for a first-time publisher
- Open the game and press Turn on sharing.
- If you have a browser game, paste the https address where you host it into Your game's website, and save. Also list that website under Allowed websites on the Connection tab, or the gateway will refuse players who arrive from it. The card warns you when it is missing.
- Press Copy link, or show the QR code to a friend with a phone.
- Open the link yourself once to see exactly what players see.
- If the link ended up somewhere it should not be, press Replace the link. The old link and QR code stop working at once.
Using your AI assistant
Your assistant can do the same with the owner API, the MCP server or the ncg share command. Turning the page on or off and changing the title need only the manage settings scope. Setting a website address, or replacing the link, asks you to approve it first under the default key settings, because both change what a public page points at.
Limits to know about
The page only links to the website you give it, and NetCraftGames does not check what is there. Use an address you control. In this version the page lives at the NetCraftGames address, not on a domain of your own, and hosting the browser client itself is not part of it.
Frequently asked questions
Can I share my game without hosting a website?
Yes, for the link, the QR code and the status. The share page works on its own and shows whether the game is online. The button to a website only appears if you add an address. For a browser game, players still need a page that runs your client, and you host that yourself.
What happens to the old link when I replace it?
It stops working at once. Anyone who opens it sees that the link is not active, and the old QR code stops working too. Replacing the link gives you a new link and QR code to share. Turning sharing off is different: it keeps the same link for when you turn it on again.
Can players start my sleeping game from the share page?
No. A sleeping game shows a message asking players to contact you. Starting a game spends your prepaid hours, so only you or a key you control can do it. A public start button is not part of this version.