The Treehouse Principle: Multiplayer by Password and Word of Mouth

With version 0.7.5, the game finally properly explains how to play together. Time to write down the why behind it — because anyone coming from other online games notices one thing right away: there's no open server list here, no "join any world" button, no matchmaking with strangers. Multiplayer here works by password and word of mouth only. That's not a missing feature. It's on purpose.

The reason is uncomfortable but honest: the internet can be mean. 😉 Anyone who has spent time in an open online game knows it — someone types things into chat that don't belong there, someone tears down what others have built, someone is just there to ruin your day. For adults, that's annoying. For a kid proudly showing off their first base, it's something else entirely. And this game was co-designed by a ten-year-old — his friends are exactly the players we're building for.

Our answer is what we internally call the treehouse principle: the only people who get into a treehouse are the ones you personally invite. Sharing your own world here means: you create it, set a password, and pass it on — in the schoolyard, in the family group chat, playing side by side on the couch. Even worlds that show up in the public browser exist only with a password: remove the password, and the world automatically drops off the list. There is simply no path for a stranger to land in a private world unannounced.

And here's the important part: there are no exceptions. Even the official worlds we run ourselves are not an anonymous hangout with an open door. As a small family project, we can't honestly promise a permanently supervised public playground — so we don't promise one. The same rule applies everywhere: you play with people you actually know.

We know the price: there's no "hop on with a thousand people", and our worlds grow more slowly than they would with open matchmaking. But a game that parents can hand to their kid without a knot in their stomach mattered more to us than a big number in a server browser. Treehouses aren't built for a thousand people anyway — they're built for the right ones. 🏠✨