BRING YOUR PEOPLE
One room.
Your rivals.
Private rooms let two to five people play together. Everyone needs an internet connection for an online table. You can open the browser game and share a room code rather than waiting for public matchmaking.
Create the table
- Open Dead Last and choose your player name if prompted.
- Choose Play With Friends.
- Select the table size, from two to five seats, and create a private room.
- Share the displayed five-character room code with your friends.
The code identifies the room. Ask people to enter it in their own game rather than sharing your browser account or authentication information. Keep it within your group if you want the table to stay private.
Join an existing room
Your friends open Play With Friends, enter the complete room code and use the join action. If the room cannot be found, compare every character with the host’s displayed code. A code for a room that is no longer available will not restore that room.
Use separate devices or separate browser profiles for separate players. Tabs in the same browser profile can share the same anonymous player account, so opening another tab is not a reliable way to create an extra seat.
Get everyone ready
The lobby lists the players, empty seats and the room code. Each player uses I’m Ready when they are ready to begin. They can use Not Ready to change that choice before the start. The host’s Start Game action becomes available when the start conditions are met.
If the table is waiting, check the displayed readiness indicators and ask the player who is not ready to confirm. The host starts the match; another player pressing Ready does not itself start a private game. There must be at least two occupied seats, and every occupied human seat must be ready.
Understand the table’s rules
People who play Shithead at home may expect different special cards. Before dealing, point newcomers to the Dead Last rules: 2 resets, 3 is invisible, 7 requires lower cards, 8 skips and 10 burns. Four consecutive equal ranks also burn. Avoid a surprise disagreement by checking those differences first.
During play, wait for your turn and use the current playable card zone. A legal hand move does not let you use your face-up cards early. The first-game walkthrough explains the table and controls.
Reconnect without creating a new player
If your connection drops, reopen the game using the same browser profile and player account. The game uses the server’s current match state to restore an eligible active table. Avoid clearing site data or switching to a private browsing session while trying to recover a seat: that can give you a different anonymous identity.
Reconnection is different from explicitly leaving. The leave confirmation explains when your seat will be handed to a bot. Once you permanently give up the seat, you cannot rejoin that match as that player. Read that confirmation before starting fresh.
If something goes wrong
The code will not work
Check that it contains all five characters and that the host is still in the intended room. Ask the host whether the table is full or has already moved on. If the error persists, record the message shown rather than repeatedly making new rooms.
The game will not start
Check the player list, the readiness indicators and the host’s start button. Everyone should remain connected. If an action reports an error, wait for the latest room state before trying again.
The browser game will not load
Check your connection, reload the page and try an up-to-date browser. If you are already in an active match, keep the same browser profile. Disabling JavaScript prevents the browser game from running. A solo bot game is a useful alternative when online play is unavailable, once the browser game has loaded.
You need support
Contact Dead Last support with the approximate time, browser and operating system, game mode, and exact error text. Include a screenshot if useful, but avoid sending passwords, authentication tokens or other players’ hidden cards.