Link
Link lets you play with friends. Create or join a Link to see what your friends are playing, hop into their games, chat, and voice/video call.
Written By Patrick Corrigan
Last updated About 12 hours ago
Link lets you play with friends. Create or join a Link to see what your friends are playing, hop into their games, chat, and voice/video call.
What is a Link?
A Link is a persistent room you share with friends. Think of it like a virtual couch — everyone in the Link can see what games each other are playing, request to join, start link cable sessions, or just hang out in chat.
You can access Link from the secondary navigation bar in the app.
Creating a Link
- Open the Link tab in the navigation bar
- Click Start Link
- Share the invite URL with friends
That's it — your friends click the link and they're in.
You can only be in one Link at a time. If you want to join a different Link, you'll need to leave your current one first.
Joining a Link
There are two ways to join a Link:
- Invite URL — Click a
afterplay.io/link/...link shared by a friend - Friend Invites — Accept a room invite from a friend in your friends list
When you join, you'll see who's in the Link, what they're playing, and any ongoing sessions.
Now Playing
The Now Playing section shows which Link members are currently in a game. From here you can:
- Join their game (Netplay) — Send a join request to hop into their multiplayer session
- Link Cable — Request a link cable session for Game Boy / GBA games
- See what game and platform each player is on
N64 multiplayer is not currently supported.
When you send a join request, the host gets a notification and can accept or deny.
For Nintendo DS games with online multiplayer (Wi-Fi Connection), see NDS Online.
Chat
Every Link has built-in text chat. Messages are visible to all members of the Link. Chat stays connected even when you're playing a game.
Unread message counts appear as notification badges when the Link widget is closed.
Voice & Video
Click the microphone or camera buttons in the media bar to start a voice or video call with everyone in the Link. Features include:
- Camera and microphone toggle
- Noise cancellation
- Device selection (camera, mic, speakers)
- Participant video grid
The Link Widget
When you're in a game, the Link appears as a widget docked to the game screen. The widget shows:
- Link name and shareable link
- Now Playing section
- Active netplay/link cable session status
- Incoming join requests
- Chat
- Voice/video controls
- Players list
You can also access the full Link page from the navigation bar.
Friends
Your friends list is accessible from the Link panel. You can:
- Add friends using a Friend Code (format:
XXXX-XXXX) - See which friends are online and what they're playing
- Invite friends to your Link
- Send join requests to friends who are hosting games
Notifications
Link aggregates notifications from multiple sources:
- Incoming friend requests
- Room join invitations
- Netplay join requests
- Unread chat messages
The notification count appears on the Link icon in the navigation bar.
Leaving a Link
Click the leave button in the Link header to leave. If you're the last person, the Link is deleted. If you're the creator and others remain, ownership transfers automatically.