Questions and answers

Jambolaya is one app with more than 140 games: board games, card games, puzzles, brain games, word games and quick arcade games.

You can play alone, against the computer, or with family and friends who are in the same room, each on their own device.

Screens often keep us apart, even at home. Jambolaya uses them to bring people together for a good time.

No. There is no account, no sign-up and no password. You can play without the internet.

When you play with people nearby, the devices talk to each other directly over Bluetooth. Nothing goes through the internet.

The only time the internet is used is when you buy something or restore a purchase — that is handled by Google Play or the App Store.

• Android phones and tablets with Android 8.0 or newer.
• iPhone and iPad with iOS 15 or newer — coming soon to the App Store.
• A web browser on a computer, at jambolaya.games. The browser version is for playing alone and against the computer only.

Hold your device sideways: Jambolaya's games are made for a wide screen.

Ten languages: English, Dutch, German, French, Spanish, Russian, Hebrew, Arabic, Italian and Portuguese.

The first time you open the app, it uses your device's language if it is one of these ten. Otherwise it starts in English.

To change it: tap the button with three lines at the top, then Settings, then Language. Hebrew and Arabic turn the whole app right-to-left.

Yes. Each device shows menus and games in its own language, so a grandparent can play in Russian while a grandchild plays in English, at the same table.

Word games are the exception: everyone shares one board of letters, so they need one language. In a game for two, the player who invited chooses it; with three or more, the language most players use wins.

Open the game's page and tap Learn to play. A guided lesson teaches the game step by step, on the real board. You make every move yourself, and the lesson tells you what to tap next.

Almost every board, card, puzzle, brain and word game has a lesson.

During a game, Help at the top shows the rules, in your language.

Tap the button with three lines at the top, then How it works. It is a short slideshow with pictures of the real screens. It shows how to play alone, against the computer, how to create and join a group, how to invite someone, and what every setting does.

Pick a topic, then tap Next to go on. The first time you open Jambolaya, it offers you this slideshow.

Yes. Every slide in How it works has a speaker button that reads it aloud. The reading games also say letters and words aloud.

This uses the voice that is built into your device. If your device has no voice for your language yet, the app tells you and shows you where to add one. Voices are free.

In Settings, under Reading, you can:

• make the letters and words bigger in the reading games,
• put a little more space between letters everywhere in the app,
• choose a font that keeps look-alike letters apart.

Tap the ? at the end of any Settings row to read what it does.

A group is your family or friends, together in one room, each with their own device. One person creates the group — that device is the host, and the group runs on it. Everyone else joins with the group's code.

Once you are in a group, anyone in it can invite the others to a game.

A group can have up to 7 devices, the host included. Some devices host fewer — see How many people can play together?

1. Tap the button with three lines at the top, then My Groups.
2. Tap Create group. You can give the group a name if you like.
3. Your group is ready. It has a short green code — tell it to your family and friends.

Creating and hosting a group is free.

1. Ask the host for the group's code.
2. Tap the button with three lines at the top, then My Groups.
3. Type the code, then tap Register group.
4. Your device now looks for the host's device. Keep the two close together — it takes a few seconds.

When you are in, you see a list of everyone in the group. The ★ marks the host.

Joining a group is always free, on any device.

1. Choose a game on the main screen and tap Play with friends. You see how many players the game takes (for example 2–6 players) and everyone in your group.
2. Tap Invite beside each person you want to play with. Their row says Waiting… until they answer.
3. They get an invitation and tap Accept or Decline.

Changed your mind? Tap the ✕ beside Waiting… to take the invitation back.

A game for two starts as soon as the other player taps Accept.

A game for three or more (for example a card game):

• The Accepted bar fills as people accept, for example Accepted 3 of 6. You count too.
• When everyone you invited has answered, tap Start. Until then the button says what it is waiting for, for example Waiting for 1 answer…
• The players who accepted see Waiting for the host to start… until you tap Start.

Not enough people? Use Computer players (− and +) and the computer plays those seats. It starts at 0, so people always come first.

A table has a limit. If you invite more people than fit, the app says so, for example The table is full (4 players).

A group can have up to 7 devices, the host included. The biggest card tables seat 7 players.

How many players a device can host depends on its hardware. Newer, stronger devices host more; older ones host fewer, and a few very old devices cannot host at all (they can still join). The app chooses a safe number for your device by itself.

You can change it in Settings → Max players I host. Auto is the number your device handles well.

• At a card table: the computer takes over the empty seat, and the game goes on. If the player comes back, the app says so.
• In a board game for two: the game is saved. Later, in the menu under Saved games, tap it to go on with the same player. You must both be in the group.

Leaving a game never takes you out of the group.

The group runs on the host's device. When the host taps Stop hosting, or the host's device goes away, the others see The group owner is offline.

The group is not lost. When the host opens the group again, everyone reconnects.

The host can leave the group's screen and play — the group keeps running, so the others can still invite each other.

No. When you open Jambolaya again, it rejoins your group by itself. If it doesn't, open My Groups and tap Join beside the group.

On the group's screen, tap Leave group. The group stays in your list, so you can join it again later.

Bluetooth is how your device finds the other players in the room and talks to them. Without the permission, you can still play every game alone and against the computer — but not with others.

On some older Android devices the permission is called Location. Jambolaya does not use your location; Android simply files Bluetooth searching under that name.

Android: open your device's Settings › Apps › Jambolaya › Permissions › Nearby devices and choose Allow. On older Android devices the permission is called Location.

iPhone: open Settings › Privacy & Security › Bluetooth and switch Jambolaya on.

Then go back to Jambolaya and try again.

Bluetooth is off — turn Bluetooth on in your device's settings or quick settings panel, then try again.

Turn Location on — some Android versions can only find nearby players while Location is switched on. Open Settings › Location, turn it on, and try again.

The button at the top of the main screen shows how you are connected to your group:

• Yellow, "Connecting…" — your device is still looking for the host. You are not linked yet.
• Green — you are connected, and you can play together.

A few seconds of yellow is normal. If it stays yellow, go through I can't join the group below.

Go through these in order. Stop as soon as it turns green.

1. Is the host ready? The host's device must be nearby, switched on, with Jambolaya open and the group running.
2. Is the code right? Check it letter by letter with the host. (Codes never use the easily confused 0, O, 1 or I.)
3. Come closer. Bring your device near the host's device — the same room, not the next floor.
4. Is Bluetooth on, and is the permission allowed? See the permission answer above.
5. Turn Bluetooth off and on on your device. Wait a few seconds after switching it back on.
6. Close Jambolaya completely and open it again. It rejoins your group by itself.
7. Still nothing? Ask the host to do steps 5 and 6 on their device too, or restart the devices.

If nobody has connected after a minute, the app shows Can't reach the group with these same steps.

The host's device already has as many players as it is set to host. You can:

• ask the host to raise Max players I host in Settings (if their device can handle more), or
• let someone with a stronger device create the group instead, or
• split into two groups.

Bluetooth sometimes loses a device for a moment — when someone walks away, or the device is busy. The app tries to reconnect by itself and shows Reconnecting to the host….

• At a card table, the computer plays that seat until the player is back. You will see … is back when they return.
• A player who dropped out may be asked Rejoin the game? — tap it to take the seat again.

If players drop out often, keep the devices closer together, and see the two answers below.

Your device's Bluetooth has got stuck. Apps are not allowed to restart Bluetooth themselves, so the app asks you to do it: switch Bluetooth off, wait a few seconds, switch it on again. Jambolaya reconnects by itself.

Hosting is the hardest job in a group: the host's device talks to every other device at once. When a host cannot keep up, players start to drop out. The game pauses and you can choose:

• Settings — host fewer players on this device, or
• OK — carry on playing.

The best fix is to let a newer, stronger device host the group. The app may even tell you which device in your group would host better.

Yes. Some older devices can't host a group, because their Bluetooth drops the other players. They can still join a group that someone else hosts, and play every game alone or against the computer.

The newest and strongest device in the room. A newer device hosts more players, more smoothly. Old or very cheap devices are better as players than as hosts.

Keep the host's device in the middle of the room, charged, and with Jambolaya open.

Every game is free to play alone and against the computer, with no ads.

Creating, hosting and joining a group is free too. In a free group you can play the free games together: Tic-Tac-Toe, Checkers, Crazy Eights, Tower Stack, Cannon Battle, Odd One Out and Word Search — at least one of every kind. They stay free forever.

A one-time purchase that opens every game in the groups you host. It is yours forever.

Only the host needs it. The people who join your group play everything and never pay.

The games in a group are chosen by its host. So if you bought it but join someone else's group, you see what their device can host. Host the group yourself, and everyone in it plays everything.

Before you buy, the app shows how many players your device can host. That depends on your device's hardware, not on the purchase.

No. Open Settings and tap Restore purchases, signed in with the same Google Play or Apple account. What you bought comes back at no cost.

"All games hosting" includes games we add later. We may also update games, and we may retire a game for legal, licensing, technical or safety reasons. If we retire a game, we will add a comparable new game in its place.

Your player name, your app language, whether you are busy in a game, and your moves in the games you play together. Nothing else.

At first, your player name is your device's name (for example "Anna's phone"), which may contain a real name. You can change it at any time in Settings. We recommend a nickname for children.

No. We run no server, and nothing you do in the app is sent to us. There are no ads, no analytics and no tracking. Your progress, settings and groups are stored only on your device — uninstalling the app deletes them.

The full details are in our privacy policy for the app.

To join, a device must be nearby and have your group's code. Share the code only with the people you want to play with.

What the devices in a group send each other is encrypted with a key made from the group's code, so devices outside the group cannot read it.