Parlor

Link cable over Game Center

Parlor emulates the cable itself, byte for byte, and carries it over Game Center. Two people anywhere on the internet can trade or battle — or you can link two of your own games side by side on one screen.

  • Game Boy and Game Boy Color games link with each other.
  • Game Boy Advance games link with Game Boy Advance games.
  • Nintendo DS and 3DS don't use a cable; their wireless play isn't carried by Parlor.
  • Both sides need their own copy of the game.

Play with a friend

  1. Open Link & trade

    From the library toolbar, or the pause menu of the game you want to link. Choose Play with a friend.

  2. Check Game Center

    The screen shows whether you're signed in. If not, sign in under system Settings → Game Center and come back.

  3. Pick the game and find a partner

    Choose the game to link and tap Find a partner. Keep the screen open on both devices while it reads Looking for a partner…

  4. Play

    When it says Connected to partner, both games are running with the cable attached. Start the trade or battle in-game as you would on real hardware.

Timing

Because the cable is emulated faithfully, an internet trade takes a little longer than one on the same table. Fast link games — battles, real-time play — feel best when both players are on the same Wi-Fi network.

If the connection drops you'll see Link lost and can keep playing solo. Your saves are written as usual.

Trade on this device

Trade on this device runs two of your games at once, split-screen, each with its own touch controls and the cable between them. It's the way to move things between your own cartridges — say, from a game to its sequel. Both games save automatically when you quit. Available on iPhone, iPad and Mac.

Requirements and limits

  • A Game Center account on each device for the online mode.
  • The build must include the Game Center entitlement; developer builds without it show Game Center isn't available in this build.
  • One link session at a time.