One keyboard
Two player games on one keyboard
Two people, one laptop, no second controller. Most browser games for two give each player four or five keys and a paragraph of instructions. These give each player one key.
Player 1 has A. Player 2 has L. That is the whole control scheme for every game on GamesDuo, so you learn it once.
How to set it up
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Step 1
Open a game
Pick Loop Race, Quick Draw or Tug of War. It loads in the browser tab.
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Step 2
Switch to 2 players
The game starts against a bot. Click "2 players" at the top of the game to hand the right side to a person.
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Step 3
Find your key
Player 1 rests a finger on A. Player 2 rests a finger on L.
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Step 4
Press Start
Click Start, wait for the countdown and play. The same button gives you a rematch.
Games you can play this way
Loop Race
Button masher
Two dots, one figure of eight. Mash your key to get round it twice before they do.
Play it
Quick Draw
Reaction
Wait for the lamp. First to press after it lights wins. Press early and you lose.
Play it
Tug of War
Tapping
One knot on one rope. Every tap pulls it your way. Drag it over your line to win.
Play it
Good to know
Why not WASD and arrows?
Arrow keys sit in a corner and laptops shrink them. A and L are full-size keys on the home row, the same on almost every layout.
Both keys at once
Keyboards can lose presses when many keys are held together. Two keys is the easy case, so A and L register together on nearly all of them.
Holding does nothing
A held key counts as one press. Every step is a fresh tap, so nobody wins by leaning on the keyboard.
Questions
Which keys do two players use on the same keyboard?
Player 1 uses the A key and player 2 uses the L key. They are on the same row with seven keys between them, so two hands fit side by side.
Do I need to install anything to play?
No. The games run in the browser tab. There is no download, no plug-in and no account.
Do the games work on a keyboard that is not QWERTY?
The games listen for the letters A and L, wherever your layout puts them. On an AZERTY keyboard the A key is one row higher, which still works but sits a little further from L.