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Auto-Matching

Auto-Matching is a feature that allows you to play your favorite games with other members of the TrayGames community. When you select this option from the Play Mode window (shown on right) you will be placed into a pool of people looking to play a particular game. The TrayGames service will then automatically place people into a game together based on their SkillRank.

You may want to try this feature if you don't have any online friends to invite to a game, or if you just want to make some new friends! Be sure to let us know what you think of this feature and how it can be improved by giving us feedback.

First Player in Auto-Matching

Click the Use Auto-Matching button to indicate you want to play with other TrayGames members. If there is no one in the player pool for the game you want to play you will see the Auto-Match chat window. This window will indicate that it is waiting for other players to join. The first person in an Auto-Match group is the Owner and is the only person that can launch the game.

The Auto-Match window is very similar to the Chat window. It allows you to instant message the other players that are now part of your game group. It also shows us a few buttons. Let's examine them:

  • Ready - Shows you're ready to play.
  • Not Ready - Shows you're not yet ready to play the game.
  • Launch Game - Starts the game with all the Ready people in this group.
  • Exit - Closes the Chat window and removes you from the group.
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    The Ready button is disabled (gray in color) because as the first person in the Auto-Match, you are assumed to be ready to play.

    As soon as someone joins the owner will see a pop-up message and the new player will be visible in the Auto-Match window. The players can then talk to each other before launching the game. Until the owner of the Auto-Match group clicks the Launch button new players will continue to be added by the TrayGames service until the maximum players for the particular game you are playing is reached. You can continue to wait for the maximum amount of players, or launch the game with the minimum.

    As the first person in the Auto-Match group you may have to wait several minutes for another person to join, so please be patient! As more people discover the Auto-Matching feature wait times will go down.

    New Players in Auto-Matching

    If the TrayGames service is ready to place you into an existing Auto-Match game you will see the Auto-Match chat window and there will be player(s) in it. Since you are not the first person in this Auto-Match game you will not have the Launch button. You will also not be marked as Ready automatically, so you will have to press that button when you are in ready to play. Other than that, your experience will be the same whether you are the first player in an Auto-Match game, or the last.

    Note that you may not manually add friends into an Auto-Match game. You can use the Invite Your Friends feature to play with your buddies. Also note that if the Owner leaves the Auto-Match group a new owner will be assigned by the TrayGames service so the game can still be launched.