How to start
- Open bigboard.games on one phone or tablet and tap Start a table.
- Pick the game; the players at this device are set before the match.
- Lay the device flat between you and play.
Two halves facing each other
Lay the tablet flat between you and sit at its short ends. The screen splits across its long axis, and each of you gets a whole Spillover screen turned toward you: your own grid, ink and rail, with the two wells meeting in the middle where the seam would be on two devices. On two devices, the 2 player drawing game gives each of you a whole screen.
Each half takes its own touches, so a pen or a palm on one side never cancels a finger on the other, and both of you can draw at full speed at once. The hints come per half, and only one half plays the sounds that belong to the whole table. Air hockey for two on one screen also seats you at the short ends.
Which tablets can split
Split screen is offered on any tablet-sized screen, upright or sideways: about 768 × 1024 CSS pixels, less what the browser's bars take, so every iPad qualifies even in a Safari tab, and so do large Android tablets. It is never offered on a phone, which is too short for two wells, so of the 2 player games on one phone it's the one that needs a tablet.
To fit two wells, a smaller tablet draws its grid a little finer, never under 7 mm a square. On the smallest iPads each half then has three or four rows to draw in, still enough to lay the widest shape down.
A match on one screen
Rounds work as they do on two devices: two minutes, ink that doubles after the first, a full line to stay under, and best of three or a single round. Classic, Tides and Sudden Overflow are all there.
Turning the tablet in the middle of a match would swap the halves, so it pauses behind Turn the device back until you do. Spillover has no bots, so both seats are people. If another device sits at the table, it names the two of you, says where you're playing and shows the winner at the end.
Pass and play: questions and answers
Does the split screen work on a phone?
No, it's for tablets only; on phones Spillover takes two devices, one per player.
Does any iPad work?
Yes, every iPad is big enough to split, upright or sideways.
Does turning the tablet pause the match?
Yes, until it's turned back, because the two halves would otherwise swap.
Can one of the two players be a bot?
No, Spillover has no bots: both halves are played by people.