It Runs in Whatever Browser You Already Have

There is no version to pick and no compatibility list to check. Mexican Train runs in the browser you already have, on whatever computer you already own. This page exists mostly to say so plainly, because a lot of people assume otherwise.

The short answer

If your browser has been updated in the last couple of years, it works. That covers Chrome, Safari, Firefox and Edge, on every desktop operating system.

You have	Use	Anything to install?
A Mac	Safari, Chrome, Firefox or Edge	No
A Windows PC	Edge, Chrome or Firefox	No
A Chromebook	Chrome — it is already there	No
Linux	Firefox or Chrome	No
An iPad or tablet	Safari or Chrome	No — details here

On a Mac

Safari is fine and so is Chrome. Nothing needs to come from the App Store. If you use a Mac and an iPad, sign in on both — it is one account and your games follow you.

On Windows

Edge is already installed and works; so does Chrome or Firefox if you prefer. There is no .exe to download, which also means nothing for a work machine to object to.

On a Chromebook

This is the case people ask about most, because a Chromebook cannot run Windows or Mac programs at all. It does not need to. The game is a website, so a Chromebook runs it exactly as well as any other computer — no Android app, no Linux container, no workaround.

On Linux

Firefox or Chrome. Nothing platform-specific is involved, so there is nothing to go wrong.

What actually matters

Rather than a version list, the honest requirements are short:

• A browser from roughly the last two years. A very old browser on an unsupported operating system may struggle — that is the only real limit.
• An internet connection. The game is live, so it needs the network. There is no offline mode.
• JavaScript enabled, which it is unless you turned it off deliberately.

That is the list. No plugins, no Flash, no Java, no downloads.

Everybody can be on something different

This is the practical payoff. In one game you might have somebody on a Windows desktop, somebody on a MacBook, somebody on a Chromebook and somebody on an iPad, and it is the same game for all of them at the same time. Nobody is left out because of what they happen to own, and nobody has to be talked through installing anything.

If you want to know how a game gets started and shared, the overview of playing online covers it, and how to play Mexican Train covers the rules.

Keep reading

• How to play Mexican Train — the whole game
• Playing on an iPad or tablet
• How playing online works
• Playing with a big group