Emufii 2.0 Lets You Play Emulator Multiplayer Online With a Six Character Code

2026-10-12 · News and analysis

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There is a whole category of games that have been nearly impossible to play properly for twenty years. Not because the games are rare, and not because emulators cannot run them. Because they needed two consoles in the same room.

Mario Kart DS download play. Monster Hunter on PSP. Pokémon trading over a link. Four player Wii games. All of it assumed you and your friends were sitting on the same sofa.

Emufii is an Android app that gets around this in a way most writeups have described incorrectly. Version 2.0 arrived on 6 October 2026, with three hotfixes landing two days later.

Here is what it actually does, which games it covers, and the version traps that will stop you cold if nobody warns you about them.

The Short Version

• It is not netplay. This is the single most important thing to understand, and we explain why below.
• Emufii builds a private network between the players using WireGuard through Android's built in VPN feature. Your emulators then believe everyone is on the same Wi-Fi.
• Each emulator's own local wireless mode does the rest. Emufii never touches the game.
• You share a six character code. No port forwarding, no swapping IP addresses.
• It covers seven systems across six emulators, including the DS, PSP, PS2, GameCube and Wii.
• Version 2.0 added DS local wireless between remote players, which previously did not work at all.
• The emulator version gates are strict, and they are where most people will get stuck.
• It ships no games, no BIOS files and no keys. You use your own dumps and install the emulators yourself.
• It is free, AGPL licensed, and openly states it was about 90% built with AI. More on that at the end.
• It is beta software and runs on Android 13, 14 and 15 only.

Why This Is Not Netplay, and Why That Matters

Our netplay guide covers the approach almost everyone means when they say online emulator multiplayer. RetroArch netplay takes two copies of RetroArch running the same game and keeps their emulated state in sync across the internet. One machine hosts, the other follows, and the emulator itself is doing the networking.

Emufii works the other way around, and it is a genuinely different idea.

It does not sync anything. It creates a small private network that exists only for the length of your session, then puts every player's device on it. From inside that network, the emulators cannot tell the difference between your friend three time zones away and a second console on your coffee table. So when a DS game goes looking for another DS over local wireless, it finds one.

The emulator's own multiplayer code runs completely untouched. Emufii's job is plumbing.

This distinction decides which games work. Netplay can in principle work with any game, including strictly single player ones, because it is syncing machine state. Emufii only works with games that shipped their own local or online multiplayer on the original console. If two kids with two Game Boys could not do it in 2004, Emufii cannot do it now.

That is a real limitation. It is also why the games it does cover tend to work properly rather than almost working, because you are using the multiplayer the developers built and tested.

The Systems It Covers

Seven systems, six emulators, and a different multiplayer mode on each. This table is the practical heart of the whole thing.

Those version numbers are not suggestions. Dolphin on Android has a specific build number here. Azahar needs a pre-release rather than its stable channel. Get either wrong and the session will not come up, and nothing will tell you why.

Version 2.0 added a warning when your emulator version does not match the host's, which is a small feature that will save a lot of confused evenings.

The DS is the awkward one. DS local wireless only works through a fork called WatermelonDS Emufii Edition, because the netplay it needs is not in the official builds yet. The fork installs alongside the official app rather than replacing it, so your saves and settings stay where they are. The project is upfront that the fork becomes unnecessary once the feature lands upstream. Every player in a DS session needs the same fork build, not just a recent one.

DS online play through a Wi-Fi Connection revival server is separate, and that route works with ordinary melonDS or WatermelonDS. Our melonDS setup guide covers the emulator side.

How Many Games, Honestly

The project publishes a compatibility list and shows a badge in your library for each game. These are its own counts as of 12 October 2026.

Before you get excited about 1314 Wii games, read the project's own caveat, which it puts at the top of that list in bold:

"Expected to work" is not "tested by hand".

The lists are derived from which games had multiplayer on the original hardware, and only a fraction have been played end to end. That is an honest way to publish a compatibility list, and it is more honest than most. Treat the numbers as a starting point rather than a promise.

The PS2 count being 64 while the Wii is 1314 is not a bug. Far fewer PS2 games supported System Link in the first place.

Two more requirements that apply everywhere. Every player needs the same dump of the same game, region included. And every player needs the same emulator version.

What Version 2.0 Actually Added

The headline is DS local wireless with a remote friend, which did not work before at all.

Beyond that, 2.0 brought server selection between Europe and North America with automatic picking by distance, one tap online play for PSP where the app sets up the emulator and picks the server the game's players are already on, profile pictures in sessions, a rebuilt friends page with alerts when a friend comes online, and the emulator version mismatch warning.

The three hotfixes on 8 October added more servers, in US East, US West and Tokyo, also picked automatically by distance. One of them added something small and thoughtful: guests who are a long way from the session's server now get told to expect input lag, rather than finding out by losing.

They also fixed DS sessions failing to launch on Xiaomi phones, and replaced a raw system error with a readable message when the DS emulator is installed but will not open.

What It Is Not

The project is unusually clear about its own boundaries, and this list is close to its own wording.

• Not an emulator. Every game runs in an emulator you installed yourself.
• Not a frontend. The game library exists to start sessions, not to replace your launcher.
• Not a downloader. It includes and installs no games, no BIOS files, no keys and no emulators.
• Not streaming. Everyone runs their own copy on their own device.
• Not a way back to official servers. It never connects to Nintendo's or Sony's servers, so games that depended on those are still offline. DS games through a revival server are the one exception.

That last point is worth sitting with. Nothing here resurrects a shut down service. It reproduces the local wireless and LAN features that were always in the games, between devices that happen not to be in the same room.

Our position on game files has not moved, and this app does not change it. The only version we endorse is a cartridge or disc you own and dumped yourself. Our ROMs and legality explainer covers where those lines sit.

The Caveats Worth Knowing

It is beta, and says so. Android 13, 14 and 15. Expect bugs.

Public sessions are a different security posture than private ones. The project flags this itself, and it deserves repeating in plain terms. In a public session, other players' devices can reach yours, in the same way they could if you were all on a shared Wi-Fi network. If you are playing with friends, keep the session private. That is not a flaw so much as an unavoidable consequence of putting everyone on one network, but it is the sort of thing that belongs in a review rather than a footnote.

Only game traffic goes through the tunnel. The rest of your connection is untouched, which is the right design.

The autofill feature needs an accessibility permission. Android blocks it by default for apps installed outside a store, and you have to allow restricted settings to turn it on. That is normal for sideloaded apps, and it is also exactly the permission you should think twice about granting to software you do not trust.

Session data is short lived. The project says codes, nicknames and the current game live on its server only for the session and are deleted when it ends. Your friend code is never shown to other players in a session.

The servers are not open source. The app's code is public under AGPL-3.0, but the coordinator and relay that run the network are deliberately kept private. The project explains the reasoning openly in its legal notice: the licence is what stops a commercial fork, and withholding the server code is what stops someone standing up a copy on its infrastructure. Worth knowing if self hosting matters to you, because you cannot.

It bundles one PlayStation 2 save file. A memory card containing only the PS2's network configuration. The project explains why in detail: without that data no PS2 LAN game will open its network menu, and the utility that writes it shipped in only a handful of games. It is a deliberate redistribution of a configuration file, documented rather than hidden, and that transparency is the reason we are comfortable mentioning it.

The AI Question

The project discloses, in its own README and without being asked, that about 90% of its code was written with AI assistance, specifically Claude Code. It also says the developer decides the design, reviews what goes in, and tests on real hardware before shipping.

We built a framework for exactly this situation when the recomp scene split three ways over AI. The useful question is never "did they use AI." It is what checks their output, and is that check automatic.

By that test, Emufii lands in the category we called Disclose, and it is a fairly strong example. It states the tooling upfront, it describes a review and hardware testing process, and it says the app and servers have had security reviews with the issues found fixed. It also notes that experienced developers have since started contributing.

What we cannot do is verify most of that. The server code is private, the security reviews are not published, and we have not run the app. So treat it as a project being honest about its process rather than a project that has proved its process. That is still meaningfully better than the alternative, which is finding out later.

The project also went through a rename and a licence change this year, both documented in its own notes rather than quietly. That pattern of writing things down is the most encouraging signal here.

If you are not comfortable with software built this way, that is a reasonable position and the project says so too.

What You Need

An Android handheld, your own game dumps, and the emulators themselves. Emufii supplies none of those.

The devices that suit this best are the Android ones, since the whole thing is an Android app. Our Android emulation guide covers getting the emulators set up in the first place, and Linux vs Android handhelds is the decision to understand before buying, because a Linux handheld cannot run this at all.

For the games themselves, our best DS games and best local multiplayer games lists are both full of titles whose multiplayer you have probably never actually used.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Emufii?

An Android app that connects your emulators to your friends' emulators over the internet. It creates a private network between the players for the length of a session, so each emulator's own local wireless or LAN multiplayer works as though everyone were on the same Wi-Fi. Version 2.0 was released on 6 October 2026.

Is Emufii the same as netplay?

No, and the difference matters. RetroArch netplay syncs emulated state between two copies of the same emulator. Emufii instead builds a private network so the emulators think they are on the same local Wi-Fi, then lets each game's own multiplayer handle everything. That means Emufii only works with games that shipped local or online multiplayer on the original console.

Which systems does Emufii support?

Nintendo DS, 3DS and Switch, Wii and GameCube, PSP, and PlayStation 2, across six different emulators. Each one uses a different multiplayer mode, and several require a specific emulator version or build number.

Is Emufii free?

Yes. It is free and its app code is released under the AGPL-3.0 licence. The session server and relay that run the network are kept private, so you cannot self host it.

Does Emufii include games or BIOS files?

No. The project states plainly that it includes, downloads and installs no games, BIOS files, keys or emulators. You install the emulators yourself and use your own dumps. Every player in a session needs the same dump of the same game, including the same region.

Why does Emufii need a VPN permission?

Because that is the mechanism it uses. It builds the private session network with WireGuard through Android's built in VPN feature. Only game traffic is routed through it, and the rest of your connection is unaffected.

Does Emufii work on Nintendo's online servers?

No. The project never connects to Nintendo's or Sony's servers, so games that depended on those services remain offline. The one exception is DS games played through a community Wi-Fi Connection revival server, which is a separate route from the local wireless one.

Is Emufii safe to use in public sessions?

Be careful there. The project warns that in a public session other players' devices can reach yours, much as they could on a shared Wi-Fi network. For playing with friends, keep the session private. It also requires an accessibility permission for its autofill feature, which Android restricts for sideloaded apps.

Was Emufii made with AI?

The project discloses that about 90% of its code was written with AI assistance, and says the developer sets the design, reviews the code, and tests on real hardware before each release. It also claims security reviews of the app and servers. Those claims are not independently verifiable, since the server code is private and the reviews are not published.

Related Reading

• How to Set Up Netplay: Online Multiplayer on Retro Handhelds
• How to Emulate Retro Games on Android
• The Recomp Scene Split Three Ways Over AI
• 25 Best Local Multiplayer Games for Retro Handhelds
• Linux vs Android Handhelds
• Best DS Games
• ROMs, BIOSes, and Legality

Written 12 October 2026. Version numbers, console support, compatible game counts and licence details come from the project's own README, release notes, compatibility list and legal notice, retrieved the same day. We have not run Emufii on any device and publish no latency or performance figures of our own.