A Co-op Dungeon Crawler You Can Play With Friends in a Browser Tab

One of you opens a link and gets a four-character room code. Paste it in the group chat. Up to four of you are in the same dungeon — no installer, no launcher, no accounts to set up first.

Searching for a co-op dungeon crawler you can play with friends in a browser usually turns up a forum thread from four years ago, a listicle of games that all need a 40 GB download, or a tag page full of single-player prototypes. This page is the direct answer: what it actually takes to get four people into one dungeon, and what it is like once you are there.

Start a party run Co-op rules in detail

Getting four people into the same dungeon

1. One person creates the party. Open the game, and at camp choose to create a team.
2. You get a four-character code. The alphabet deliberately skips look-alike characters — no O against 0, no I against 1 — so the code survives being read aloud on a call or thumbed in on a phone.
3. Your friends open the same link and type the code. That is the whole handshake. Nobody needs an account on the same store, a friend request, or a client version that matches yours.
4. Everyone readies up and the host starts. The party lands in one generated dungeon with the seed shared: same layout, same monsters, same chests, same drops, same closing dark.
5. Already friends in-game? Skip the code — a one-click invite forwards the room to anyone on your list who is online.

There is no install step anywhere in that list. The time it takes to start is the time it takes your slowest friend to type four characters.

Where this actually fits

• A lunch break. Nothing to install on a work machine and nothing to uninstall afterwards. A run is minutes long, and you decide when to end it by walking out through an exit.
• A dorm or a shared room. Machines nobody has admin rights on still open a browser tab.
• Friends in other cities. You do not need a platform, a store, or a launcher in common. You need one link and four characters.
• The laptop with integrated graphics. It is pixel art drawn on a 2D canvas, so there is no GPU floor for someone in the group to fail to meet.
• Phones. It runs in a mobile browser with touch controls, and it can be added to the home screen as a PWA for fullscreen play — so the friend who only has a phone is not left out of the party.

How loot gets split

Loot arguments are what actually end co-op sessions, so the rules are worth knowing before you invite anyone.

Gold needs no rule. Every pile is split evenly across everyone still alive when it is picked up, and each player's own gold-find bonus then applies to their share. Nobody has to be the one who hoovers up coins.

Items do need a rule. The party leader sets the mode and the party can vote to change it — a change needs a majority. When something worth arguing over drops and more than one of you is alive, a short decision window opens:

• Roll (default). Anyone who wants the item rolls 1–100. Highest roll takes it.
• Bid. Bid gold from the run. The highest bid wins the item, and the gold paid is split among the rest of the party — so losing the roll pays you something.
• Free. No window at all. First hand on it keeps it.

If nobody rolls and nobody bids, the item simply drops to the floor for anyone to pick up.

Staying alive as a group

• No friendly fire. Your skills cannot hit your own party, and summons or charmed monsters fight only for your side. You do not have to aim around each other.
• Downed, not dead. A teammate who drops is downed for about 30 seconds. Stand next to them and channel a few seconds to bring them back up with part of their health. If the whole party goes down at once, the run settles immediately.
• You see each other. Names, levels and health bars sit above teammates' heads, and the minimap marks where everyone is.
• Exits are individual, descending is not. Whoever reaches the blue door first leaves with their own loot; the rest can keep going. The red gate takes the party one floor deeper together — richer, meaner, one-way.

When someone's connection drops

This is the part that ruins most browser co-op, so here it is plainly. A drop is not instantly fatal: there is a 60-second window to get back into the run, and refreshing the tab is enough — the session key finds your character again. Two things to know while you wait for them: their character stays in the dungeon and can still be attacked, and if the window runs out the run settles as a death and they drop what they were carrying. Runs are real-time and online, so a party cannot pause and wait.

One thing to know before you invite people

Inside your party, this is pure co-op — that part is absolute. But a party run is not a private lobby. Party runs are matched into a public dungeon that holds up to 6, so a second party can be placed on the same floor, and players from a rival party can damage you and you them. Parties are only ever matched with other parties; the solo pool and the party pool never mix.

In practice that means the walk back to the exit with a full bag is the dangerous stretch, and whether a fight is worth taking depends on your health, your gear and how far the exit is. Only a successful extraction counts.

If you want a dungeon with no strangers in it at all, the runs that never matchmake are the daily trial, the endless abyss, custom modes, and lone-wolf mode (solo only, costs gold).

An honest comparison with Steam co-op games

If you came here from a list of co-op dungeon crawlers on Steam, be clear about what you are trading.

• You give up fidelity. This is 2D pixel art on a canvas. It is not a 3D co-op blockbuster and it is not trying to be a substitute for one.
• You give up the evening-long session. Runs are built to fit a break, not a raid night.
• You get to actually start. No download, no launcher, no store account, no patch on the night you all agreed to play, no one friend whose machine cannot run it.
• You get four people in for free. There is no per-seat cost and no paid multiplayer tier, so the size of the group is not a budget question.

If what your group wants is a 3D co-op epic to sink a weekend into, buy one — that is a genuine recommendation. This is what you play when installing one is not an option, or when the window is forty minutes long.

What a party run looks like

1. Everyone picks a class at camp and slots skills. If someone has no gear, free starter equipment is issued automatically.
2. The party enters one shared dungeon and explores by limited torchlight. Traps, elites and the closing dark punish a group that spreads out.
3. Loot goes through whichever split rule you agreed on. Gold divides itself.
4. At the blue door, the group makes the call: bank what you are carrying, or take the red gate one floor deeper for better drops and worse odds.
5. Anyone who dies drops what they were carrying but keeps their stash, and gets free starter gear for the next dive.

FAQ

Can I play a dungeon crawler with friends without downloading anything?

Yes. It runs inside a browser tab — no installer, no launcher, no admin rights. One player creates a party at camp, shares the four-character room code, and up to four of you drop into the same dungeon. Free to play, and no account is needed to start.

How many players can play together?

Four. A party holds up to 4 players with no friendly fire between them. The dungeon instance itself holds up to 6, because party runs are matched into a public dungeon where a second party can turn up.

How do my friends join my run?

With a four-character room code. Create a party at camp, send them the code, and they enter it from the same page — no account link-up, no shared platform, nothing extra to install. Friends already on your list can be invited in one click without the code.

Is it free to play with friends?

Yes. Co-op is free, with no paid multiplayer tier and no purchase required to start a run. Optional purchases are cosmetic or convenience only — nothing sold affects combat stats.

Can other players attack my party?

Your own party never can. But party runs are matched into a public dungeon holding up to 6, so a rival party can share your floor and hurt you. The runs with no strangers are the daily trial, the endless abyss, custom modes and lone-wolf mode.

Where to go next

The co-op and PvP guide covers party rules, revives and the loot modes in more depth. The browser dungeon crawler page is the case for playing on a machine you cannot install anything on, and the genre page explains why loot is only yours once you carry it out.

Get a room code Nothing to install

Claim boundary

This is an owned discovery page. It describes VAULTREAVE's own co-op mechanics and nothing more; it is not a claim about the game's popularity, player counts, retention, balance or standing against any other title. The comparison above describes trade-offs in this game's own design and makes no assertion about the quality of any specific other game.