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The handoff screen — how it works

How NoCharge's shared handoff screen works for Pass & Play games: hidden-information privacy, who-can-see rules, and what it never stores.

Bottom line: The handoff screen is NoCharge’s shared component for two players on one device. It hides the board before a turn change so a player with hidden information (ships, letters, planned strokes) cannot see the next player’s move, shows whose turn is next, and continues only when the next player taps the button.

When it appears

  • Hidden-information games (for example Battleship when it ships): the screen replaces the board; the next player taps Continue to reveal only their side.
  • Open-board games (Gomoku, Checkers, Nine Men’s Morris): the screen briefly identifies the next player before the shared board returns.

Every Pass & Play game page embeds the same component, so the behavior is consistent instead of per-game.

What it never does

  • It does not show the previous player’s private information after the pass.
  • It does not save names, timing, or pass counts. Nothing about the handoff itself is persisted.
  • It does not include a timer, a “hurry up” message, or a score for passing speed.
  • It does not handle network turn-taking; this is strictly local.

Limits

The screen protects the boundary between turns, not the room. It cannot prevent a player across the table from glancing at a shared open board, and it is not a network privacy feature. For true remote play, NoCharge intentionally offers nothing — that is out of scope by design.

FAQ

What does the handoff screen show?

For hidden-information games it shows only whose turn it is and the next player's name; the board is hidden. For open-board games it shows a short "pass to Player 2" message, then the visible board.

Does the handoff screen time players?

No. There is no countdown. The next player taps Continue when they are ready.

Are player names saved anywhere?

No. Names stay in page memory and reset on reload. The only persisted value is the bounded match record under nocharge:passplay:match:*.

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