How to have an aura battle online with friends (no download)
Step-by-step: build a fighter, create a battle, send the six-character code, and battle live from any phone or laptop — the bigger move takes the pot — while everyone else watches.
You don't need a plaza. Aura Battles runs in the browser, works on phones and laptops, and takes under a minute from opening the link to your first battle.
Step 1: build your fighter
You're handed a handle (keep it, roll another, or type your own). No email, no password. Then pick your fighter: Spike and Buns are free, and the other 22 unlock with aura you farm by playing (10,000 for the first, then 5,000 more for each one after). Every fighter has its own ability. Make yours with colours, apparel, and your aura colour and aura effect; looks never change who wins. Press the fighter to see it react.
The very first time, a coach walks you through a 4-round tutorial battle with no clock. Then you're ready.
Step 2: fight now, or create a battle
FIGHT NOW starts a 1v1 aura battle. Your first five matches are against the bot, straight away, so you learn the game first. After that it looks for a live fighter at your level for 8 seconds, and if nobody is around it puts you against the house bot, matched to your level. Every opponent is labelled: LIVE or BOT. No code, no second person needed.
For a friend, hit play a friend → create a battle. You get a six-character code and a QR. Share the link and it opens on "you've been challenged" with take the seat or watch. They can also just type the six characters on their own home screen.
Step 3: the battle
One of you leads and the other answers, and the roles swap every round:
- The ante drops into the pot and you both gain a sauce (you can hold 4). Moves cost 1 to 4 sauce, and every move carries an effect.
- The leader plays a move everyone can see, or passes. Then the other answers with it showing.
- The bigger move takes the pot. A move beats a pass. Same size: a tie, both antes go back. Two passes and both antes go back too.
- Passing pays +1 sauce and a new move. Can't cover the ante? You're out and the other fighter takes the table. You can't win more than you put in, so a comeback takes a few pots in a row.
Your first battles teach the game by handing you one new move with one new effect each time; a friend who has played longer plays at your stage (EVEN PLAY), so their extra effects sleep. If time runs out, the move you picked plays, or you pass if you picked nothing. Every rule, effect and unlock is in the game guide.
Step 4: the crowd
Anyone with the code can watch. Spectators see the ante, the lead, the answer and who takes the pot at the same instant the fighters do, so every moment lands on everyone at once.
Spectators send canned reactions — LET HIM COOK, +1000 AURA, GG and the rest — which pop up in the arena, and the fighters can react too.
There is no free text, in either direction: the reactions are a fixed list, so there is nothing to moderate and nothing to say to a stranger that we did not write ourselves. And nothing a spectator does changes who takes the pot — the crowd is the noise, not the judge.
Step 5: after
When a fighter can't cover the ante they're out, and the survivor takes everything left on the table. The winner farms aura onto their profile — the pot they scooped, the biggest pot of the match, the pots they took. The result shows the match round by round, renders a picture to share, and AGAIN starts the next one in one press. Want to win more of them? Read how to win an aura battle.
On a TV, for a whole room
Open the battle on a big screen and let the room scan the QR: everyone watches on the TV or their own phone. The full playbook for a class, a party or a plaza is in how to host an aura battle.
Solo
No opponent right now? FIGHT NOW still works: after a few seconds without a live fighter you meet the house bot, always labelled BOT. It's a real server match — same rules, same aura — and the bot takes its time like a person does: quick on an easy decision, slower on a hard one, so you can learn to read it. The bot is matched to how you actually play, never to whether you won or lost your last few, so it's close to a fair fight once you've played a handful.
Start here. It's free, and aura has no cash value.
FAQ
Is there an aura battle app?
Aura Battles runs in the browser on any phone or computer, so there's nothing to install. Add it to your home screen if you want an icon.
Can I play aura battles with friends far away?
Yes. Share the battle link or the six characters; they join from wherever they are. The match is run by the server, so both sides see the same ante, the same clock and the same moves.
How many people can watch?
There's no limit on spectators. They see every move at the same instant the fighters do and can send canned reactions, and none of it changes who takes the pot.
Is it free?
Yes. Aura is earned by playing, can't be bought or sold, and nothing is sold for real money. Fighters are unlocked with aura you farm; cosmetics never change who wins.
keep reading
How to play Aura Battles: one leads, one answers, the bigger move takes the pot. The ante, sauce, ties, effects, the tutorial, the unlock road, fighters and their abilities, bosses, daily goals and titles.
What actually wins aura battles according to the people running them: composure, timing, commitment, a bit of comedy, and knowing when to walk off. Plus how to win the online version.
The complete list of moves used in aura battles, with what each one looks like, where it came from, and how much aura it's worth. From the sigma stare to the sandal lasso.
A practical guide to running an aura battle: format, judging, music, rules that keep it fun, what organisers in Mexico City, La Plata and Madrid did, and how to run the online version on a TV.