Play online

WonderGate games can go online again: post scores, see the national rankings, and unlock the extras that once needed a DoCoMo phone. The easiest way is MesenCE with the WonderGate adapter built in: tick one box and play. Mednafen and real consoles work too, with Swan Revival Link.

Pick your setup

Setup	You need	Works on
MesenCE (recommended)	Our MesenCE build. Nothing else	macOS, Linux (Windows soon)
Mednafen (emulator)	Mednafen 1.32 or newer, Swan Revival Link, Node.js 22	macOS (Linux untested)
A real WonderSwan	An ExtFriend-compatible cable, Swan Revival Link, Node.js 22	macOS (Linux untested)
Bluetooth module	The module and our phone app	In design
RetroArch, phones	Not yet

The servers are still in testing. This guide is what you'll follow once they open, along with the downloads.

With MesenCE

Download our MesenCE build (coming when the servers open).It's MesenCE, a high-accuracy WonderSwan emulator, with the WonderGate adapter built in.
- Mac: unzip it and move Mesen to Applications. The first time you open it, macOS says it can't check the app for malicious software. Open System Settings, then Privacy & Security, and chooseOpen Anyway next to Mesen. You only do this once.
- Linux: install SDL2 (sudo apt install libsdl2-2.0-0 on Ubuntu and Debian), make the AppImage executable (chmod +x Mesen.AppImage), and run it.
Settings, WonderSwan, then the WonderGate tab: tick Connect a WonderGate adapter.
Optional, to put your name on your scores: sign in, choose “Link a console”, and enter the code under Account on the same tab.
Power on the game and open its WonderGate menu. Each game's rankings page shows the way in, including the hidden ones (hold the buttons while the game powers on).

Swan Revival Link

For Mednafen and real consoles: a small program that stands in for the 2001 WonderGate adapter and phone. It answers the game the way the adapter did and sends its traffic to our servers. Your console and cartridge stay as they are: no patches.

Download: coming when the servers open.

Unzip it somewhere it can stay, such as a swan-link folder in your home folder. It needs Node.js 22 or newer.

Put your name on your scores (optional)

~/swan-link/swan-link --link ABCD2345

Without this, your scores still post, under the name you type in the game.

With Mednafen

Install Mednafen 1.32 or newer. On a Mac with Homebrew:
```
brew install mednafen
```
On Linux, use your package manager.
Install Swan Revival Link (above).
Start the game with the WonderGate switched on:
```
mednafen -wswan.excomm 1 -wswan.excomm.path ~/swan-link/swan-link "Raku Jongg (Japan).wsc"
```
To leave it on for every game, set wswan.excomm 1 and wswan.excomm.path in mednafen.cfg.
Open the game's WonderGate menu. Each game's rankings page shows the way in, including the hidden ones.

With a real WonderSwan

Get an ExtFriend-compatible cable for the console's EXT port, such as an ExtFriend. Our own EXT dongle will work too. The console doesn't need modifying for this.
Plug it in and find its port: ls /dev/cu.usbmodem* on a Mac, ls /dev/ttyACM* on Linux.
Start Swan Revival Link on that port and leave it running:
```
~/swan-link/swan-link --serial /dev/cu.usbmodem1101
```
Open the game's WonderGate menu.

Why these emulators?

The WonderGate needs the emulator to hand the console's serial port to an adapter. Stock MesenCE and ares model the port but don't connect it to anything, so we added the adapter to MesenCE, one of the most accurate WonderSwan emulators. Mednafen can hand the port to another program (wswan.excomm), which is how Swan Revival Link plugs in.

Using another server

Swan Revival runs the default server, but you're never tied to it. MesenCE has a Server address on the WonderGate tab (with “Use default” to come back), and Swan Revival Link takes --server. Any server that speaks the same WonderGate tunnel works, and the protocol and our server code are public so anyone can run one. Your account link stays with the server it was made on and is never sent to another.

RetroArch and phones

Not yet. The same adapter can go into a RetroArch core, which would also cover Android. Tell us onGitHub if you'd use it.

If it doesn't connect

The game can't find the phone or adapter: In MesenCE, tick Connect a WonderGate adapter and power the game on again: the adapter is plugged in at power-on. With Mednafen, check the two wswan.excomm settings and the path. With a cable, check that Swan Revival Link is running on the right port.
It connects, then shows an error: Check the server address (WonderGate tab in MesenCE, --server for Link) and your internet connection. With Link, ~/.swanrevival/link.log says what went wrong.
My scores don't show my name: Link your account (above). Scores posted before you linked stay under the in-game name.

What's sent: only what the game itself sends (its name, scores, and requests), plus your link token if you linked. Nothing else from your computer.