Big Walk Join Code

Getting into a Big Walk session takes one of two routes, and which one you use depends on whether the game can see you and the host as friends on the same platform. Neither route involves a server browser or matchmaking — those do not exist here.

The join code is the fallback that always works, including across platforms, and on one storefront it is the only option there is.

Friends list. If you and the host are friends on the platform you are playing on — Steam, PlayStation Network, or Nintendo Switch Online — the host’s active session appears automatically in a menu of friend games. Nothing needs to be typed. This is the default path and it works across platforms thanks to crossplay.

Join code. A short, unique code generated fresh every time the host starts a session. The host shares it however they like and anyone with it can join, friends list or not. Because it regenerates per session, an old code from last week will not work.

The one hard exception: the Mac App Store version does not support Game Center, which means it shows no friends-games list at all. If your host is on that build, everyone joins by code every time. The Steam version on macOS does not have this limitation — this is a storefront difference, not a platform one.

Two locations, depending on when you look:

• Before the session starts — the code is displayed in the corner of the host menu.
• After the session has started — open the in-game menu and go to Session Details.

That second location is the useful one, because the common situation is that you have already started playing and a friend is trying to get in. The host does not need to end the session to retrieve the code.

Sessions can carry a password, and it can be changed while the game is running. Open the in-game menu and choose Session Details — the same panel that shows the join code.

Being able to change it mid-session means a host who has shared a code too widely can lock the session down without ending it and disconnecting everyone.

There is also a moderation menu in-game with the ability to silence a player, which is worth knowing exists before you need it. Silencing is a per-session action, not a platform-level block.

House House’s own checklist for “my friend’s game isn’t showing up in the list”, in order:

1. Add them as a friend on the service you are using — Steam, PlayStation, or Nintendo Switch Online. The in-game list is a view of the platform’s friends list, not a separate one.
2. Check whether you are on the Mac App Store build, which will never show a friends-games list.
3. Use the join code instead. This bypasses the entire question.

If characters are visible but moving erratically after a successful join, that is a different problem — see troubleshooting, and check the host’s frame rate before blaming anyone’s internet.

For a mixed-platform group, this is what actually happens each time you play:

1. The host launches and starts a session. Nobody else can do anything until this happens — the save is on their machine and the session does not exist until they create it.
2. The host chooses the world size (2, 3 or 4+) and, if anyone needs it, enables challenge skipping from the accessibility menu. Both are locked for the session once it starts.
3. The host reads the join code from the corner of the host menu. If they have already started playing, it is under Session Details in the in-game menu instead.
4. Same-platform friends can skip the code — the host’s session appears automatically in their friends-games list.
5. Everyone else uses the code, including anyone on a different platform and anyone on the Mac App Store build.

Because the code changes every session, there is no permanent invite link and nothing to bookmark. Groups usually settle into pasting it into a group chat, which does not conflict with House House’s rule against external voice chat — that rule is about talking during play, not about logistics before it.

Two controls exist inside the session, both worth knowing before you need them.

The session password can be changed at any time from Session Details, without ending the session or disconnecting anyone. If a code has been shared more widely than intended, this closes the door without punishing the people already inside.

The moderation menu allows a player to be silenced. This is a per-session action rather than a platform-level block — it stops you hearing them for that session. Worth remembering when troubleshooting: if one specific player cannot hear one specific other player and the microphone tests fine, check whether someone has been silenced here before blaming hardware.

The join code is the only joining method that works identically everywhere, which is why cross-platform groups end up using it exclusively. A code generated by a Nintendo Switch 2 host works for a player on Steam, a player on PS5 and a player on the Mac App Store, with no per-platform variation and no extra linking step.

That also means a group does not need everyone to be friends with everyone. One person hosts, one code circulates, and the platform friendships underneath are irrelevant. For a group assembled from different social circles — a few work friends, a few from elsewhere — this is simpler than getting eleven people to add each other on four services.