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Getting Connected Note: If you are using a VPN for nothing related to the problem discussed below, it's probably best to disable it. Some VPNs do offer features that are remedies for these issues. You can get to this page with the Technical Issues link in the program's menu.

I want to start with the most complicated case -- two players each on their own home or local network. One of them needs to do this. Later, we can deal with the easy situations which are also mentioned in the adjacent Connection Box. A local network is like a gated community. The gate is located at a given address (i.e., IP) on World Wide Boulevard. Inside the gate is Machines Street which winds through the entire population. Every machine has its own address which is unique within the community. Thousands could have that same local address but in other communities. If you wanted to connect with someone in a given community, a double-address approach would work. You would provide the World Wide address to get to the gate as well as the local Machines Street address to get to the computer in question. That would be conceptually simple to understand and require only a few more keystrokes.  But a protocol to do that does not exist. Computer connections happen via an address and a port number (which is in essence one of many doors to the machine). This is a second piece of information that can be used for other purposes. The technique I will describe is called Port Forwarding but that name is somewhat misleading. The port number used in the initial request to the World Wide address is used like a secret code number for a garage door opener. Every member of the community has their own unique secret code. They may all end up using the same port so it is clearly not intended to be a useable port number for a connection. The gatekeeper for the community (your router) has a list of these codes. For each code it knows the corresponding local address and the port number that should be used to make the connection. Example from such a list:  Main Gate Caller Port Used: 1099     Transfer To Address: 198.164.1.44    Using Port: 13040                                     This is pretty understandable. The problem with it is that you have to tell your router this information. Most people have likely never told their router anything more than the name to use for the network.  But there is always a first time for everything, and hosting games with friends and family members might make you a hero. To get to the router's interface, you can usually fire up your browser and enter the IP address 192.168.1.1 or 192.168.0.1 If not, check your manual. Maybe try Google AI for advice on your router model. I have found it useful for some problems. Below is the screen for entering the necessary information using my router. Note the left side tab selected: WAN Note the top tab: Includes the subject of Port Forwarding. Note the bottom area is where that information is entered. Your router will probably look different, but somehow, someway there is a means to enter this information. This doesn't look as hard as it used to. The Service Name is whatever you want it to be. The Port Range is the secret code number you pick. Note that each machine has a different one. The Local IP is the Local Address for one machine. The WildWords Connect box will show you the Local IP and the Local Port you are ready with. 13040 is the default Port Number for a WildWords connection. It can be changed. BTW, it is only the Host in the Host/Guest relationship that needs to do this. The Host will provide the Guest with the Wide World address. The connection box above has a button to find out what that address is. In addition, the Host provides the Port Range (secret number) for the Guest to specify as the port number. The WildWords Connection Box is very simple once you know this stuff, and it remembers what you put for another day. I will be experimenting with other approaches including TAILSCALE which can provide you with a unique IP outside of your gated community. That also solves the problem of two addresses. Easy Situations  (none of the above is required) 1. Both players are on the same local network. The guest connects using the the host's local ip and local port to connect. 2. One player is not on a local network but connects directly to a Wide World Address. That player should be the host. 3. You just want to practice. No connection at all to the Internet is needed. Firewalls Firewalls, in theory are designed to protect your machine from harmful invasions. They may also inhibit useful connections like the one needed to play WildWords. Typically there are options you can choose to allow certain programs or certain ports to be used freely. Remember that WildWords will be running as an Oracle program that runs java. Your system may not see this as something named WildWords. A solution permitting various ports used by WildWords would be better. WildWords has no way to communicate anything but the game's status between the two players. It does not even update itself. I mentioned TAILSCALE above. This approach and others like it are less likely to draw interference from firewalls. Even so, the best solution remains to use Port Forwarding and find a way to slip this program through restrictions your firewall may be enforcing. As mentioned before, Google AI sometimes offers decent support for technical issues about specific situations.