Deploy and Host Nuz-Dash on Railway

Nuz-Dash is a multiplayer Pokemon Nuzlocke platform: play GB/GBA/NDS games in the browser, let the tracker log encounters straight from the game's memory, and watch your friends' runs live in a shared lobby. No accounts — invite links are all it takes. Bring your own legally-dumped ROMs.

About Hosting Nuz-Dash

Nuz-Dash is a single lightweight Node.js service, deployed from a Dockerfile — Railway builds the client and boots the server automatically. All state (lobbies, runners, attempts, ROMs, save states) lives as files on one attached volume, so there is no database to provision. The template ships with the volume mounted at /data and a randomly generated ADMIN_TOKEN that protects the built-in admin dashboard at /admin (HTTP basic auth, user admin). After deploying, open your instance's URL, create a lobby, upload your ROM, and share the invite link — each friend gets their own secret link with their run history, saves, and controller settings.

Common Use Cases

• Racing Nuzlocke attempts with friends: everyone runs the same ROM hack in a shared lobby, with live-streamed emulator views and side-by-side progress
• A soullink/challenge-league hub: attempt history, graveyards, run diaries, and hardcore level caps tracked automatically across restarts
• A personal always-on Nuzlocke tracker with automatic encounter detection, save backups, and spectator links you can send to anyone

Dependencies for Nuz-Dash Hosting

• A volume mounted at /data (included in this template) — holds all lobbies, ROMs, and save states
• Your own legally-dumped Game Boy / GBA / NDS ROM files, uploaded after deploy

Deployment Dependencies

• Project site & guide
• Source on GitHub
• EmulatorJS (GPLv3) and PokeAPI, which power the emulator and Pokemon data

Implementation Details

Environment variables the template configures for you:

• ADMIN_TOKEN randomly generated — password for /admin (user: admin)
• NUZ_DATA_DIR /data — where all persistent state lives (set by the Dockerfile)

The admin dashboard at /admin manages lobbies, runners, link recovery, and bug reports. Nuz-Dash is a fan-made tool, not affiliated with Nintendo, Game Freak, or The Pokemon Company.

Why Deploy Nuz-Dash on Railway?

Railway is a singular platform to deploy your infrastructure stack. Railway will host your infrastructure so you don't have to deal with configuration, while allowing you to vertically and horizontally scale it.

By deploying Nuz-Dash on Railway, you are one step closer to supporting a complete full-stack application with minimal burden. Host your servers, databases, AI agents, and more on Railway.