A Paper.io alternative for playing with friends

Butter.io plays like Paper.io: leave your land, draw a trail, and close the loop to claim the ground inside. The difference is that it's built around a room of friends. Open a private room, send the link, and everyone plays the same 3-minute match in their browser.

Open a private room Play a public match

A red jelly cube named Jam drawing a pink trail out of its red land, with yellow and purple land nearby and the live rankings in the corner. — Jam heads out of its land. Bringing the trail home claims everything inside the loop.

Butter.io in short

The same idea as Paper.io: draw loops to claim land, and cross other players' trails to knock them out.
Private rooms by link. The host starts the match when everyone's in, and the room stays together for a rematch.
Five players a match. Bots take any empty seats, so two friends still get a full map.
Three minutes and one life each. Whoever holds the most land at the end wins.
3D jelly cubes on a raised map, in any browser on a computer or a phone. No download and no account.

Why people look for a Paper.io alternative

Paper.io 2 is the best-known game of its kind, and a good one. People usually go looking for something else for one of a few reasons:

They want to play with particular friends, in one room, and go again together afterwards.
They want short matches with a timer and a clear winner, so a round fits into a break.
They want to play in a browser tab without installing an app.
They've played a lot of Paper.io and want something that feels new.

Butter.io was made for exactly that kind of evening: a link in the group chat and a few quick matches.

Butter.io vs Paper.io 2

	Butter.io	Paper.io 2
Claiming land	Draw a trail out of your land and close the loop	Draw a loop to fill an area with your colour
Knocking players out	Cross another player's trail. It burns back toward them, and they're out unless they get home first.	Cross another player's trail
Playing with friends	A private room with an invite link. The host presses Start, and the room stays together for rematches.	Party mode: share a link or QR code to land in the same match
A match	3 minutes, 5 players, one life. Bots fill empty seats.	Several game modes
Where it runs	Any modern browser, on a computer or a phone	Phone apps, and browser versions on game sites
Unlockables	None. Everyone starts equal.	More than 100 skins to collect
Price	Free, no account	Free to play

Paper.io 2 has more of everything: more modes, more skins, and years of players behind it. Butter.io is smaller and newer, and puts its effort into a fair, quick match with the people you invite.

How to play a Paper.io-style game with friends

Press Open a private room, or the friends button next to Play on the Butter.io home page.
Copy the invite link and send it to your group chat.
Your friends open the link and land in your room. Nobody needs an account or an app.
When everyone's in, the host presses Start, and a 3-second countdown begins.
Play the 3-minute match. Bots take any seats your friends didn't, so the map is always full.
When the results come up, stay put. The room waits on the same link for a rematch.

The Butter.io results screen saying You won!, ranking five players by the share of the map they held, with Play again and Back to start buttons. — The results rank everyone by land. In a private room, the next match uses the same link.

Which one should you play?

Pick Butter.io if…

you want a group of friends in one room from a single link;
you like short matches that end with a winner;
you'd rather not install anything, or you're on a computer.

Stick with Paper.io 2 if…

you enjoy unlocking skins and trying different modes;
you already have progress in the app and want to keep it.

Questions

Is Paper.io multiplayer?

Paper.io 2's help pages describe a Party mode: you share a link or a QR code, and your friends land in the same match. Every Butter.io match is online, with up to five people and bots in any empty seats.

Is Butter.io a copy of Paper.io?

It's the same kind of game, written from scratch by a different developer, with its own rules for timed matches, private rooms and rematches. Butter.io isn't affiliated with Paper.io or its publisher, Voodoo.

Is there a 3D game like Paper.io?

Butter.io draws its map in 3D: jelly cubes, raised land and trails, seen from above at an angle. It runs in a browser tab, with nothing to install.

Is Butter.io free?

Yes. It's free to play in your browser, with no download and no account.

Can I play on my phone?

Yes. Touch anywhere and drag the joystick that comes up under your thumb.