WheelMates Friend's Pass: How It Works and How to Invite

What Friend’s Pass is

Only one copy of WheelMates is needed for two people to play online. The second player installs WheelMates - Friend’s Pass, a free app on Steam (app 4428340, listed as a “demo” type). It launched with the full game on September 1, 2026 and is the same app that hosted the public demo from May to August; the demo content was removed when the game shipped.

The pass is for online play. On one PC, split-screen needs no pass at all: both players use the owner’s copy with two controllers.

How to invite a friend (official steps)

Firevolt pinned these on the Steam forum on September 1:

1. The owner downloads and launches WheelMates. The friend downloads and launches WheelMates - Friend’s Pass.
2. The owner copies the invite code. In the lobby: PLAY → PLAY ONLINE → HOST → Copy the code. Send it to your friend.
3. The friend enters the code. In their lobby: PLAY → FRIEND’S PASS → ENTER THE CODE.
4. Once the friend is in, the owner starts the game.

Firevolt also linked a video tutorial by The Co-op Company for the same steps.

Questions Firevolt has answered

• Can I invite different friends with the same code? Yes. “You can invite different friends” (F.SnowFlake, Firevolt, Sept 2). The code is not single-use.
• Does the pass player get achievements? No. “Only the owner of the game earns achievements. The Friend’s Pass edition doesn’t unlock achievements.” (Sept 1)
• Can the pass player use Supporter Pack skins? A player reported on Sept 2 that the pass copy cannot use the Supporter Pack’s car and skins bought on the owner’s account, including on a second PC. Firevolt had not replied at the time of writing; treat Supporter Pack content as owner-only.
• Will the pass exist on consoles? “Friend’s Pass is planned for consoles as well,” with crossplay between console and Steam players a goal for the H1 2027 console release.
• Does it need internet? Yes for online play, obviously, and a player noted the game also checks ownership on boot; after the main menu loads, local play does not need a connection.

Family Sharing and child accounts

A parent asked whether a child account using Steam Family Sharing could join with the friend code. The community answer (not from Firevolt) is that the pass is technically a separate free title, so it runs on any account; the child account installs Friend’s Pass and enters the code like any friend. If you own the game on the parent account, the child does not need the shared copy at all.

Troubleshooting

• “I joined but nothing happens / can’t start the game.” Only the owner can start the session; the friend waits in the lobby after entering the code. A Sept 1 hotfix fixed a login failure that stopped some players from getting to the lobby; restart Steam and let the game update.
• “EOS NoConnection.” Reported by one player on Sept 2 in the bug thread; no fix published yet. Check that both copies are on the same version (bottom-left of the main menu).
• Latency. A player asked whether 140 to 180 ms works; no answer yet. The puzzles are timing-based (synced presses, paired levers), so lower is better, but there is no in-game voice chat either way; use Discord.

Finding a partner

The game is strictly two-player and there is no matchmaking. The official Discord (discord.com/invite/wheelmates) has partner-finding channels, and the Steam forum already has “need a partner” threads in English and Russian. The co-op setup guide covers local versus online in detail.