Hotseat or hot seat is a multiplayer mode provided by some turn-based video games, which allows two or more players to play on the same device by taking turns playing the game. The name hotseat started as a reference to playing a PC game and trading seats with the other player.

Hotseat play allows players to play a multiplayer game with only one copy of the game or only one device.
Since hotseat play is usually defined as turn-based by nature, the duration of a game may extend beyond that of a real-time networked multiplayer game. Some games allow hotseat and networked players to compete with each other in the same game, while maintaining turn-based play.

See also

• Play-by-mail game
  Play-by-mail game
  Play-by-mail games, sometimes known as "Play-by-post", are games, of any type, played through postal mail or e-mail. One example, chess, has been played by mail for centuries . Another example, Diplomacy, has been played by mail since the 1960s, starting with a printed newsletter written by John...
  
  
• Split screen gaming