Aux Wars
An aux war is a music game where everyone gets the same prompt, secretly picks the song they think answers it best, and then the room plays the tracks back blind and votes. Highest-rated pick wins the round. It is the same game as an aux battle — different friend groups just landed on different names.
You can run one with nothing but a speaker and an argument. Aux Battles just handles the parts that go wrong in person: keeping submissions secret until playback, making voting anonymous, and keeping score.
Start an Aux War — FreeAux wars rules
There is no official rulebook, but nearly every version of the game converges on these five steps.
Agree on a prompt
One category per round — "songs to scream in the car", "best 2010s deep cut", "worst song you unironically love". Everyone answers the same prompt.
Everyone locks in one song
One track each, chosen in secret. Locking in before anyone hears the others is what keeps a round honest — otherwise people just pile onto whoever went first.
Play them back blind
Play every submission without saying whose it is. Blind playback is the single rule that separates a real aux war from an argument.
Vote, then reveal
Everyone rates each track. Names come out after the votes are locked. Highest average wins the round.
Keep score across rounds
One round proves nothing. Five to ten rounds and a running leaderboard is what actually settles who has the best taste.
Every name for the same game
If you searched any of these, you are in the right place.
Aux wars
The most common name on TikTok and YouTube. Popularised by creator series where two people trade songs on a prompt until one gets voted out.
Aux battle
The same game, more common in group chats and on Reddit. Slightly implies a scored, multi-round format rather than a one-off.
Aux cord wars
The older phrasing, from when the fight was literally over a physical aux cable in a car. Also the name of a live touring gameshow.
The aux game
Casual catch-all. Usually means an informal round with no scoring — someone names a vibe, everyone queues a track.
Pass the aux
A softer, non-competitive version: the aux moves around the room and each person plays one song. No voting.
Aux wars prompts
The prompt is the whole game. Too vague ("best song") and everyone reaches for the same three hits. Too narrow ("best Norwegian jazz drummer") and nobody can play. The prompts that start arguments sit in between — specific enough to be a puzzle, open enough that everyone has an answer they believe in.
We keep 2,995 free aux wars prompts sorted by theme, plus a spin-the-wheel prompt generator for playing out loud off one phone.
Where to run an aux war
Anywhere the group already is. In a Discord voice channel, on a FaceTime call, around one speaker as a party game, or live on stream as a Twitch music game with chat voting alongside the players.
If you've played songbattle.io or Music League, this is the same idea run live — and there are curated song lists if you want ammunition before the next round.
Aux wars, answered
What is an aux war?
An aux war is a music game where a group agrees on a prompt, everyone secretly picks the song they think fits it best, and then the room plays the tracks back and votes on a winner. It is the same game as an aux battle — only the name differs.
What is the difference between aux wars and aux battles?
There is no difference. They are two names for one game, and which one you grew up saying mostly depends on whether you first saw it on TikTok (aux wars) or in a group chat (aux battle). Aux Battles plays both — the rules are identical.
What does aux mean?
Aux is short for the auxiliary cable — the 3.5mm cord that plugs a phone into a car stereo or speaker. Whoever holds the aux controls what everyone hears, which is why "having the aux" became shorthand for controlling the vibe.
How do you win an aux war?
Read the prompt literally, then find the least obvious song that still fits it perfectly. Rooms punish two things: picks that ignore the prompt to show off taste, and picks so obvious that everyone considered them. The sweet spot is a track people recognise but did not think of.
How many people do you need for an aux war?
Two works, but voting gets interesting at four or more because no single person can swing a round. Three to ten is the sweet spot. Above ten, submissions take longer than the listening does.
Can you play aux wars online?
Yes. Aux Battles runs aux wars in the browser — share a four-letter room code and everyone joins from their own phone, submits from Spotify, YouTube or SoundCloud, and votes. Nobody needs an account and nothing gets installed.
Can you play aux wars on a Twitch stream?
Yes — a Twitch Battle connects a streamer's channel so chat votes by typing a number and can submit songs too, alongside whoever is already in the room. No extension for viewers.
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