ComLynx Serial Communication

A standard ComLynx cable has a mono phono style male connector at each end and an additional female connector at one end. The standard allowed for up to 15 units to be daisy-chained. Most games only allow for 2 or 4 players. Todd's Slime World for Lynx allows for 8. Chains of 16 and 18 have been used for homebrews. All officially published ComLynx games require an individual game for each console in the chain.

ComLynx was created for the Atari Lynx handheld but found use on the Atari Jaguar console and Atari STe computer. Cross-platform multiplayer was one such use.

A standard style ComLynx is very easy to build as a DIY project and it can even been done without soldiering. Internally, the cable is just 2 wires. There are other DIY variants using DB-9 and USB connectors to aid in cross-platform communications.

The original hardware was called RedEye and used infrared ports. This required line-of-sight to be maintained between all consoles and was problematic.