diff --git a/common/GameCommon.js b/common/GameCommon.js
index d18bd6a..37448b7 100644
--- a/common/GameCommon.js
+++ b/common/GameCommon.js
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ function addPlayer(gameId, playerId) {
       d: 0, // mouse down
       name: 'anon',
       color: '#ffffff',
+      bgcolor: '#222222',
       points: 0,
       ts,
     }
@@ -323,7 +324,11 @@ function handleInput(gameId, playerId, input) {
   const ts = Util.timestamp()
 
   const type = input[0]
-  if (type === 'player_color') {
+  if (type === 'bg_color') {
+    const bgcolor = input[1]
+    changePlayer(gameId, playerId, { bgcolor, ts })
+    _playerChange()
+  } else if (type === 'player_color') {
     const color = input[1]
     changePlayer(gameId, playerId, { color, ts })
     _playerChange()
diff --git a/game/game.js b/game/game.js
index 3eecb75..12c8823 100644
--- a/game/game.js
+++ b/game/game.js
@@ -285,8 +285,6 @@ async function main() {
   const puzzle = game.puzzle
   const players = game.players
 
-  let bgColor = '#222222'
-
   const changePlayer = (change) => {
     for (let k of Object.keys(change)) {
       players[CLIENT_ID][k] = change[k]
@@ -311,7 +309,7 @@ async function main() {
 
   const evts = new EventAdapter(canvas, viewport)
 
-  bgColorPickerEl.value = bgColor
+  bgColorPickerEl.value = players[CLIENT_ID].bgcolor
   bgColorPickerEl.addEventListener('change', () => {
     evts.addEvent(['bg_color', bgColorPickerEl.value])
   })
@@ -361,11 +359,7 @@ async function main() {
       // LOCAL ONLY CHANGES
       // -------------------------------------------------------------
       const type = evt[0]
-      if (type === 'bg_color') {
-        const color = evt[1]
-        bgColor = color
-        RERENDER = true
-      } else if (type === 'move') {
+      if (type === 'move') {
         const pos = { x: evt[1], y: evt[2] }
         RERENDER = true
         changePlayer(pos)
@@ -420,7 +414,7 @@ async function main() {
 
     // CLEAR CTX
     // ---------------------------------------------------------------
-    ctx.fillStyle = bgColor
+    ctx.fillStyle = players[CLIENT_ID].bgcolor || '#222222'
     ctx.fillRect(0, 0, canvas.width, canvas.height)
     if (DEBUG) Debug.checkpoint('clear done')
     // ---------------------------------------------------------------