diff --git a/apps/api/src/controllers/lobbyController.ts b/apps/api/src/controllers/lobbyController.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..113c8c5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/api/src/controllers/lobbyController.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+import type { Request, Response, NextFunction } from "express";
+import { createLobby, joinLobby } from "../services/lobbyService.js";
+
+export const createLobbyHandler = async (
+  req: Request,
+  res: Response,
+  next: NextFunction,
+) => {
+  try {
+    const userId = req.session!.user.id;
+    const lobby = await createLobby(userId);
+    res.json({ success: true, data: lobby });
+  } catch (error) {
+    next(error);
+  }
+};
+
+export const joinLobbyHandler = async (
+  req: Request,
+  res: Response,
+  next: NextFunction,
+) => {
+  try {
+    const userId = req.session!.user.id;
+    const code = req.params["code"];
+    if (!code) {
+      return next(new Error("Missing code param"));
+    }
+    if (typeof code !== "string") {
+      return next(new Error("Missing or invalid code param"));
+    }
+    const lobby = await joinLobby(code, userId);
+    res.json({ success: true, data: lobby });
+  } catch (error) {
+    next(error);
+  }
+};
diff --git a/apps/api/src/routes/apiRouter.ts b/apps/api/src/routes/apiRouter.ts
index 6ad84eb..f5ebd01 100644
--- a/apps/api/src/routes/apiRouter.ts
+++ b/apps/api/src/routes/apiRouter.ts
@@ -2,8 +2,10 @@ import express from "express";
 import { Router } from "express";
 import { healthRouter } from "./healthRouter.js";
 import { gameRouter } from "./gameRouter.js";
+import { lobbyRouter } from "./lobbyRouter.js";
 
 export const apiRouter: Router = express.Router();
 
 apiRouter.use("/health", healthRouter);
 apiRouter.use("/game", gameRouter);
+apiRouter.use("/lobbies", lobbyRouter);
diff --git a/apps/api/src/routes/lobbyRouter.ts b/apps/api/src/routes/lobbyRouter.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5bd82dd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/api/src/routes/lobbyRouter.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+import express from "express";
+import type { Router } from "express";
+import {
+  createLobbyHandler,
+  joinLobbyHandler,
+} from "../controllers/lobbyController.js";
+import { requireAuth } from "../middleware/authMiddleware.js";
+
+export const lobbyRouter: Router = express.Router();
+
+lobbyRouter.use(requireAuth);
+
+lobbyRouter.post("/", createLobbyHandler);
+lobbyRouter.post("/:code/join", joinLobbyHandler);
diff --git a/apps/api/src/services/lobbyService.ts b/apps/api/src/services/lobbyService.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3e307ef
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/api/src/services/lobbyService.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,70 @@
+import { randomInt } from "crypto";
+import {
+  createLobby as createLobbyModel,
+  getLobbyByCodeWithPlayers,
+  addPlayer,
+} from "@lila/db";
+import type { Lobby, LobbyWithPlayers } from "@lila/db";
+import { MAX_LOBBY_PLAYERS } from "@lila/shared";
+import { NotFoundError, ConflictError, AppError } from "../errors/AppError.js";
+
+const CODE_ALPHABET = "0123456789ABCDEFGHJKMNPQRSTVWXYZ"; // Crockford Base32
+const CODE_LENGTH = 6;
+const MAX_CODE_ATTEMPTS = 5;
+
+const generateLobbyCode = (): string => {
+  let code = "";
+  for (let i = 0; i < CODE_LENGTH; i++) {
+    code += CODE_ALPHABET[randomInt(CODE_ALPHABET.length)];
+  }
+  return code;
+};
+
+const isUniqueViolation = (err: unknown): boolean => {
+  return (err as { code?: string })?.code === "23505";
+};
+
+export const createLobby = async (hostUserId: string): Promise<Lobby> => {
+  for (let i = 0; i < MAX_CODE_ATTEMPTS; i++) {
+    const code = generateLobbyCode();
+    try {
+      return await createLobbyModel(code, hostUserId);
+    } catch (err) {
+      if (isUniqueViolation(err)) continue;
+      throw err;
+    }
+  }
+  throw new AppError("Could not generate a unique lobby code", 500);
+};
+
+export const joinLobby = async (
+  code: string,
+  userId: string,
+): Promise<LobbyWithPlayers> => {
+  const lobby = await getLobbyByCodeWithPlayers(code);
+  if (!lobby) {
+    throw new NotFoundError(`Lobby not found: ${code}`);
+  }
+  if (lobby.status !== "waiting") {
+    throw new ConflictError("Game has already started");
+  }
+  if (lobby.players.some((p) => p.userId === userId)) {
+    return lobby; // idempotent: already in lobby
+  }
+  if (lobby.players.length >= MAX_LOBBY_PLAYERS) {
+    throw new ConflictError("Lobby is full");
+  }
+
+  const player = await addPlayer(lobby.id, userId, MAX_LOBBY_PLAYERS);
+  if (!player) {
+    // Race fallback: another request filled the last slot, started the game,
+    // or the user joined concurrently. Pre-checks above handle the common cases.
+    throw new ConflictError("Lobby is no longer available");
+  }
+
+  const fresh = await getLobbyByCodeWithPlayers(code);
+  if (!fresh) {
+    throw new AppError("Lobby disappeared during join", 500);
+  }
+  return fresh;
+};