How it works
This page describes the logic of the system: why two screens, what a party is, what the two codes are for, who the host is, and how much of you the other players can see. If you would rather just get going, start with Your first game night.
The Builder manual is not in English yet, so where this page names one of its pages, the link will follow when the translation lands.
The TV is the table, the phone is your hand
GreenCloth splits across two screens what a real table solves with space.
The shared screen is the display: the table lies on it, and everyone sees it at once. It can be a TV, a monitor, a tablet or a projector driven by a computer, as long as a browser runs on it.
Your phone is the controller: your hand is on it, and this is how you reach the table. The display has no controls at all, no menu and no buttons: every action is performed by somebody on their phone, and the display shows the result immediately.
There is a third app, the Builder: you use it on a desktop machine to publish a game of your own. You do not need it to play.
The party
A party is one running session: one table, one game, and the people and screens that belong to it. Starting a game creates a party; when the host closes it or it expires, the party ends and the displays return to their waiting screen.
One party can have several displays, and each one is configured separately: you can show hands on one and not on the other. See One party can have several displays.
The two codes
Two different codes are in circulation, and they are never interchangeable.
| Code | What it identifies | Shape | What you do with it |
|---|---|---|---|
| The display code | one screen | six digits, 123-456 | invite that screen into a party |
| The party code | one running session | six letters, ABC-DEF | join with your phone |
The display code lives with the browser tab: close the tab and open a new one, and the screen gets a new code, while the old one can no longer be invited. Reloading is fine, that is still the same session. See How long the code lives.
Both codes also appear as a QR code, so neither of them has to be read out and typed in.
The host
Whoever starts the party is the host. A crown sits next to their name in the player list.
Only the host can seat a spectator, add or remove a seat, put somebody back into the audience, and reverse the turn direction. Every other action works the same for everyone.
Turn order is information, not a rule: the system shows who is next and flashes their name on the display, but it stops nobody from acting. You keep the rules yourselves, house rules included.
Seats and spectators
The table has seats. Each seat carries a colour and an area of the table of its own.
Whoever joins the party arrives as a spectator first: they see the table and can move their own view, but they cannot touch anything. The host seats them, and that makes them a player. If no seat is free, the host has to add one first.
Leaving comes in two flavours, and they do not mean the same thing:
| What you choose | What happens |
|---|---|
| Leave Table | your seat is kept, only your device steps out. This is how you switch devices or take a break |
| Leave Party | you become a spectator and your pieces return to the box. The host can seat you again at any time |
Who sees what
The table is shared. What you do there, everyone sees, on the display too, while it moves.
Your hand is yours. Your cards show only on your own phone. The display shows at most how many cards you hold and their backs, and only if hand strips are switched on. See What you can see of the cards.
You can protect what is yours. You have three independent switches: a shield on each of your two hands, and one on your own area. The shield stops others taking from you; the curtain goes further and hides your area, on the display as well. See Protecting your hand and protecting your area are separate.
In one room or far apart
The display and the phones do not have to be on the same network, and they do not have to be in the same room either. The same party works when everyone sits in a different city.
Playing remotely, everyone can open a display of their own and invite it into the same party: each one shows the same table. Every move appears on all screens at once.
Signing in and guests
You can join without an account, as a guest. The party code or the QR is enough, and all of the gameplay stays available.
To sign in, use a Discord, Google or Facebook account. That keeps your name, your avatar and your list of parties, and makes your own games reachable. Uploading and publishing a game needs an account.
Where the games come from
You see the list of playable games on your phone when you start a new party. Three kinds can be in it:
- the public games, which anyone can start;
- the ones you uploaded in the Builder;
- the ones you reached through a tester group.
A tester group is a creator’s own circle: they give you an invite code, you enter it in the Controller, and from then on their unreleased games appear in your list too. See the Builder manual, Tester group.