Playtable Controls: Full Reference

Start a Card Playtest explains how to create a session; this reference covers the controls once the table is open. For boards, mats, tokens, meeples, and custom dice, also read Playtesting Boards, Tokens & Dice.

Move around the table

• Scroll or trackpad-scroll to pan. Hold ⌘/Ctrl while scrolling to zoom around the pointer; use the visible zoom controls for predictable steps or reset.
• Hold Space and drag to pan. Use the Select tool to box-select pieces, or hold Shift while dragging an empty area to add a marquee selection.
• Hold Alt and click an empty area to drop a temporary “point here” ping for the other player.
• Use the toolbar's degree button to rotate your view. It changes the way you view the shared table, not the state or orientation of another player's pieces.

Do not use browser zoom as a substitute for table zoom. It changes the whole interface and makes physical card scale harder to judge.

Core shortcuts

Mod means ⌘ on macOS and Ctrl on Windows/Linux. Shortcuts pause while typing in a note, counter label, or other field. Undo, redo, and reset are solo controls; multiplayer state is shared deliberately instead of being silently rewound for just one person.

Deck, hand, and pile actions

The main toolbar draws a selected count, shuffles the main deck, shows or hides your hand, creates an empty pile, and opens Tools for built-in dice, coins, custom coin types, and counters.

Right-click a deck pile to draw 1, 3, 5, or 7 cards, deal an available amount, view its cards, shuffle, bring it to front, or remove an extra pile. Right-click a discard pile to take its top card to your hand, return that top card to the deck, duplicate it, view the pile, shuffle all discarded cards back into the deck, or bring the pile forward.

From a hand or opened-pile view, send a card to the hand, play it to the table, discard it, or move it between piles. Keep draw and discard piles as shared sources of truth rather than duplicating cards merely to speed up a test.

Card actions on the table

Right-click a table card to:

• flip face up/down, tap/untap, or rotate 90°/180°;
• bring it to front or lock/unlock it;
• duplicate it or create a new deck from that card;
• send it to your hand, discard it, or return it to the deck; and
• use Flag / Add note to capture a playtest observation in context.

Use duplication for a token-like proxy or a rules experiment, not to accidentally change the number of cards a deck is meant to contain. Returned or removed cards go back into the appropriate deck flow; keep intentional card count changes in the workspace data.

Selection bar and table objects

Select several pieces to reveal a selection bar. It can roll selected dice/coins, rotate, flip, tap selected cards, send cards to your hand, discard them, bulk-flag cards, duplicate, tidy into a grid, lock, delete, or deselect. Tidy is ideal after a setup action; it is not a rules engine, so apply it only when a neat arrangement is actually useful.

Right-click a die, coin, counter, token, meeple, board, or mat for its valid actions. Dice roll; coins flip; counters can be renamed and reset; objects can be rotated, duplicated, locked, brought to front, or removed. Boards and mats start as anchored surfaces—lock them once the scenario is arranged so cards and pieces do not displace the play area.

Notes, recovery, and ending a test

Use a single-card flag/note when the exact board state matters, and bulk flag only when the same quick issue applies to several cards. Add the written outcome after the session in Notes & Version History, where it can drive the actual data or layout change.

In a solo session, Reset returns you to setup so you can repeat a scenario. Leave exits a solo playtest; End Session ends a multiplayer session for its participants. Confirm the session and table state before either action, then preserve the finding in a document or note rather than relying on the temporary board arrangement.