Using Play Mode

This page explains how to use Play Mode.

Access to Play Mode and its features depends on a user's role within the project. For a quick overview of roles, see Workspace and project roles.

Unless otherwise noted, all instructions apply to project or workspace owners and editors, who have full access to the project.

Set Play Mode start

Before running your project in Play Mode, you must define a starting element. To set a starting element:

1. Right-click the desired element.
2. Select Play Mode > Set Play Mode start.

You can change the starting element at any time by repeating the same action on a different element.

⚠️ A project can have only one starting element.

ℹ️ There is no option to unset the starting element; setting another element as the Play Mode start replaces it. If you delete the starting element, the project has no starting element until you set a new one.

Enter Play Mode

To enter Play Mode, click the Play Mode button on the top-left of the menu bar. Play Mode opens in a new browser tab.

If you are working in a translation, Play Mode starts in that language.

⚠️ Project visitors without access to the board can only enter Play Mode via a public link. This occurs when a project has been shared publicly for Play Mode access only. See Share your project.

Quickstart Play Mode from here

Workspace and project owners and editors can also start Play Mode from any element in the project, ignoring the starting element. To do this:

1. Right-click an element.
2. Select Play Mode > Quickstart Play Mode from here. Play Mode opens in a new browser tab, starting from that element.

⚠️ Quick-starting from an element skips all variable changes and element visits that would normally occur when reaching that element through standard play.

Continue to the next element

Select an option button to continue the story. Arcweave determines the available options by evaluating branch conditions and label Arcscript.

If only one option is available and its labels produce no text, a blinking arrow appears instead of a button. Click the element's content area to continue. This can happen even with several outgoing connections if branch conditions leave only one option.

To show a button for a single option, give its path a label that produces text, such as Continue. Variable assignments alone do not produce option text. For paths through branches, Arcweave uses the last label that produces text.

Reorder options

Workspace and project owners and editors can reorder an element's clickable options in Play Mode while Edit content mode is enabled.

To reorder an element's options:

1. Right-click the element on the board.
2. Select Play Mode > Quickstart Play Mode from here.
3. Once in Play Mode, press Edit content (the pencil icon in the top menu).
4. Drag an option by the grip handle on its left, or by its border, to reorder it. Changes are saved automatically.

Play Mode menu

Open Play Mode menu

On desktop:
To open the Play Mode menu, hover your cursor near the top of your browser window. The menu hides a few seconds after your cursor leaves it. To keep it visible, select Lock Toolbar from the menu icon (☰) at its left.

On mobile:
In browser windows narrower than 768 pixels, the Play Mode menu is always visible. On other touch screens, tap the top of the screen to show it.

Functionality

The Play Mode menu provides access to the following tools and options:

• Restart story: Resets everything and restarts the story.
• Full screen: Enters or exits full-screen view.
• Share: Lets you share your project and control its public access.
• Audio: Controls the playback volume of your project's audio.
• Localization: Select the story's language (if Localization is available).
• Edit content: Lets you edit the current element's text and option labels while playtesting.
• Style Editor: Lets you style Play Mode's appearance through direct CSS editing.
• Debug: Opens the Debugger, where you can inspect the current board, current element, and variable changes.
• Menu (☰): Lock Toolbar keeps the Play Mode menu visible, and Go to Editor opens the project's boards in the same tab.

Edit content, Style Editor, and Debug are available only to owners and editors. On desktop, the menu icon (☰) and Share are hidden from project visitors. On narrow screens, the menu icon (☰) is available to everyone and contains Restart; Edit content, Share, and Open in Editor appear according to your permissions.

Edit content in Play Mode

Workspace and project owners and editors can edit story content directly in Play Mode, without switching back to the board. This is useful when playtesting reveals wording you want to fix on the spot.

While editing, the top menu shows an Editing indicator next to the project name. Story navigation is paused: option buttons are not clickable, and the single-path advance arrow does not progress the story until you finish editing.

Enter edit mode

To start editing the current element:

1. Click the Edit content button (pencil icon) in Play Mode's top menu, or
2. Double-click the element's text content.

The button is disabled when no element is loaded. On smaller screens, use the mobile menu to access Edit content.

What you can edit

In edit mode you can change:

• The current element's rich text content.
• The labels of the element's outgoing connections (the option buttons shown in Play Mode).
• The order of option buttons, by dragging the handle on the left of each option (same behavior as reorder options).

Edits use the same rich text toolbar as on the board, including formatting and @mentions. If the project uses localization, changes apply to the language currently selected in Play Mode.

When an option has no label text, Play Mode shows the target element's title as option text, or the beginning of its content if it has no title.

Move between fields

Use Tab and Shift + Tab to move focus between the element content and option labels. From the last option, Tab returns to the element content; from the element content, Shift + Tab moves to the last option.

Save and exit edit mode

To save your changes and return to normal playtesting:

• Press Esc, or
• Click outside the content and option areas, or
• Click the Edit content button again.

Restart and Undo last choice save your edits and exit edit mode before they run.

ℹ️ Changes are saved to the project immediately and are visible on the board and in future Play Mode sessions.

Restart story

To restart the story, click the Restart button on the left side of the Play Mode top menu. The button is disabled while the story is at the element it restarts from.

This resets all variables and element visits, and restarts the story from the project's starting element.

ℹ️ If you entered Play Mode using Quickstart Play Mode from here, restarting will restart the story from that element, not the project's starting element.

Control audio volume

If you attach audio assets to elements, these files will automatically play during transitions between elements in Play Mode.

The Play Mode interface includes audio controls on the top menu:

1. Click the audio icon to access volume controls.

2. Adjust the volume slider to set your preferred audio level.
3. Click the mute icon to toggle audio on or off.

Choose language

The Play Mode interface includes a menu that lets you select the story's language. This option is useful when a project uses Arcweave's localization feature and includes multiple languages.

To change the story's language:

1. Click the Localization icon to open the list of available story languages.
2. Choose the desired language.

Share project

For all users except project visitors, the Play Mode interface includes a Share button, located on the left side of the top menu.

This button functions identically to the project's main Share button: it opens the Share panel, where you can manage project collaborator and visitor access. The available sharing options and permissions depend on the user's assigned role within the project.

For a detailed description of the Share panel, see Share your project.