Screens

What it looks like

The application's own screens, from a test story. Every image is a render the game itself checks against on every build, so what you see here is what the screen does. Vivarium is in development, and the screens will change as it is built; this page is refreshed when they do.

At the table

The Story room, where you play.

The You panel beside the story: the character's name and state, what matters now, the party, what she carries and a promise she is owed.
YouYour character as the application has them: what matters now, who is with you, what you carry, and what you are owed.
The scene panel beside the story: the place, who else is here, someone the narrator invented who is not yet a character, unresolved threads, things here and what happened meanwhile.
The sceneWho is here, who is not yet a character, what is unresolved, what is lying about, and what happened meanwhile. Every line comes from a record, not from the prose.
The fight sheet: the conflict, each side with their state, Flee options with what each costs, Yield, and a switch to show numbers, off.
A fightEach side, who has the upper hand, and your ways out. You can always yield or flee, and the cost is known before you choose. Numbers stay hidden unless you ask for them.
A return to a story: the last narrator line, a summary of where you left off, and two open threads.
Where you left offCome back to a story and the screen opens on the last scene's summary and the threads still open.
The composer with a check being set up: a capability, an approach, the intent, and an Attempt button.
Attempt a checkName the skill, the approach and what you intend. The odds are shown in words before you commit, and the application rolls the dice.
A fact drafted from a narrator message, with Edit and Keep buttons above the place to write.
Remember thisOne tap keeps a fact from a narrator message. You read it, edit it if it is wrong, and only then is it kept.
A decision sheet for a character who joins the party, with the choice between keep discovering and show me everything.
Keeping someoneWhen a character the narrator invented joins the party, you choose: see everything about them now, or keep discovering them in play.

The world and its people

The rooms one click from the story.

The Meanwhile tab of the World room: three entries, one of them a rumour a character heard, each with a day.
MeanwhileWhat happened while you moved time. A rumour is marked as something a character heard, never as something that is true.
The About tab of the World room: the world's description, the genre and tone, what is happening in the region, and what everyone knows.
The world as your character knows itOnly what your character could know: the common lore, what is happening in the region, and what everyone there knows.
The Family tab of the People room: a birth to record and a three-generation family tree.
FamilyA family tree the application keeps, a birth waiting to be recorded, and a child who will grow up.
The Standing tab of the You room: the name the character is known as, and the groups and places that know them, each with a standing and a why button.
StandingHow each group and place sees you, with a why beside it. If you have earned a name for yourself, it is here too.
The library: a list of your worlds and characters on the left, and a world open on the right with tabs for its people, places, things, lore, groups and rules.
The libraryYour worlds, your characters, and the catalogue's starter and premium worlds. A world you wrote downloads as a file.

On a phone

The same story in a narrow window.

The Story room on a phone: the scene header, narration, and the place to write at the bottom.
The scene sheet on a phone: who is here, unresolved threads, things here and meanwhile.
The You sheet on a phone: what matters now, the party and what the character carries.

The story keeps the whole width. The panels become sheets you pull up: the scene, and your own character.

A note on the look

Every image here is the dark theme. Vivarium also has a light theme, and the choice is yours in the app, along with the text size, the story font and how compact the screen is. Thefeatures page says what each screen is for, and theroadmap shows the two screen-quality phases that gave them this shape.