Live games

Play a synced multiplayer game where every player's life, commander damage and counters stay in sync from their own phone — no passing one device around the table. Seat your pod, or have everyone scan a QR code.

Steps below are shown for iOSAndroid — use the iOS / Android switch in the sidebar if that's not your phone.

On this page

Live games vs single-device games Before you start Start a game Build your table Let people join with a QR code How everyone joins During the game End the game and save

Live games vs single-device games

The Life Counter guide covers the single-device game, where one phone gets passed around the table. A live game is different: everyone tracks their own life total, commander damage and counters from their own phone, kept in sync in real time.

You use the same Start Game screen for both. A game becomes live as soon as at least one other person with a Compendium account is seated at your table — a pod mate you seat yourself, or someone who joins with your QR code. If it's just you and guests, it's a normal single-device game.

Before you start

You're signed in

Live games run through your Compendium account. Everyone who joins from their own phone needs a free account too — they'll be asked to sign in when they join.

A pod, or a QR code

To seat someone directly they need to be in your pod already. Don't have a pod yet? Skip it — have them scan your QR code instead, and they can add you to their pod as they join.

Notifications are on

Pod mates you seat are told through a push notification, so make sure Compendium notifications are allowed on their phone. (People who scan your QR code don't need it.)

Live games are rolling out gradually. If you can't seat pod mates — there's no Your pod section on the Start Game screen — or there's no Show code button, it isn't enabled for your account yet. Update to the latest version and restart Compendium first.

Start a game

Tap the + button at the top right of the Decks screen and choose Quick game, or tap Start Game on a deck (or press and hold a deck and choose Start Gameor long-press a deck). Either way you land on the Start Game screen. You can also open it from a pod mate's profile with Start a game with …, or with Rematch after a game.

Build your table

A game seats up to 6 people including you. Work down the screen:

Select Deck

Select deck (optional)

Pick what you're playing from a searchable list, or leave it empty. Skipped if you started from a deck.

Format and starting life

Pick the format and a preset life total for the table.

Players (n/6)

Your table as numbered seats: you as 1 · HOST, each pod mate with “Pod · picks deck on join”, each guest as GUEST with their commander, and anyone who joined by QR code as Joined. Tap the ✕ on a seat to remove it. A dashed tile shows how many seats are still open. Same as last game reseats the last table.

Your pod

A row of your pod mates' faces. Tap a face to seat that person — a tick shows they're in — and tap again to remove them. Faces grey out once the table is full. Manage opens your pod. If your pod's empty, tap Invite to pod; if you're signed out, Sign in.

Recent guests

Chips of commanders from your recent games. Tap one to add a guest seat with that commander, or + Add guestAdd guest to type a new one under Guest commander. Guests don't have a device in the game — you track their life and counters from your screen, and everyone else sees the changes.

When everyone's seated, tap Start Game (it reads Start Game · 4 players once there are two or more). That's the moment pod mates you seated are notified.

Let people join with a QR code

Playing with people who aren't in your pod, or who you'd rather not chase for notifications? Tap Show code under the seats to open Scan to join.

It shows a QR code (with the Compendium icon in the middle) and the same code as six characters underneath.
A timer, Expires in 9:42, shows how long the code works — about ten minutes. When it runs out, tap New code; your seats are kept.
A Seats strip shows who's at the table. When someone joins, a message tells you: “Sam joined”, or “Sam joined · now in your pod” if they added you.
Tap a joined player to remove them. They lose their seat, and if joining added them to your pod, that's undone too.
You can tap Start Game right from this sheet.

You need to be signed in to show a code. The button disappears once the table is full, and the code stops working the moment you start the game. If you leave the setup screen without starting, the code is discarded.

How everyone joins

There are three ways in, depending on how you were invited:

You were seated as a pod mate

When the host taps Start you get a notification — “Game starting: {host} started a live game. Join now.” — that opens the game. You can also find it in your Invites under Live games.

You scan the QR code

Point your phone's regular camera app at the host's QR code and tap the link that appears. It opens Compendium's join screen. There's no scanner inside the app. If you don't have Compendium yet, the link opens a page with the app-store links and the six-character code — install the app, sign in, and enter the code as below.

You type the code

Tap + on the Decks screen and choose Join a game, or open your Invites and tap Join a game with a code. Under Enter the code, type the six characters (or paste them). Look-alike letters are forgiven — I and L are read as 1, O as 0. Once all six are in, you'll see the game — “Sam's game · 3 seated · 2 seats open for you” — and can tap Continue.

On the join screen you'll see Join {Host}'s game. Choose your deck (or type a commander name), and decide about Add {Host} to my pod — on by default, it connects you to the host as you join, with no invite to accept. Then tap Join {Host}'s game.

Joining needs a free account. If you're signed out you'll get Sign in to join with Apple, Google or email options, and the switch is kept when you come back. Don't want an account? Ask the host to add you as a guest on their phone instead.

After joining you'll wait on You're in — “Waiting for {Host} to start…” — until the host starts. Tap Leave game to give up your seat. If the host removes you, or closes the game, you'll be told.

A code only works while the game is still being set up. Once the host has started, joining with it isn't possible — “This game has already started. Ask the host to add you next game.” — and after a few wrong attempts you'll be asked to wait a few minutes.

If a pod mate you seated never joins, the game isn't held up — their panel just waits and everyone else plays normally. They can join any time before the game ends — if they missed the notification, the game is listed under Live games in their Invites.

During the game

Adjust life, commander damage and counters exactly like the single-device game — the difference is everyone's doing it from their own screen, and it stays in sync for the whole table. Any player can tap +/- on any panel, not just their own, so it's worth agreeing at the table who tracks what — most pods have each player adjust their own life and the damage they've taken.

Two controls sit at the top of the screen: Leave (left) and End Game (right, host only).

Tap the floating gear button for Leave and End Game (host only).

Leave closes the game on your phone only — everyone else keeps playing. End Game (host only) ends it for the whole table.

End the game and save

Host ends the game

Tap End Game, then pick the winner from Who won?
Everyone fills in their result

The moment a winner's set, every device jumps to Game Complete, showing You won! or You lost. There are optional MVP Card, Mana State (e.g. flooded, screwed, or fine) and Notes fields. Choose Private to keep the result to yourself, or the sharing option — Shared with pod when everyone else at the table is in your pod, Shared with this table when some aren't — to let them see your result and notes.
Add the people you met

Under At this table, every other player is listed with their commander and a trophy for the winner. Next to each one is a button: Add to pod sends a pod invite to a player with an account; ✓ In pod means they already are; Invite, for a guest, shares a link to get the app — it isn't tied to their seat. If you send a lot of invites in one day you'll be asked to try again tomorrow.
Save

Tap Save — this screen won't dismiss until you do. Your result lands in your Game Log automatically.

As host, you'll also see Rematch · same seats. It saves the game and reopens Start Game with your pod mates and guest commanders already seated. People who joined by QR code and aren't in your pod need a new code.