Share a game
Overview
Sharing lets a friend, a co-designer or a playtester open your game without you sending files. You choose who gets in, what they can do, and you can shut the door any time. Sharing works on games saved in Chitmunk Cloud, and it comes with the Epic plan.
Open the Share popover
To start, open your game in the editor and choose Share in the top band. A popover hangs under the button with four parts: invite by email, people with access, links, and live work.
If the popover says "Sharing needs Chitmunk Cloud", your game still lives in this browser. Move it first, using Chitmunk Cloud: save and open anywhere. If it says "Sharing comes with Epic", the plan is the missing piece.
Invite someone by email
- Type their email address in Invite by email.
- Pick a role: Editor or Viewer.
- Choose Invite. Chitmunk emails them a link. If the email cannot go out, the link is copied for you to send yourself.
Until they accept, the invite shows under People with access as "Invited as editor". An invite works for 7 days. To take it back, choose Cancel invite.
What each role can do
- Editor: can change cards, spreadsheet rows and pictures. Everything they do is saved to your game.
- Viewer: can look, flip through cards and print. They cannot change anything.
- You stay the owner. Only you can move the game to the trash or change who has access.
To change a role, use the menu beside the person's name. The change applies right away.
Share a link
A link is quicker than an email when you do not know who will open it. Under Links, choose one:
- Create a view link: anyone with the link can look, no account needed.
- Create an edit link: only people you have invited can open it, and they can edit.
Every link carries one plain line that tells you where it stands, such as "Expires Oct 30 · 3 of 10 uses left" or "No expiry · unlimited uses". Choose Copy link to copy it. The menu on a link switches between "Anyone with the link can view" and "People I've invited can edit". That makes a new link and turns the old one off.
To close a link, choose Turn off and confirm. The address stops working right away.
Remove access
- Find the person under People with access.
- Choose Remove, then Remove access to confirm.
They lose access immediately, including any live session they are in.
See every share in one place
To review all games at once, open the account menu in the band and choose Shares. The page lists every game you have shared and every game shared with you. For each person you can switch Can edit and Can view, or choose Remove. Pending invites can be cancelled from the same page.
What the invited person sees
The email link opens a short page: "Sam invited you to Dragon Deck". They choose Sign in to accept. A new person creates a free-to-try account on the spot, and someone who already has one just signs in. Then the page says "You're in. You can now edit this game" (or view), with Open the game. The game also shows up under Shared with me on their Your games page.
The invite is tied to the email address you typed. If they sign in with a different address, the page tells them to use the one that was invited.
Edit together, live
On Epic, an Editor you invited can work in the game at the same time as you. There is nothing to switch on. When you are both in the game, you see their cursor and their edits as they happen, and the Share popover shows "Sam is here". When you are alone, Chitmunk does not hold a live connection open.
Share publicly instead
The public Showcase page is a separate setting, for showing a finished game to anyone. It never opens your design files. You find it on the Showcase page in Game Home.
Troubleshooting
- My friend never got the email. Ask them to check spam. If the popover says the email did not go out, send them the copied link.
- "This invite has expired or already been used." Invites last 7 days and work once. Cancel the old one and send a new invite.
- "This invite was sent to a different email address." They need to sign in with the address you invited.
- I can't see their edits live. Both of you need to be in the game at once, and live editing needs Epic.
- A link still works after I turned it off. Check the Links list. A game can have more than one link, and each has its own Turn off button.