Using the Life Tracker in a Browser

The Life Tracker runs in a browser at nerdleagues.com/life-tracker, and it records games the same way the app does — it is the same lobby, the same shared state, and the same handler writing the result at the end. You need to be signed in; there is no signed-out version of it.

Starting a game

The page opens on a create form with two fields, League and Format, and any lobbies you already have running listed underneath. A league is required — every Life Tracker game belongs to one.

That drops you in the lobby, where each player picks a deck with Select Deck and then hits Ready Up. To get people in there:

• Add / Invite Player — search by username and invite them directly. On the creator's screen only.
• Copy Link — the nerdleagues.com/join/... link for the lobby's invite code.
• The QR code — Scan to join the lobby, for anyone at the table holding a phone with the app.

Start Game begins play, and Leave Lobby backs out before it does.

During the game

Every player's tile updates live for everyone. It tracks life, poison, and commander damage as a full matrix of who has dealt how much to whom, and it keeps a running history of the last 50 changes, which settles most arguments about who forgot to click something. Players can be eliminated and brought back.

Ending the game

End opens Select Winner(s). Tick every seat that won and confirm, and the game is written, linked to the league, and reflected in everyone's rating straight away — the page then goes to the recorded game. End and Quit are on the creator's screen only.

Quit closes the lobby without recording anything. Use it when the pod breaks up mid-game rather than ending with a winner nobody agrees on.

Browser or app

The two share the lobby, so a mixed table works — some players on the app, some in a browser, same game. The differences are at the edges:

• Only the app scans QR codes. The browser displays one for others to scan; it has no camera to scan with.
• Quick Play is app-only. There is no offline, no-account life counter in the browser — every browser route needs an account.
• Undo is app-only. The browser shows undone actions in its history panel but has no button to undo one.
• The app handles a dropped connection better, with an explicit reconnect banner and a rejoin path. A closed browser tab means finding your way back to the lobby.

For a game you are playing on a table with your phone in your hand, the app is the better surface. The browser is what to reach for when you are on a laptop already, or when someone at the table has not installed anything.

Where to go next

Recording an MTG League Game covers entering a game the tracker was not open for, and What Is a Nerd Leagues League? covers the league every tracked game has to belong to.