Zone arrangement
A zone’s arrangement describes how its contents physically lay out — the difference between a tidy deck, a fanned hand, and a chessboard. It is a rendering choice, not a rule: it shapes how components sit in the zone, never what a player is allowed to do with them.
There are seven arrangements:
stack— a single pile, one component on top of the next (a deck, a discard).fan— contents spread side by side, overlapping like a held hand of cards. The fan sizes itself to the zone box: a few cards spread out to fill it, a crowded one tucks tighter, and every card keeps its left corner visible.grid— contents snap to the cells of a structured board.scatter— contents are packed loosely into the zone box, wrapping into as many rows as the box has room for; the zone arranges them for you, so an exact drop position is not preserved. The pack follows the box’s shape: widen the zone and the rows grow, make it tall and narrow and it becomes a single column.free— an open play surface with no grid: components stay at the exact spot they are dropped and never snap. Ideal as a large “place anything anywhere” background that other zones (decks, supplies) sit on top of — see layering below.slot— a single-component slot that holds exactly one thing at a time.bag— a closed container drawn from blindly (a tile bag, a chit pool). Contents are normally hidden. Setinfiniteto model an unlimited supply where drawing clones instead of removing.
How to edit in the Studio
Open your game → Layout tab → select a zone. In the Properties card, the Arrangement dropdown offers Stack, Fan, Scatter, Single slot, Open play (freeform), and Grid. Choosing Grid reveals a dedicated Grid card for the cell topology; choosing Stack reveals the Stack appearance control described below.
| Arrangement | Looks like | Notes |
|---|---|---|
stack | One pile, top component showing | Pairs with stackDisplay (topCard shows the top component’s face; surface shows the zone’s surfaceAsset art). The usual choice for a deck or draw pile |
fan | Cards spread side by side, overlapping | Reads like a held hand; common with scope: perSeat and view: owner — see scope and visibility |
grid | Contents snap to board cells | Requires a grid spec (grid field); pairs with role: grid |
scatter | Loosely packed contents, wrapped into rows | A supply, play area or tableau; the zone tidies contents into its box — resize the zone and the pack re-flows to match. An exact drop point is not kept |
free | Contents kept exactly where dropped | An open, gridless play surface. Give it a low Layer (or Send to back) and it becomes a “place anything anywhere” background other zones sit on top of |
slot | A single one-component slot | Holds exactly one thing — a played-card spot, a single-die tray |
bag | A closed container drawn from blindly | A tile bag or chit pool; contents are hidden and drawn randomly. Set infinite to clone on draw (unlimited supply) |
Two pairings matter. A stack zone reads its presentation from
stackDisplay: topCard (the default) shows the top component’s facing,
while surface shows the zone’s own surfaceAsset art instead — useful for a
pile with dedicated artwork. And a grid zone is incomplete without a
grid spec; the editor surfaces the Grid card so you can lay out
the cells.
A single cell can hold more than one component. Pieces stair-step so you can see the stack; cards pile up like a deck — the cell shows the top card with a count badge, and right-clicking the cell opens the full pile. So a supply tableau of ten-card piles, one pile per cell, reads as ten neat decks rather than a hundred loose cards.
Layering zones
Zones may overlap, and the Layer field (in the Position & size card)
sets their draw order — a higher layer paints on top. Use Bring to front /
Send to back to restack without typing numbers. The common pattern is a
large free zone sent to the back as a background, with decks, supplies, and
other zones layered on top: a drop over the exposed background lands in the
free zone, while a drop over a stacked zone lands in that zone. Tick Lock
on the background so you can drag the zones on top without grabbing it.
Related
- Zones overview
- Grids — required for a
gridarrangement - Decks — the
stack+drawpairing - Zone roles