Room types reference

Reference for the six chat experience room types: the line each one shows in the room type menu, what it tells the characters, and what it fills in for you.

A room type is one half of a chat experience's brief, and the purpose you write is the other. In a room of two or more characters it supplies the sentence the briefing opens with, the rules it closes with, and the rules chips shown under the briefing. It also fills in an experience name and, except for Custom, a purpose for you to edit before the experience is created. This page lists all six types: the line each one shows in the menu, the name and purpose it fills in, the sentence it opens with, and the rules chips it sets.

A room holding a single character is briefed in wording of its own, whichever type the experience was created under. That character receives a fixed opening sentence and a fixed set of closing rules, and three rules chips: One other person, Stay in character and Respond when addressed. The type still fills in the name and the purpose and still labels the room, but none of the wording that character is briefed with comes from it. Everything below about what the characters are told describes a room of two or more. See How the room brief is written for the two forms side by side.

The type you pick is settled the moment the experience is created, along with the purpose and the briefing written from them. See Why the brief cannot be changed. It is shown as a chip on the experience's card or row on My Experiences, in the room's top bar on a full-width window, and beside the brief in the room's side panel, on the pinned Room brief card and on the experience's Previous sessions page.

The six room types

The types appear in this order in the Room type menu, each with a one-line description under its name.

Room type	Description in the menu	Experience name filled in
Focus group	"A moderator asks; participants answer when called on."	Focus group session
Classroom	"A teacher leads; students answer and may ask their own questions."	Classroom session
Meeting simulation	"Everyone has a role and an agenda item; the chair keeps order."	Meeting simulation
Brainstorm	"No leader. Everyone contributes and builds on each other."	Brainstorm session
Friends chatting	"Casual. Everyone talks freely, nobody is in charge."	Friends chatting
Custom	"Describe the room yourself."	Custom room

The purpose each type fills in

Five of the six types fill in a worked example for you to edit or replace.

Room type	Purpose filled in
Focus group	"Taste-test debrief for the new spicy chicken sandwich. Five regular customers share honest reactions to the flavor, the price and the packaging."
Classroom	"First-week onboarding class. A teacher walks new hires through the checklist; students answer, ask what is unclear and build on each other."
Meeting simulation	"Weekly product sync. Each attendee owns one agenda item; the chair keeps time and closes each item with a decision."
Brainstorm	"Open brainstorm for the spring campaign. No idea is too small; everyone contributes and builds on what came before."
Friends chatting	"A group of friends catching up after work. Casual, warm, and nobody is in charge of the conversation."
Custom	Nothing. The field opens empty; see Custom below.

Each field guards itself. Picking another type replaces the filled-in purpose unless you have typed your own into Purpose, and replaces the filled-in name unless you have typed your own into Experience name. Typing into one field does not protect the other, and a field you typed into and then cleared is filled in again by the next type you pick.

What each type tells the characters

A briefing opens with a sentence from the room type, carries your purpose in the middle, and closes with the rules that type sets. These are the six opening sentences.

Room type	Sentence the briefing opens with
Focus group	"You are joining a focus group run by a moderator. You are one of several participants."
Classroom	"You are joining a classroom led by a teacher. You are one of several students."
Meeting simulation	"You are joining a meeting run by a chair. Every attendee has a role and an agenda item."
Brainstorm	"You are joining a brainstorm. There is no leader; everyone contributes."
Friends chatting	"You are joining a casual chat between friends. Nobody is in charge."
Custom	"You are joining a room with a purpose set by its creator:"

Custom is the one type whose opening sentence ends in a colon and runs straight into your purpose.

The closing rules are the same rules written as sentences, and the rules chips are their short form, for you to read rather than for the characters. These are the chips each type sets.

Room type	Rules chips
Focus group	Moderator asks the questions, Participants answer when called on, Stay quiet otherwise, Discuss together when invited
Classroom	Teacher leads the lesson, Students answer when asked, Ask your own questions, Build on what others say
Meeting simulation	Chair keeps order, Speak to your agenda item, Respond when addressed, Close each item with a decision
Brainstorm	No leader, Everyone contributes, Build on each other, Keep it moving
Friends chatting	Talk freely, Nobody is in charge, React to each other, Keep it casual
Custom	Moderator leads, Respond when addressed, Listen otherwise

For the longer wording a briefing closes with, and how the three parts are assembled into one paragraph, see How the room brief is written.

The chips sit under the wording they shorten: under the briefing in the What each character will be told box in the create dialog, and under the brief in the thread and on the experience's Previous sessions page. The room's side panel shows the room type and the purpose without them.

In a room holding a single character, the box in the thread reads What ⟨character name⟩ was told on joining and carries the three single-character chips instead of the type's. Beside the brief elsewhere, the chips keep describing the type the experience was created under.

Custom

Custom is the one type that fills in no purpose. Its Purpose field opens empty, and there is nothing to brief the characters with until you write one.

The empty field shows an example in muted text: "Five regulars react to the new spicy sandwich; I ask, they answer honestly, and argue when they disagree." A line under the field states the minimum: "A single word is the minimum. The more context you give, the better the characters behave once they are in."

Until a purpose is written, What each character will be told shows an example briefing rather than yours and cannot be typed into. See Write your own briefing.

Related pages

How the room brief is writtenCreate a chat experience