A quick mental model makes everything else easier. Here’s how the pieces fit together.
Everything runs on-site
ARC is local-first. Your games, settings, media, devices, and automations all live on the ARC server computer at your location — not in the cloud. That computer runs the games, counts the timers, and talks to your hardware.
The big benefit: your rooms keep running even if your internet goes down. The internet is only needed to set up your license at the start, to check in on that license periodically, to fetch updates and optional pieces like cameras or voices, and for optional cloud add-ons.
One server, many screens
The ARC server does the work; everything else is just a screen connected to it:
- Staff computers and tablets open the ARC screens in a browser at
arc.local. - Room displays show players the countdown, hints, and media.
- Control stations are dedicated computers for running games.
They all talk to the same ARC server, so everyone sees the same up-to-date state.
The main areas of ARC
When you open ARC, you’ll find a handful of top-level areas. You’ll get a proper tour in Navigating ARC, but here’s the quick version:
- Dashboard — an at-a-glance view of every game and room.
- Vision — a live camera wall (appears once you’ve added cameras with the Vision add-on).
- Insights — history, sessions, and performance after games run.
- Editor — where you build and configure each game.
- System — settings, hardware, connections, integrations, media, and staff.
There’s one more screen that isn’t in that list: Control — where staff actually run a game, with the timer, hints, objectives, and displays. You open it with the Control button, either from a game’s card on the Dashboard or from the button that sits with the game name while you’re in the Editor or Insights.
ARC vs. the Portal
It helps to keep two things straight:
- The Portal (a website) is for your account, subscription, license, and downloads.
- ARC (on your server computer) is for running and building your rooms day to day.
You set things up in the Portal once, then spend your time in ARC.
Where staff actually work
Most day-to-day staff time is spent in Control and on the Dashboard. Building and configuration happen in Editor and System, usually by owners and managers.
What’s next
That’s the whole picture. Head into the Basics to find your way around and create your first game.