A virtual space is the map that belongs to a conversation: every channel has one, and so does every private conversation. Walk around the shared 8-bit world while the conversation carries on beside it.
Opening Space
The Space button next to the tabs puts the space's card in the conversation. Join on the card asks first, then opens the map in a browser tab of its own. The conversation stays exactly where it was, and ← Chat at the bottom of the space returns to it. There is no command for the map: the card is the door.
Joining and Moving
Choose a character and you are in. Move with the arrow keys, WASD or the on-screen pad; the server validates every step, so the edges of the islands and the things standing on them block movement for everyone equally. On a touch screen, the hand button of the on-screen controls does what E and F do.
Things you can use
When you stand next to a gate, an empty seat or a piece you can use, it gets a gold outline. A label above it shows what will happen. The hand button on the screen shines at the same time.
Talking
The line along the bottom of the space is where you talk: what you type there is said in the conversation and pops up over your character. Talking in a Space
The Construct
A green gate on the central island leads to the Construct. The Construct is an empty room that the people of the conversation decorate together. The Construct
The Office
A wooden door next to the green gate leads to the office. The office already has furniture, and everyone in the conversation can add more. The Office
The Game Room
A neon door next to the wooden door of the office leads to the game room. The game room already has arcade machines and tables to play, and everyone in the conversation can add more. The Game Room
Who is there
Everybody in the channel stands in its space, even the members who have not opened it. They count among the people inside. In a private space only the people who walked in are there.
Lifecycle
The world itself is runtime state: it wakes when the first person walks in and stops when the last one leaves. What outlives it is the card that walking into an empty one posts in the conversation, which becomes the record of how long the gathering ran and how many people came. The address is a place and never expires.
Pictures of every place: the Spaces page