Open the Lab

How to get into the lab and talk to Coach. Bring a grown-up for the first part.

Step 1: grown-up setup

A grown-up sets up your Hermes profile using the Dad HQ page. It takes about 15 minutes. When it's done, you'll have:

A folder called ArcadeLab on your computer — every game you make lives here
A Hermes profile called arcade — your own Coach, separate from anyone else's
Coach's skill installed, so /arcade-lab works

Step 2: open Hermes Desktop

Open the Hermes app. Here's the layout:

Left side: a list of your chats, and a rail of profiles. Click arcade so it's highlighted. That's your Coach.
Middle: the chat. You type at the bottom and press Enter.
Right side (sometimes hidden): a file browser and a preview. Coach can open your game here so you see it next to the chat.

If the arcade profile isn't picked, Coach won't know about your quests. Always check the rail.

Step 3: say hi

Type this and press Enter:

/arcade-lab Hi Coach!

Coach says hello and asks you a question. From now on, every quest starts with a Start Prompt you copy from the quest page. It always begins with /arcade-lab — that's the magic word that wakes up Coach's game-making brain.

Step 4: three things to know

Coach can't read your mind. The whole course is learning to say what you mean. That's the skill.
You can talk to Coach instead of typing. Press the microphone next to the message box.
Coach can see pictures. Drag a screenshot into the chat box. A little badge shows it's attached.
How to take a screenshot on a Mac: hold Shift + Command + 4, then drag a box around what you want. The picture lands on your Desktop.
Your games are files. They live in ArcadeLab. If Coach says a file is somewhere, you can ask: "Show me the full path."

Now go do Quest 0: Open the Lab on the map.