counter101

MTG Life Counter

Lay your phone flat between the players, go full screen and tap to track life, poison and commander damage for 2 to 6 players.

players life
Chart: life over the game
Settings: names, colours, custom life, counters

How to use the life counter

Pick the number of players and the starting life (20, 30 or 40, or any number in Settings). Tap the + half of a player's panel to add 1 life and the − half to take 1 off. Hold to keep counting: after half a second it repeats about six times a second. A small bubble shows the running change, such as +3 or -5, and clears after 2 seconds without a tap. Life can go below zero.

Press Counters on a panel for poison, commander damage from each opponent and, if you turn them on in Settings, energy and experience. Commander damage also takes life off by default; you can switch that off in Settings. A panel turns dark at 0 life, 10 poison or 21 damage from one commander. First player picks a player at random. Reset game can be undone. Names and colours are in Settings, and everything is saved in your browser, nothing is sent anywhere.

Counters also has commander tax (+2 per cast), Monarch, Initiative and counters you name, such as Treasure. Tick Partner commanders in Settings for two commanders each. Tools holds the storm count, dice (d4 to d20 and coins, up to 10 at once), a high roll, the game clock and Next turn. End game, or one player left, shows a recap with a chart of everyone's life. Share link sends the setup and life totals.

For board or card games scored in points instead of life, use the score keeper. To keep a count of tokens or other things on the table, the multi counter gives you several named counters.

Keyboard shortcuts

Playing with the phone on the table

Press Full screen and each panel turns to face its owner. With 2 players the top panel is upside down for the player across the table. With 3 or 5 players one panel faces the top edge and the others face the left and right sides; with 4 or 6 players the panels face the two long sides. Plus is always the half of your panel furthest from you. Turn on Keep screen on so the phone does not lock mid-game.

Players commonly start at 20 life, and at 40 in Commander. 10 poison counters, or 21 commander damage from one commander, are losing conditions, which is why those two counters trigger an alert.

Questions

Is this an official Magic: The Gathering app?

No. It is an unofficial, free life counter that works for Magic: The Gathering and other card games. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by Wizards of the Coast.

Can I use it for Commander?

Yes. Choose 40 starting life and up to 6 players. Each panel's Counters has a commander damage counter for every opponent, and the panel alerts at 21 from one commander. Counters also tracks commander tax.

What happens if I tap the wrong player?

Press Undo, U or Ctrl+Z. A long press counts as one step, so a single undo takes back the whole hold.

Is the first player choice fair?

Yes. First player and the dice use your browser's cryptographic random number generator, and each player or number has the same chance.

Does it work offline?

Yes. Once the page has loaded it works without internet, and the game is saved in your browser, so a refresh or a locked phone does not lose the life totals.

More scores and games tools

Put this MTG life counter on your website

Free for classrooms, clubs, blogs and shops: paste this code into any page. It works the same inside your site, and counts stay in each visitor's own browser. For a dark version, add ?theme=dark after /mtg-life-counter/ in the code.