Game Playtest Skill for Codex

Game Playtest

Overview

Use this skill to test browser games the way players experience them: through boot, input, scene transitions, HUD readability, and visual state changes. Prefer browser automation and screenshot review when the project supports it.

Preferred Workflow

• Boot the game and confirm the first actionable screen.
• Exercise the main verbs.
• Capture screenshots from representative states.
• Check the UI layer independently from the render layer.
• Report findings in severity order with reproduction steps.

Tooling Guidance

• Prefer Playwright or equivalent browser automation already available in the repo.
• When the game is canvas or WebGL heavy, screenshots are mandatory because DOM assertions alone miss visual regressions.
• Use screenshots to judge playfield obstruction and HUD weight, not just correctness of text or layout.
• When deterministic automation is not practical, do a structured manual pass and capture evidence.
• For 3D rendering bugs or unexplained frame cost, use SpectorJS and browser performance tooling rather than guessing from code alone.

Common Checks

2D checks

• sprite alignment and baseline consistency
• hit or hurt animation readability
• HUD overlap with the playfield
• command menu state changes
• tile or platform readability
• input-state feedback and turn-state clarity

3D checks

• first-load playability versus dashboard-like chrome
• persistent overlay weight versus playfield visibility
• camera control and camera reset behavior
• pointer-lock or drag-look transitions when menus and overlays open
• depth readability and silhouette clarity
• secondary panels collapsed or dismissible during normal play
• resize behavior
• WebGL context loss or renderer fallback behavior
• material or lighting regressions
• GLB or texture streaming stalls
• collision proxy or physics mismatch
• performance cliffs tied to post-processing or asset load

Responsive and Browser Checks

• desktop and mobile viewport sanity
• safe-area and notch issues where relevant
• reduced-motion behavior for UI transitions
• keyboard, pointer, and pause-state handling
• React state and scene state synchronization when the project uses React Three Fiber

Reporting Standard

Lead with findings. Keep each finding concrete:

• what the user sees
• how to reproduce it
• why it matters
• what likely subsystem owns it

References

• Shared architecture: ../web-game-foundations/SKILL.md
• Frontend review cues: ../game-ui-frontend/SKILL.md
• 3D debugging notes: ../../references/webgl-debugging-and-performance.md
• Full checklist: ../../references/playtest-checklist.md