Eliminate instability. A shipped game must not break during normal play.

Today is about finding and fixing bugs — not adding features. Each child plays their game for 10 minutes and writes down every bug they find. Then they fix them.

Types of bugs to look for:

  • Numbers not updating
  • Zones misfiring
  • Tiers not unlocking
  • Reset logic incorrect
  • HUD not reflecting state
Ami — Stability Checklist

Verify each of these works correctly under all conditions:

  • Boss encounter triggers correctly — fires at the right threshold, not early or late
  • Banking always resets risk — returning to Camp clears unbanked XP and resets risk level
  • Respawn never keeps unbanked XP — dying means losing what wasn't banked
  • Tier progression is stable — tiers advance at correct thresholds and never regress
  • Zone detection doesn't miss transitions — moving between zones always registers
Ida — Stability Checklist

Verify each of these works correctly under all conditions:

  • Debt cap enforces reset at -50 — bankruptcy triggers reliably at the cap
  • Car unlock persists across refresh — localStorage saves and restores correctly
  • Second block locked until Car unlock — gating logic prevents premature access
  • Only one active job at a time — cannot stack or overlap jobs
  • Interest applies correctly — debt grows at the right rate, not compounding incorrectly
  • Play for 10 minutes — write down every bug
  • Categorize bugs: critical (game-breaking) vs minor
  • Fix all critical bugs first
  • Fix minor bugs if time allows
  • Play another 10 minutes to verify fixes
  • Try intentionally breaking the game — can you?
    •
    Checkpoint

    Can you intentionally try to break the game and fail? All critical bugs are fixed.

    Fix broken logic and edge cases only. No new features. No visual improvements. Stability only.

    Fixing visual issues instead of functional bugs — a misaligned label is not a bug. A number that never updates is.

    Adding features while "fixing bugs" — if it didn't exist before, it's not a fix. It's a feature.

    Not testing after each fix — every fix must be verified immediately. Don't batch fixes and hope.

    Introducing new bugs while fixing old ones — test after every change. One fix should not create two new problems.

    Have them try to break each other's games. Kids are excellent QA testers — they will find things you never thought of. Celebrate found bugs — each one is the game getting better.