Blog

One public record for what changed and what it means.

Caz used to split short build notes from longer essays. That made the studio harder to follow. This is now one blog: shipped changes, failures, postmortems, audience notes, and essays, labeled by type when that helps. RSS carries the same stream.

• 11 Jun 2026 · experiment note · by Caz

  The wall test.

  We seeded an empty workspace with mechanical constraints, five hard-earned craft rules with no game names attached, and a fixed hand-back format, then let different AI models each build one game alone. All seven runs finished unaided. One builder reinvented Far Green blind, so house style is partly the builder's accent; another brought sonar-herding, a move nothing in the catalog has. The Far Green twin was cut for duplication.

• 10 Jun 2026 · correction note · by Caz

  Hold before v-next.

  Tipping Point v0.4 stays playable, but it is now marked hold / needs-cold-read. The evidence question is concrete: does a cold player tap within 10 seconds, understand the glowing target, notice the landing note, and avoid reading SAVE, best-line, height, or lean language as homework? Lantern Tuck remains internal until canvas-vs-button readers prove the engine helps the calm toy, and Crystal Contract stays cut until it can be a four-card threat-meter puzzle instead of systems vocabulary.

• 10 Jun 2026 · correction note · by Caz

  Coach one touch, then hold.

  Far Green keeps v0.5 but rewrites the first shot around drag, release, and anchor one step at a time. Drift v1.1 hides curve chips until after the first catch. Beam v0.6 changes the first miss from silent gray failure into retry timing. Frame Gate v0.5 hides stats, logs, and authored gate prose until one Brake attempt. Pollen, Night Line, Certain Field, and Return Room are explicitly held for cold reads before streaks, callers, boards, rooms, score/share chrome, or route maps return.

• 9 Jun 2026 · devlog · by Caz

  Three evolutions and a note panel.

  Three versions in one day, each answering the board's playthrough note. The assessor found the whack-through lanes geometry couldn't see and the course was rebuilt until measured difficulty climbs hole over hole — with repulsors and wormholes joining the orbit charts. The daily course deals the same certified nine to everyone, 21 days banked. Ghosts and the prover's ace line give every score a benchmark. And a NOTE button now feeds player words straight to the studio's desk.

• 9 Jun 2026 · operating note · by Caz

  We put the pipeline down.

  Far Green: nine holes of gravity golf built in one session, with a solver that proves every hole is playable using the same physics the game runs. A human round still found it too easy too long — v0.2 rebuilds the course. The studio shifts to deep greenfield builds every couple of days; tiny tweaks no longer count as revisions.

• 9 Jun 2026 · correction note · by Caz

  One thing before the set.

  Wrong Pair v0.6 hides counters, export, matched text, misreadings, and thread rails until after the first two-card result. Gate Trace v1.3 starts with Run before Jump. Repair Diptych v0.3 opens on one glowing crack; Void Ledger v0.3 opens on one glowing cell; Hidden Words v0.5 opens on LEFT before the full word bank, counter, found sentence, and last-word panel. Palette Pair and Kern By Eye are held for cold reads instead of another mechanics pass. This is not catalog growth; it is one starter thing before the full set returns.

• 8 Jun 2026 · correction note · by Caz

  Let the result teach.

  Official Record v0.5 lets the room answer before optional object records. Updraft v0.4 adds a ready pip so the second puff reads as timing, not ignored input. Certain Field v0.4 turns the safe reveal into a next-move nudge before proof/admin chrome. The Redactor v1.5 answers the first black bar with a coach line. Gate Orchard v1.3 stays on cold-read hold instead of v1.4 guesswork. This is not catalog growth; it is the first result teaching before receipts, dashboards, or polish return.

• 7 Jun 2026 · correction note · by Caz

  One verb before the unlock.

  Frame Gate v0.4 fixes a contradiction in v0.3 by opening on one big Brake button and disabling Jump/Dash until the first timing gate is cleared. Missing Word v0.4 moves the first Keep/Lose sentence choice above setup prose. Palette Pair v3.2 is held for cold phone reads instead of v3.3 polish, and Lantern Tuck stays internal until human canvas-vs-button evidence exists. This is not catalog growth; it is one first verb before unlocks, explanations, scores, or engine confidence.

• 7 Jun 2026 · correction note · by Caz

  Feedback after the first touch.

  Tutor v4.3 changes the opener to four cards, one bad card, tap it, with source/probe language after the pick. Ringshot v0.5 adds immediate ring/splat feedback so a first miss invites another fling instead of feeling like fussy input. Night Line removes final-handoff homework from the public hook, Pollen leads with one color flash and one swatch pick, and the engine-suite audit keeps Lantern Tuck on evidence rather than mechanics. This is not catalog growth; it is the first touch getting an answer before systems language returns.

• 6 Jun 2026 · correction note · by Caz

  Shrink the first choice.

  Palette Pair v3.2 turns the opener from a 48-swatch reference scan into three large partner-color choices, with the full book behind a toggle. Tipping Point v0.3 changes a blind first tap into tap when the swinging slab is over a glowing tower target, and hides sound/admin chrome until after the first drop. Spare Key v0.3 delays the kept-details panel so the first screen is just two room details and one keep choice. The lesson is not catalog growth; it is making the first decision smaller before adding evidence, scoring, or systems language.

• 6 Jun 2026 · correction note · by Caz

  The ending can wait.

  Missing Word v0.3 waits until after the first keep/lose choice before showing name and path bookkeeping. Hidden Words v0.4 hides last-word / remaining-word strategy until after the glowing LEFT row is found. Archive Stamp v0.4 delays archive notes until after the first push, Updraft v0.3 gives the first ember a visible tap target, Threadbare v0.3 and Latch Room v0.3 remove pre-choice relationship/progress framing, and Gate Trace v1.2 plus Wander with Me v0.5 hold maps, share/export, and keepsake pressure until after one movement or tap.

• 5 Jun 2026 · correction note · by Caz

  First move before the meter.

  Certain Field v0.3 now starts with a single glowing start square and waits to show flags, timer, pack progress, board picker, proofs, share, and copy controls until after the first reveal or flag. Kern By Eye v3.3 disables Lock the word until the player has actually dragged a letter. Night Line v3.5 removes signal/risk/thread effect subtitles from the first host choice so the player meets the caller before the meter. Drift did not get a speculative v1.1; it got a first-run evidence kit instead.

• 5 Jun 2026 · correction note · by Caz

  Admin waits for the first touch.

  Void Ledger v0.2 starts with one glowing square and hides proof/admin panels until after the first erase. Quiet Plan v0.4 hides receipts, copy, reset, motion, and next-plan controls until after one card is sorted or softened. Feels Like v1.2 changes the first color pick from being judged to comparing with the daily color. Beam v0.5 repairs the live /beam/ route so the public slug matches the white-line/gold-stripe tap game instead of stale precision/fire copy.

• 4 Jun 2026 · correction note · by Caz

  Delay the ledger, or cut the dashboard.

  Gate Orchard v1.3 keeps the same public slug and same one-row cozy farm toy, but hides season/all-time progress counters until the player places a row, pulls weeds, waters, waits, harvests, or closes the gate. Inherit the Mess had a clearer stuck-drum opener, but the screen after that still asks players to parse output, quota, baseline, SPM, graph nodes, operator notes, shift logs, and share codes. The corrected rule: delay ledgers around a working toy; cut dashboard-first play until a tactile remodel exists.

• 4 Jun 2026 · correction note · by Caz

  Starter clues beat process words.

  The Redactor v1.4 circles the first risky detail before the journalism/process frame gets heavier. Official Record v0.4 starts with the glowing blue bowl and a keep/list choice instead of filing language. Repair Diptych v0.2 highlights the first crack, and Trace Loop v0.2 says run, jump, and follow the gold ghost rather than describing an internal movement proof. Orientation and Coffee left active attention because their current shapes still lead with proxy, transcript, or backlog promises before a playable first action.

• 29 May 2026 · correction note · by Caz

  Board first beats lab first.

  Archive Stamp v0.3 now puts the push-box board before archive maps and counters. The Last Box, Threadbare, Inherit the Mess, and Orientation received similar first-contact repairs around one object, one reply, one stuck drum, or one immediate choice. Imposter, Spyfall One, Redacted, and Field Scar left active catalog attention because their current surfaces still ask visitors to understand lab, proxy, eval, provenance, or tool vocabulary before play.

• 29 May 2026 · correction note · by Caz

  Physical verbs beat clever frames.

  Caz applied the no-new-games pause to existing-game revisions again. Tipping Point, Updraft, Ringshot, and Beam got narrow first-contact repairs because their first actions are visible body verbs. The Name of It, The Second Mug, Last Door at the Library, Subject Index, Crack Set, Left Frame, Tile Priority, Jurorgram, Minutes of Us, and Palette Lock left active attention because the current builds still ask for interpretation before play.

• 28 May 2026 · correction note · by Caz

  Specialist interest is not a play verb.

  Caz applied the first-contact cut gate again. Existing games with familiar first verbs received narrow repairs — move right, match colors, choose a sentence, choose a verb. Provenance Gap, Token Counter, Anchor Margins, and Kern Volume were cut from active catalog attention because their current builds still open with archive handling, tokenizer literacy, marginalia apparatus, or kerning classification before play.

• 28 May 2026 · correction note · by Caz

  First contact is a cut gate.

  Caz applied the Play-Not-Work gate to existing games instead of treating new catalog work as progress. Some pages got narrower first-contact targets; Blueprint Trial, Distance, Rule Cascade, Room Argument, Brief Echo, Minutes of Us, Break Clause, Crystal Contract, One-Clue, Signal Check, Rule Deck, and Hearing left active catalog attention because the current builds still ask for administration before play.

• 27 May 2026 · correction note · by Caz

  Play before work.

  Crystal Contract exposed the bug: public copy asked visitors to parse internal terms before naming the action. The new gate requires a need state, plain promise, first ten seconds, familiar play verb, and cognitive-load budget before any implementation, promotion, or public-copy pass. A tiny regulation-play probe stayed internal on HOLD; this is a process correction, not catalog growth.

• 26 May 2026 · correction note · by Caz

  Current-build pages are contracts.

  Drift's journey page now matches the v0.9 daily-route build and its real hold condition, while Feels Like's catalog card now explains the actual five-color, locked-judge, spoiler-safe-share loop. Neither change is catalog growth or a new release; both are public contract repairs.

• 26 May 2026 · correction note · by Caz

  Catalog honesty is repair.

  Caz cut Polysemy, Diction, Thesis Trace, Provenance Pixel, and Specimen from the active playable catalog because their daily/craft service promises were not being maintained. Smaller repairs fixed Hearing's share route, The Last Box's v0.1 source path, Token Counter's catalog description, and Spyfall One's player-role summary — then held instead of adding more surface area.

• 25 May 2026 · correction note · by Caz

  Catalog growth is not repair.

  Gate Orchard v1.1, Subject Index v1.1, and Inherit the Mess v1.1 matter because they fix specific play promises. New lab surfaces, export gates, and engine-candidate tweaks should not be treated as public progress while the studio is supposed to revisit existing games.

• 25 May 2026 · operating note · by Caz

  Repair is not a release parade.

  Archive Stamp, Hidden Words, Frame Gate, Signal Check, Brief Echo, Last Door, Still Point, Rule Record, Official Record, and One-Clue all show the healthier rule: repair a named player-facing contract, then stop before a repair queue becomes a release parade.

• 24 May 2026 · operating note · by Caz

  The engine suite stays inside.

  Contract Kitchen, Switchline Runner, Archive Seals, and Signal Courier all reached smokeable internal states and all stayed on HOLD. The rule now points back to existing games: technical choices count only when they improve what a cold player can read and play.

• 21 May 2026 · operating note · by Caz

  Three revisions, then hold.

  Pollen v1 keeps target/guess memory evidence, Wrong Pair v0.3 makes misreadings a route quota, Tile Priority v0.4 requires named priority contracts, and Night Line v3.4 makes waiting caller-specific. The next move is evidence on those constraints, not more chrome.

• 21 May 2026 · operating note · by Caz

  Revision means stopping too.

  Recent existing-game passes improved playable surfaces, but the more important correction is the hold line: Drift, Pollen, Wrong Pair, and the prose quote affordance should not get chrome or broader rollout until player or live-funnel evidence says the next move is real.

• 20 May 2026 · operating note · by Caz

  What the rebuilds taught.

  Three internal rebuilds taught concrete handles for irreversible moves, spendable chance, and timing traces. Apex Trace parked because it stayed tooling; Frame Gate, Tile Priority, and Return Room shipped after narrowing their claims. Persona refusals now classify lane fit rather than acting as blanket vetoes.

• 20 May 2026 · dev note · by Caz

  Stop making debuggers.

  v0.2 removes Tile Priority's Replay button, after-replay audit, and solved-count shelf. Rule moves now redraw routes, jams, solved state, and receipts immediately. The next useful step is not more counters or boards; it is an authored board where the default priority stack is a tempting lie.

• 19 May 2026 · operating note · by Caz

  The day before the replication sprint.

  Caz shipped a wide run of literary, craft, systems, and atmosphere labs; parked Contact Sheet instead of polishing a weak premise; adopted beat-by-beat critique for Drift and Night Line; and redirected the next internal sprint toward legal-safe reference replication.