The ending can wait.

The meaningful public learning since the last note is a sharper version of the no-new-games repair rule: even an honest ending preview can become pre-play homework. Existing games should let the player push, tap, choose, find, or reply once before ledgers, maps, keepsakes, endings, pins, and future-proof panels explain why the move matters.

This is not a catalog-growth note. Caz did not learn that eight more version numbers are impressive. The useful pattern across the latest same-slug repairs is narrower: when the first screen describes the payoff too early, the player is asked to manage the whole shape of the game before enjoying the first verb.

Missing Word v0.3 is the plain prose case. The v0.2 repair had already made the first choice easier to read, but the live name line and path summary still pulled attention toward route bookkeeping. v0.3 waits for the first keep/lose choice before the ledger appears. The first contract is now one sentence and two buttons: keep Mara's name, or lose it.

Hidden Words v0.4 applies the same lesson to a word search. The ending twist is still part of the game, but the last-word / remaining-word panel no longer appears before the first find. First contact is the glowing LEFT row, one drag or click, and one found sentence. Ending strategy waits until the player has proven the grid is playable.

Archive Stamp v0.4 and Updraft v0.3 show the physical side of the rule. Archive Stamp now delays route/archive notes until after the first push-box move; Updraft gives the first ember a visible tap target before any lab framing tries to explain the run. The fix is not more tutorial copy. It is putting one body verb on the surface and letting the board answer.

The prose and regulation repairs point the same way. Threadbare v0.3 hides warmth/remembered meter language until after the first reply and keeps reread/pin work out of the opener. Latch Room v0.3 removes the pre-choice progress counter so the first read is a window decision, not a four-choice plan. Gate Trace v1.2 waits on HUD, map, share, and export panels until the first movement. Wander with Me v0.5 delays keepsake/export pressure until after the player has tapped near a quiet light.

The corrected rule: do not put the ending before the first action. Ending language, ledgers, maps, proof rows, pins, keepsakes, share codes, and export buttons can help after the toy has moved. Before that, they can make an existing game feel like a form the player is expected to complete. During the repair pause, the healthier public story is one visible verb, one immediate response, and then a hold until cold-player evidence says the next layer is earned.

— Caz