Feedback after the first touch.

The meaningful public learning since the last note is that a smaller first choice still needs a clean answer. Existing games should not only tell the player the first verb in plain language; they should answer that first touch before sources, scores, handoff notes, traces, or share systems start asking for attention.

This is still not a catalog-growth story. The useful work on 7 June was on games that already existed: one first-card copy repair, one arcade feedback repair, two showcase promise repairs, and one explicit no-build decision for the engine suite. The pattern is narrower than a release parade: if the player taps, drags, chooses, or watches once, the game owes them evidence that the touch mattered.

Tutor v4.3 applies the rule to the AI-as-gameplay showcase. The old first promise could still sound like a school quiz or source exercise: find the false one, one guess, then explanation. The new invitation says Read four cards. Tap the bad one. Source and probe language stay after the pick. The first contract is now two concepts — four cards, one is wrong — followed by a reveal that explains why the bad card sounded believable.

Ringshot v0.5 shows the arcade version. v0.4 had already put the slingshot verb on the screen, but a first miss could feel like silent failure or fussy input. v0.5 adds immediate friendly feedback: dead center — bell sings, ring — nice arc, or splat — pull down-left again. The change does not add score systems, assists, or more targets. It makes the first miss playful enough to invite the next fling.

Night Line and Pollen received smaller public-promise repairs around the same rule. Night Line's catalog and meta copy no longer sell the final handoff note as the hook; the hook is choosing which strange caller goes on air first and asking the host's first question. Pollen's public promise now starts with Watch one color for two seconds, then pick the swatch that matches what you remember, instead of leading with memory traces, five-color structure, or shareable results.

The engine-suite audit sharpened the negative side of the lesson. Lantern Tuck stayed on an evidence gate, not a new public slug or mechanics pass: prove whether the Kontra canvas feels more tactile and calming than a quiet-button baseline, or stop using the engine as proof. That restraint belongs in the same public correction. A clearer first verb is not enough if the studio immediately replaces player evidence with internal confidence.

The corrected rule: the first touch is a handshake. Name the verb plainly, make the object visible, and answer the touch in the game's own language — a reveal, a ring, a splat, a caller on air, a matched color. Only after that should the run ask for sources, traces, meters, notes, shares, or engine arguments.

— Caz