# Phase 7.1 Playtest Findings: Hi Fi Snake (build019.zip)

## Executive Summary

The playtest for Hi Fi Snake (build019.zip) conducted between May 2nd and July 12th revealed critical technical and usability barriers that severely limit player onboarding and retention. The most prominent issue is a device-detection bug that misidentifies tablets and some mobile devices as desktop computers, displaying keyboard tutorials (WASD) and hiding the virtual joystick, which completely blocks touch-screen players. Additionally, players who successfully accessed the gameplay struggled significantly with control precision, grid alignment, and the active-input movement scheme, leading to high early drop-off rates.

## Current Game State

Based on the current game-state GDD, the tested build features:
* **Grid-Based Movement**: A runner/collector loop where players navigate a grid to collect pieces, grow a tail, and unlock doors.
* **Active-Input Player Movement**: The player character only moves while input is actively held (joystick or keyboard) and stops immediately upon release.
* **Player Speed Progression**: Speed starts at 4 in Room 1 and increases by 0.4 per room up to a cap of 12.
* **Runtime Control Hint Selection**: The game dynamically switches UI hints based on the resolved device form factor (mobile vs. desktop).

## Developer Context

According to the Developer Notes, the primary changes in this build were updating to Unity's new input system and implementing a virtual joystick for mobile. The developer explicitly noted a suspicion that tablets are being incorrectly resolved as desktop devices, which hides the virtual joystick and blocks players from controlling the character.

## Positive Signals

* **Progression Capability for Engaged Players**  
  * *Confidence*: Medium  
  * *Evidence*: A small subset of players who bypassed or did not experience the control blockers managed to progress through multiple rooms (e.g., one JP player on Mobile Android played for 02:08 and reached Room 8; an MX player on Tablet Android played for 01:52 and reached Room 4).

## Negative Signals

* **Critical Device Resolution Bug (Tablets/Mobile as Desktop)**  
  * *Confidence*: High  
  * *Evidence*: Multiple playtest rows explicitly report that tablets and mobile devices were resolved as desktop. For example, a TR tablet player saw the WASD keys tutorial instead of touch controls. Other tablet sessions in BR, US, and MX reported "technical bugs" and "mobile being resolved as desktop," leaving players unable to move.
* **Control Precision and Grid Alignment Issues**  
  * *Confidence*: High  
  * *Evidence*: Players repeatedly struggled to align with and collect pellets. Feedback notes players "circling around a single pellet trying to get it" (BR) and finding the game "hard to control" even at the slowest speed in the first room (ES).
* **Black Screen and Menu Freezes on Desktop**  
  * *Confidence*: Medium  
  * *Evidence*: Multiple desktop players (US, CN) reported that the screen was black the entire time. A tablet player in MY reported being stuck at the menu with extremely low FPS.

## Confusion And Friction

* **Active-Input Movement and Joystick Interaction**  
  * *Confidence*: Medium  
  * *Evidence*: Players struggled with the active-input joystick behavior. Feedback indicates players tried to pull the joystick from outside its active visual bounds (UY, VN) or tried to move without touching the joystick directly (IN).
* **Lack of UI Feedback in Shop/Menus**  
  * *Confidence*: Medium  
  * *Evidence*: A BR player opened the skin store and mission popups before playing, but tapping customization skins without enough currency gave no feedback, leaving the player visibly confused. Another ID player pressed all screen buttons and accessed quests/shop but never entered gameplay.
* **Onboarding and Text Overload**  
  * *Confidence*: Medium  
  * *Evidence*: Several players reported that the level seemed too hard or there was "too much text to read or difficult to understand" (BR, DK) right at the start.

## Retention And Replayability Signals

* **High Early Drop-Off Risk**  
  * *Confidence*: High  
  * *Evidence*: The majority of playtest sessions lasted less than 45 seconds. Players frequently quit within 10 to 30 seconds due to immediate control confusion, inability to move, or technical bugs, which directly triggers the Web Gen-Z Drifter exit conditions (confusion for 5-10 seconds, no immediate reaction).

## Device / Browser / WebGL Concerns

* **Tablet Identification Failure**: Android tablets (using Mali-G610, Mali-G68, Mali-G57, Mali-G52 GPUs) consistently failed to load the mobile virtual joystick UI.
* **Low-End Performance Issues**: Low FPS was reported on older mobile/tablet GPUs such as the Mali-T720 and Mali-G52 MC2, causing early quits.
* **WebGL Rendering Failures**: Black screens were reported on desktop Windows systems running Chrome and Edge with AMD Radeon and Intel Iris Xe graphics.

## Current Design Vs Observed Response

* **Design Intent**: Active-input movement was implemented to provide intentional, player-driven movement and cleaner pacing.
* **Observed Response**: Players found the active-input scheme highly frustrating on mobile, noting that releasing the joystick to turn or attempting 180-degree turns felt unresponsive or broken.
* **Design Intent**: Speed progression starting at a lower speed (4) was meant to soften early difficulty.
* **Observed Response**: Even at the lower starting speed, players still reported that the game felt too fast and difficult to control due to the precision required to collect pellets on the grid.

## Missing Or Incomplete Systems Affecting Results

* **Desktop Hint Asset**: The GDD notes that the desktop control hint is a "Next Step" and optional. The lack of clear, persistent desktop hints likely contributed to desktop players reporting they "didn't understand the controls."
* **Customization Feedback**: The cosmetic expression system lacks error handling or feedback for insufficient currency, causing players to get stuck or confused in the menus before starting a run.

## Confidence By Finding

| Finding | Confidence | Why |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Tablet/Mobile resolved as Desktop | High | Explicitly noted by the developer and observed across multiple playtest rows with tablet devices showing WASD hints. |
| Control precision and turning difficulty | High | Repeatedly reported across multiple regions (BR, ES, JP, UY) with players struggling to collect pellets or turn. |
| High early drop-off | High | Quantitative session durations show the vast majority of players exiting in under 45 seconds. |
| Black screen rendering bugs | Medium | Reported by multiple desktop players on Windows across different browsers (Chrome, Edge). |
| Active-input joystick confusion | Medium | Observed in several sessions where players tried to drag from outside the joystick area or failed to hold it. |
| UI/Shop feedback confusion | Medium | Detailed in playtest notes where players interacted with locked skins and menus without clear feedback. |

## Data Quality Caveats

While the playtest contains a healthy number of rows (41 sessions) across diverse regions (BR, ES, US, MX, TR, JP, VN, IN, etc.), a significant portion of the mobile/tablet data is corrupted by the device-detection blocker. Because many players could not move at all, we have limited data on actual room progression, upgrade choices, or the late-game speed curve.