Probing Web-Game Mechanics

Purpose

Deterministically verify that a specific mechanic behaves as specified, by driving a real browser to the exact game state where the mechanic fires. Organic play (bots, manual input) reaches rare states slowly and non-deterministically; state injection reaches them in milliseconds and asserts exact outcomes.

This sits between two other layers — keep them separate:

• Runtime health ("the build runs"): smoke-testing-web-games
• Spec conformance ("the mechanic does what the spec says"): this skill
• Play quality ("the game is fun/balanced"): evaluating-gameplay-balance

When to Use

• After implementing or changing a mechanic with discrete expected outcomes: scoring formulas, phase/state transitions, cooldowns, gates, multiplier resets, spawn rules. Probe the mechanics the change reaches, not the whole rule set.
• When the target state is rare or slow to reach organically (game over at high score, round 7 modifier, an enemy-vs-enemy interaction).
• To verify anti-degenerate-play invariants with bot comparison (idle bot vs. active bot).

When Not to Use