maze32/docs/PLAYTEST_REPORT.md

Milestone 011 playtest report

Protocol

Run representative completed two-player matches on the target ESP32-C6 with the locked configuration in docs/BALANCE_REPORT.md. Use two active players and, where practical, one observer. Do not impose a time limit or coach a route. Start timing when the authoritative countdown completes and stop at the authoritative result. A draw, reconnect timeout, abandoned match, or technical failure is recorded separately and does not count as a completed match.

For each completed match, record the maze seed or map hash, both players' experience level, winner or draw, elapsed time, whether either player used a vision artifact or compass, and any gameplay defect. Do not record session tokens, Wi-Fi passwords, or other credentials.

Use at least five completed matches involving more than one pair of players. The target is that ordinary completed matches cluster around five minutes; there is deliberately no hard timer. If a result materially misses that target or a participant reports a balance issue, describe it and repeat the affected tests after any parameter change.

Results

On 2026-09-08, the project owner confirmed that the representative physical two-player playtests covered by this protocol worked as expected, with no gameplay defects or balance issues observed. The owner explicitly approved a deviation from the protocol's count and elapsed-time statistics: individual match timing, seed or hash, and per-run fields are not required for MVP acceptance. No hard match timer was introduced.

Assessment

The project owner accepted the approximately five-minute target based on the representative playtests above and approved the absence of a quantified timing sample. This is an approved evidence deviation, not a claim of statistical measurement. The locked configuration remains unchanged because no issue was reported.

Milestone 014 compact-map revalidation

The earlier results apply to the superseded 128 x 64 configuration. Test the new 32 x 32 configuration with two players after the Milestone 014 firmware and web assets are installed. Confirm that navigation remains understandable, both players consider the symmetric race fair, no gameplay-blocking defect is observed, and the match duration remains acceptable without a hard timer.

Representative compact-map results have not yet been recorded.