Fix, polish and publish
With tied affection points the wrong character's route starts, or none does
When two characters have the same score at the branching point, a simple "highest wins" picks whoever is listed first in the code, and a player with low scores gets a route nobody earned. Here is a clear rule for ties, for too few points, and for locking the choice.
Fix tiles that float, overlap or fall in the wrong order after a clear
After a match the tiles above should drop into the holes, but some stay hanging, two end up in one place, or the fall animation jumps. This entry shows how to make the AI settle each column from the bottom up and report exactly how far each tile fell.
Fix ads that appear at the worst moment, too often, or in the first minute
Between levels an ad can earn a little, but one right after a loss, three in a row or on the very first level makes people uninstall. This entry shows how to make the AI decide in one place whether an ad may show, with clear reasons that can be logged and tuned.
I cannot test every path through my branching story
Every choice doubles the ways through a story, so nobody plays them all, yet any single untried choice may hide a broken scene. Here is a method that picks a short list of playthroughs which together use every choice at least once, and why you cannot fall back on picking at random.
Find missing translations and broken placeholders before players see them
After a new language is added or a text changes, some lines are missing, still empty, or lose the slot where a name or number should go, and the screen shows raw code words. This entry shows how to make the AI compare each language file with the main one and list every problem.
The translated game shows odd codes or drops the player's name
After adding a second language, some lines show a code instead of text, some are empty, and some forget to insert the name. Here is a check that compares both languages key by key and catches the quiet mistakes a quick read-through never finds.
Check that a tutorial can never leave a player in a step they cannot finish
A tutorial that waits for the player to tap a button the player cannot reach, or sends them around in a loop, loses people in the first minute. This entry shows how to make the AI treat the tutorial as a map of steps and find the dead ends, loops and forgotten steps automatically.
My letter-by-letter text shows the formatting codes as it types
Bold or coloured words in a dialogue box look fine when shown at once, but when the text appears letter by letter you see strange symbols flicker by, or the rest of the box turns bold. Here is how to reveal only what the player should read.
Fix an undo button that forgets moves, ruins redo or eats memory
Puzzle players undo constantly. Saving the whole board each move gets heavy, a redo after a new move leads to nonsense, and an undo that does not exactly reverse the move is worse than none. This entry shows how to make the AI store only what changed.
Unlocked endings and gallery pictures vanish when a save is deleted or moved
Players collect endings and pictures over many playthroughs, then delete a save, or play on a second device, and their collection is gone or only half there. Here is where such progress belongs, and the rule for putting two collections together without losing or doubling anything.
Check puzzle level files for a missing start, a blocked goal or ragged rows
A level written by an AI, or by you in a hurry, can have two starting points, a goal behind a wall, or a row that is one tile short, and the game then crashes or cannot be won. This entry shows how to make the AI check every level before it ships.
Fix the "please update the app" check that thinks version 1.9 is newer than 1.10
The game should ask old versions to update, but comparing version numbers like text puts one-point-nine after one-point-ten, so the wrong people get the message or nobody does. This entry shows how to make the AI compare version numbers by their parts.