Alpha testing guide

Before you start

• Use a modern browser (Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge).
• Try both phone and computer if you can — the game should work on both.
• You can play as a guest immediately. Signing in (Google or Apple) saves progress to the cloud — we recommend trying that too.
• Turn sound on once so you can tell us if anything feels too loud, too quiet, or annoying.
• If something breaks, note what you were doing and what device/browser you used.

How to send feedback

The best feedback is specific. Instead of “it’s confusing,” try “I didn’t know I could swipe to the Store” or “Level 7 failed me but I’m not sure why.”

Please include when you can:

• What you were trying to do
• What happened instead
• Device (e.g. iPhone 15, Windows laptop) and browser
• Screenshot or screen recording if something looks wrong

Post in #alpha-testing on our Discord server. Use the template at the bottom of this page if that helps.

Part 1 — Getting oriented (first 10 minutes)

Swipe the bottom bar or use the dots to move between hub screens.

• Open the game and land on the Home screen (center panel).
• Swipe to Store, Ranks, Alliance, and Codex. Does navigation feel clear?
• Tap your profile (top-left on Home). Skim what’s there.
• Open Settings (gear, top-right). Try toggling music and sound effects.
• From Settings, open How to Play (tutorial). Is it helpful for a brand-new player?
• Tap Play and look at the two modes: Journey and Endless.

Quick impressions

Part 2 — Journey mode (main campaign)

Journey is the level-based mode — 1000+ procedural levels with stars, objectives, and a planet path through the sky (including the Event Horizon endgame zone at high levels).

Level map & sky (new)

• Open Journey and scroll the level map. Does the path, planet bands, and sky feel good on your device?
• Notice the aurora, stars, and atmosphere as you scroll. Any stutter or lag on phone Safari?
• If you reach very high levels (~250+), does difficulty still feel fair? (Late-game targets are soft-capped.)
• If you see the Event Horizon zone, does the enter transition feel cool or confusing?

Early levels (roughly 1–10)

• Play the first few levels. Do the tutorial moments make sense?
• Do you understand matching hexes and making cascades (chain reactions)?
• Do you understand the infection (spreading danger) and how to stop or slow it?
• When you win, does the level complete screen feel satisfying?
• When you lose, is it clear why you lost?
• Try failing on purpose once. On game over, is the main button obvious — Stabilize, Add Time, or Cure Infection depending on how you lost?
• On your first fail in a level, you keep your life until you leave — does that feel fair? Try quitting vs. continuing.

Going deeper (play as far as you enjoy)

• Try to earn 1 star, then 3 stars on a level if you can. Do objectives feel fair?
• Use a power-up from the bar during a level (Pick, Bomb, Color Wipe, or Cure). Was it obvious what each one does?
• Hit a bonus round (first one appears after level 14, then every 7 levels). Is it fun? Too easy? Too hard?
• Run out of lives at least once. Is refilling (shards or ad) understandable?
• Spend shards on Stabilize / Add Time / Cure — do costs feel fair on normal vs. pressure/hard levels?
• Leave mid-level (back / quit). Did lives and progress behave as you expected?
• Close the browser tab and come back later. Did your progress save?

Hub chrome (new)

• On Home, notice the shard bar, streak fire (🔥), and lives in the top bar. Are they easy to find?
• Tap the streak fire. Does the streak modal explain freezes and milestones clearly?

Journey — tell us

• When did the game start to feel too easy or too hard?
• Any level that felt unfair, boring, or awesome?
• Is the infection mechanic fun or stressful in a bad way?
• Does the level map make you want to keep pushing forward?
• Would you keep playing Journey on your own? Why or why not?

Part 3 — Endless mode

Endless is a score-chase on a growing board — good for testing “one more run” feel.

• Start an Endless run from the mode select screen.
• Play until you lose (or as long as you want). Is the goal clear?
• Check whether your best score saved after you finish.
• Does Endless feel different enough from Journey to be worth its own mode?
• Compare difficulty: which mode did you enjoy more?

Part 4 — Store & economy

Shards are the in-game currency. You earn some by playing; you can also buy packs (alpha may use test payments only). Sign in if you can — cloud accounts now sync economy through the server.

• Swipe to Store and browse bundles and shard packs.
• Are prices and what you get (shards, power-ups, ad-free, unlimited lives) easy to understand?
• In Extras, claim the daily streak reward. On milestone days, do you see two shard pills (daily + bonus)?
• Claim the daily free gift — notice the shard pill on the button (or under the title when on cooldown).
• Try Watch Ad for Bonus if offered (once per day). Did shards apply?
• If a holiday bonus card appears, claim it. Did the popup and reward feel clear?
• Try quick buys: +1 Streak Freeze and +1 Life. Did balance and counts update?
• Spend shards in a level (stabilize, add time, cure, or power-up). Did your balance update correctly?
• Sign in on two devices (if possible) — do shards, lives, and streak match after a minute?
• Optional — only if we asked you to test purchases: Sign in and try buying the smallest pack. Did items show up after checkout? (Use test card 4242 4242 4242 4242 if instructed.)

Store — tell us

• Do the new shard pill chips make rewards easier to read than before?
• Is the login streak / freeze system understandable?
• Do packs feel like good value, bad value, or unclear?
• Anything in the store that made you not want to buy?
• Did any ad or purchase flow feel sketchy or broken?
• As a signed-in player, did your currency ever look wrong after claiming or spending?

Part 5 — Account & cloud save

• Play a few levels as a guest, then sign in with Google or Apple.
• After sign-in, check shards, lives, streak, and level progress — do they load from the cloud?
• Change your display name in profile and save it. Does it show up on Ranks?
• Copy your friend code from profile. Does copy work on your device?
• If you have two devices (or a phone + computer), sign in on both and check whether progress and economy match.
• Sign out and sign back in. Anything missing or duplicated?

You do not need to test account deletion unless you’re using a throwaway account.

Part 6 — Ranks (leaderboard)

Ranks unlock after you beat Journey level 35. If you haven’t gotten that far yet, note “not unlocked yet” and skip — or come back later in your play session.

• Swipe to Ranks while signed in. Do you see yourself on the list?
• Does the ranking make sense at a glance?
• Try opening Ranks as a guest — is the sign-in prompt clear?

Part 7 — Alliances (optional — best with a friend)

Alliances are small teams. Testing this is optional but very helpful if you can pair up with someone else playing alpha.

• Create an alliance (you’ll need to be signed in and far enough in Journey — alliance unlocks at level 45).
• Share your friend code or alliance invite with another tester.
• Have them request to join or accept an invite.
• Look at alliance tiers and member list. Is anything confusing?
• Try leaving or denying a request if applicable.

If you couldn’t test alliances, just note “skipped — no partner” or “not unlocked yet.”

Part 8 — Codex & achievements

The Codex tab unlocks after Journey level 55. Achievements can still pop up while you play before that — watch for those celebration screens.

• When unlocked, swipe to Codex and browse entries. Are locked vs unlocked entries clear?
• Unlock at least one achievement while playing. Did the celebration popup feel good?
• Read a few achievement descriptions. Do you know what to do to earn them?

Part 9 — Ads (if you see them)

Ads may appear between runs or when you choose “watch ad” for a bonus. They might not show for every tester or on every visit.

• Notice the banner during gameplay (bottom of screen). Too distracting?
• See a full-screen ad after a run or when getting lives. Too frequent?
• Watch an ad for extra shards or lives. Did the reward actually apply?
• If you bought or simulated Remove Ads, do ads stop?

Part 10 — Polish & “weird stuff”

• Rotate your phone or resize the browser window. Does the layout break?
• Switch tabs away and come back mid-level. Anything odd?
• Tap buttons quickly or spam back. Anything get stuck?
• Notice stutter, lag, or battery drain on your device.
• Any text too small, cut off, or hard to read?
• Any sound that plays at the wrong time or not at all?
• Anything that felt unfair, confusing, or delightful?

Final questions (the most important part)

Answer these in your own words — even short answers help a lot.

1. Fun: On a scale of 1–10, how fun was it? Would you play again tomorrow?
2. Clarity: What was the most confusing thing in the first 5 minutes?
3. Difficulty: Where did Journey start to feel too easy or too hard?
4. Hook: What moment (if any) made you want to keep going?
5. Compare: What mobile puzzle game does this remind you of — and how does Hex Cascade compare?
6. Missing: What feature or quality-of-life thing did you expect that wasn’t there?
7. Bugs: List anything broken, even small (typos, wrong numbers, buttons that do nothing).
8. One change: If we could only fix one thing before more people play, what should it be?

Feedback template (copy & paste)

Paste into #alpha-testing on Discord.