User acceptance testing plan for the Anno-style city builder's Production Chains & Economy (Phase 2) and Population & Progression (Phase 3). Both phases are code-complete with 99/99 tests passing. Browser verification of Phase 3 is pending.
Gap: No game-specific audience research (game-audience.md, game-fantasy.md, game-core-loop.md). This is expected — the project is a personal experiment, not a commercial product. The concept brief and game systems spec provide sufficient target-user context.
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2. Assumptions & Confidence
Assumption
Confidence
Source
Primary tester is the developer (George) acting as a strategy game player
High
Concept brief: "Tertiary: The developer (George)"
Phase 2 is fully verified (browser-tested, all criteria checked)
High
Phase 2 milestone: all criteria [x], browser verification done
Phase 3 code is complete but unverified in browser
2.Wait for houses to upgrade from Citizen to Patrician. Observe sprite tint change to purple.
3.Verify Tier 3 buildings unlock: Cattle Farm, Butcher, Hop Farm, Brewery, Silk Farm, Silk Weaver, Iron Mine, Smelter, Tavern.
4.Build the Meat chain: Cattle Farm (grass) -> Butcher.
5.Build the Beer chain: place additional Wheat Farm + Mill if needed. Place Hop Farm (grass), then Brewery (needs flour + hops).
6.Build the Fine Clothing chain: Silk Farm (grass) -> Silk Weaver.
7.Place a Tavern (requires iron — may need Iron Mine + Smelter first for build cost).
8.Verify all Patrician needs are met: Meat, Beer, Fine Clothing, Tavern.
9.Verify tax income at 8 coins/tick per Patrician house.
0/9 steps
Acceptance criteria:
Houses upgrade from Citizen (gold) to Patrician (purple) when all Tier 2 needs met
Tier 3 buildings unlock after first Patricians appear
Meat, Beer, and Fine Clothing chains all produce correctly
Beer chain correctly requires both flour AND hops as dual inputs
Tavern provides island-wide service for Patricians
Tax at 8 coins/tick per Patrician house
Player can reach Patricians from an empty island in a single session
Non-acceptance signals: Can't reach Patrician tier, Beer chain fails with dual inputs, Tavern doesn't satisfy needs, runs out of resources with no recovery path
Evidence to capture: Screenshot of purple-tinted houses, HUD showing Meat/Beer/Fine Clothing, coin income observation
Notes:
Journey 4: Economy Stress — Negative Balance & Pausing Not run
Target user: Developer/Tester
User goal: Verify the economy grace period and production pausing mechanics
Setup: Game with some production buildings but no houses (or very few), so income is low.
Task sequence:
1.Place several production buildings without enough houses to sustain income. Spend coins below zero.
2.Observe 30-second grace period: production should continue for 30 game-seconds.
3.After grace period, verify production buildings pause (gray tint on sprites).
6.Verify production resumes when coins go positive (gray tint clears, production restarts).
0/6 steps
Acceptance criteria:
Production continues for ~30s after coins go negative
Paused buildings show gray tint
Paused buildings stop producing
Production resumes when coin balance recovers
Non-acceptance signals: Buildings pause instantly, no visual indicator of paused state, production never resumes
Evidence to capture: Note the timing of grace period. Screenshot of gray-tinted buildings. Coin balance before/after.
Notes:
Journey 5: Downgrade & Recovery — Grace Period Test Not run
Target user: Developer/Tester
User goal: Verify house downgrade mechanics, grace periods, and staggered cascade prevention
Setup: Game with Citizen-tier houses (needs satisfied). Multiple houses upgraded.
Task sequence:
1.Achieve Citizens (gold tint) on 3+ houses with Fish, Linen, Bread, Leather, Chapel all provided.
2.Remove or deplete a key resource: e.g., demolish the Fisherman so fish supply stops.
3.Observe that houses do NOT downgrade instantly — a ~60s grace period should apply.
4.During the grace period, verify house tint is still gold (Citizens).
5.After grace period expires, observe houses downgrade to Settler (white tint).
6.Verify downgrade is staggered: not all houses downgrade in the same tick (10% stagger).
7.Verify tax income drops from 3 to 1 per downgraded house.
8.Restore fish supply (place a new Fisherman). Verify houses can re-upgrade to Citizens.
0/8 steps
Acceptance criteria:
~60-second grace period before downgrade
Staggered downgrade (not all houses at once)
Tint changes from gold back to white on downgrade
Tax income decreases proportionally
Re-upgrade is possible when needs are re-satisfied
Non-acceptance signals: Instant downgrade, all houses downgrade simultaneously (death spiral), houses can't re-upgrade, no visual change on downgrade
Evidence to capture: Timing of grace period, count of houses that downgrade per tick, screenshots before/during/after downgrade
Notes:
Journey 6: Game Speed & Production Scaling Not run
Target user: Strategy Game Player
User goal: Use game speed controls to accelerate or pause the simulation
Setup: Game with active production buildings
Task sequence:
1.Note production speed at 1x. Time how long a Fisherman takes to produce (+1 Fish popup).
2.Switch to 2x (press ]). Verify production is visibly faster (~half the real-time wait).
3.Switch to 3x. Verify production is even faster.
4.Pause the game (press P). Verify all production stops, no resource changes, camera still pans.
5.Unpause (press P again or change speed). Verify production resumes from where it paused.
6.Verify HUD shows current speed indicator (Paused/1x/2x/3x).
0/6 steps
Acceptance criteria:
Game speed Pause/1x/2x/3x all functional
Production timers scale with speed multiplier
Camera panning works while paused
Speed indicator visible in HUD
Non-acceptance signals: Speed changes have no effect, pause doesn't stop production, camera frozen while paused
Evidence to capture: Rough timing comparison at different speeds, HUD speed indicator screenshots
Notes:
Journey 7: Satisfaction & Partial Tax — Mixed Needs Not run
Target user: Developer/Tester
User goal: Verify partial satisfaction reduces tax income proportionally
Setup: Game with houses and partial goods supply (e.g., fish but no linen)
Task sequence:
1.Place houses with only fish production running (no linen). Satisfaction should be partial (~50%).
2.Observe coin income rate. It should be reduced from full 1 coin/tick to a partial amount.
3.Add linen production. Satisfaction should rise to 100%.
4.Observe coin income increase to full rate.
5.For Citizens: supply bread but not leather. Observe partial satisfaction and reduced tax (less than 3/tick).
0/5 steps
Acceptance criteria:
Partial satisfaction produces proportionally reduced tax income
Full satisfaction produces full tax income
Satisfaction changes when supply changes
Non-acceptance signals: Tax is all-or-nothing (full or zero), satisfaction doesn't update when supply changes
Evidence to capture: Coin rate observations with partial vs full supply
Notes:
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6. Acceptance Criteria Summary
Criterion
Journey
Phase
All 10 production chains produce correct outputs
J1, J2, J3
P2
Idle buildings show reddish tint
J1
P2
Houses generate tier-appropriate tax (1/3/8)
J1, J2, J3
P2+P3
Negative coins -> 30s grace -> pause
J4
P2
Game speed Pause/1x/2x/3x scales timers
J6
P2
Houses upgrade Settler -> Citizen when Fish+Linen met
J2
P3
Houses upgrade Citizen -> Patrician when Tier 2 needs met
J3
P3
Tier 2 buildings unlock at Citizens
J2
P3
Tier 3 buildings unlock at Patricians
J3
P3
~60s grace period before downgrade
J5
P3
Staggered downgrade (10%)
J5
P3
Tier tints: white/gold/purple
J2, J3, J5
P3
Partial satisfaction -> proportional tax
J7
P3
Full progression: empty island -> Patricians
J1->J2->J3
P2+P3
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7. Proposed File Changes
CREATE research/uat-plan.md UAT plan with 7 journeys, persona definitions, evidence sources, acceptance criteria, result log templates, and follow-up guidance.