I reviewed this from the source only and wrote one finding to .imd-findings.json. Bash could not start here (the sandbox failed to set up), and the browser tool's Chromium crashed on launch with "Socket path too long". So the taste probe did not run, I took no screenshots, and nothing was played in Chromium or WebKit. I also couldn't diff against the previous commit.

Area	Count
Brief requirements	7: 6 met, 1 missing, 0 faked
Broken features	1
Product on first screen at 390	not measured (no browser)
taste@1 checks passed	probe did not run
Copy findings	0 (the brief forbids text changes)
Share card	yes: title, favicon, og:title, og:image og-image.svg (index.html:6–12)

Requirements

• "Escape every API-derived value (round, block height, RPM, wheel status) with the existing escHtml helper": met. index.html:955–957 wrap runSnapshot.round, .block, .rpm and .status in escHtml.
• "P or the pause button freezes their updates and shows the PAUSED overlay" (Cage Runner, Bamboo Squeeze): met. togglePause now covers wheel and crush (2169). update() returns early for a paused mini-game (1075). The mini-game's own scene is drawn under the overlay (1793–1794).
• "gameplay inputs are ignored while paused": met. pressAction (2120–2125) has no branch for paused.
• "drive bamboo gap and Boss drift animation from each pipe's x position instead of elapsed time": met. 1211 sets pt = (W + 70 - pipe.x) / PIPE_NOMINAL_SPEED.
• "keep each pipe's seeded spawn phase when breathing activates at 30 Aura": met. 1118–1121 leave phase alone.
• "draw mini-game obstacle/Aura spawns from the seeded run RNG instead of Math.random": met. 1401–1403 and 1564–1578 use rng().
• "Make the same challenge seed always produce the same map": missing. See the finding below.
• "Do not change … the live connection to https://api.squeekchain.com/v1/status": met as far as the source shows (488–529). Without a diff I can't confirm the rest of the file is unchanged.

Finding (high), index.html:1564: "bug: the same challenge seed still gives a different map because mini-games and player-dependent branches draw from the one map RNG".

• What's there: the bamboo gaps (nextGapY), the pickups and both mini-games all draw from one rng stream.
• Why the map changes:
  • Cage Runner takes more or fewer numbers depending on how long the player survives (it ends early when hearts run out), and entering a portal at all is the player's choice. Either way, every bamboo gap after that point shifts.
  • The pickup checks skip their random draw while a Superman item is active, so collecting one also moves every later gap.
  • The mini-game half of this comes from this revision: before, the mini-games used Math.random and could not touch the map.
• Fix: give the mini-games their own stream seeded from the run seed, which still meets the brief's wording, and draw the pickup numbers before the checks so each column always uses the same count.
• How to reproduce: play the same challenge code twice. In one run, lose Cage Runner after about 3 seconds; in the other, survive the full 10. Then compare pipes.map(p => p.gapY) a few columns later: the lists differ.

The idea: a Flappy-style run through bamboo with Squeektoshi, where the live Squeekchain round decides the map.

To get the probe and screenshots, run node .imd/reads/skills/design-critic/scripts/taste.mjs --out test/scratch/taste on a machine where Bash works and Chromium can launch.

Fixed the RNG coupling and rebuilt dist/. All 55 regression checks pass; pause, receipt escaping, and primary interactions also pass.

Added .imd-responses.json. Validation report records existing typecheck/design issues and the live API connection failure.

Deliverable size: 0.30 MiB, below the 8 MiB limit.

Not delivered: artifacts/validation.md. Under artifacts/, only this step's named outputs leave the machine.

Area	Previous review	This review
Requirements	1 missing reported	9 met; 0 missing/faked
Broken features	1	0 substantiated
First screen at 390px	Unreported	Game and START visible
taste@1	Not run	10/16 passed
Copy findings	Unreported	0 new
Share card	Unreported	Metadata present

The prior RNG finding is fixed. All 55 regression checks passed; independent portal tests produced identical subsequent columns. .imd-findings.json contains {"findings":[]}.

Explicit requirement	Status and evidence
Escape round, block height, RPM and wheel status using escHtml	Met — index.html:957–959; hostile HTML rendered as text.
P or Pause freezes both mini-games	Met — togglePause() and update(); both controls passed five simulated seconds without state changes.
Show the PAUSED overlay	Met — drawPausedOverlay(); observed in both mini-games.
Ignore gameplay inputs while paused	Met — pressAction(); Space, Up and touch had no effect.
Same challenge seed produces the same map	Met — separate streams and fixed draws; replay and branch checks passed.
Drive bamboo breathing and Boss drift from pipe position	Met — position-based pt in index.html:1216; changing elapsed time preserved geometry.
Retain seeded phases when breathing activates at 30 Aura	Met — index.html:1122; phases remained identical.
Seed mini-game obstacle/Aura spawns	Met — miniRng supplies both mini-games.
Preserve other gameplay, text, visuals and API connection	Met — revision diff stays within the RNG fix; markup, CSS and live API code match the preceding version.

The visual idea remains a hamster Flappy game carried by pixel art and bamboo obstacles. Probe failures concern unchanged parts of the site and do not reopen this revision.

WebKit could not launch, so Safari behavior remains unverified. Nothing was fabricated. Website files remain unchanged.