uhmin99 · Jul 15, 2026 · Jul 15, 2026
diff --git a/ARCHITECTURE.md b/ARCHITECTURE.md
@@ -92,6 +92,14 @@ Quest stages may pin the FIRST tray via the stage's `tray` field (the
 "opening break" design — see CONTRIBUTING_QUESTS.md); the generator
 takes over from the second tray on.
 
+**Quest gem stages** (`GameState.gemGoal` non-empty): gems ride on the
+generated tray pieces rather than being pre-placed. After drawing a tray,
+`assignGems` attaches gems to some pieces, drawing colors only from those
+still needed (goal − collected); a color that's fully collected stops
+spawning. A placed gem is collected when a line through it clears
+(`GameState.trayGems` carries the pending gems per tray slot). Goals can
+exceed what's ever on the board, and over-collecting is fine (win is ≥).
+
 **Classic clear-focus** (`GameState.clearFocus`, set by the classic
 controller): the same generator, turned up for maximum clears/combos.
 Breakers are boosted ~9×, near-empty boards favor big/long pieces (to

diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING_QUESTS.md b/CONTRIBUTING_QUESTS.md
@@ -73,16 +73,24 @@ Piece ids are the entries in `lib/models/piece_catalog.dart` (`single`,
 |------|---------|
 | `.` | empty cell |
 | `0`–`7` | block in palette color 0–7 (red, green, orange, yellow, blue, purple, cyan, pink) |
-| `r` `b` `p` `y` `g` | gold block holding a red / blue / purple / yellow / green **gem** |
+| `r` `b` `p` `y` `g` | light tile holding a red / blue / purple / yellow / green **gem** |
 
-Gems are collected when any completed line containing them clears.
+Gems are collected when any completed line containing them clears. For a
+gem GOAL you normally leave these out of the board entirely — gems come
+from the tray (see Goals). The gem letters remain available if you want a
+few decorative pre-placed gems, but they are not required and not counted
+toward what's reachable.
 
 ### Goals
 
 - Score: `{ "type": "score", "target": 700 }` — reach the score.
-- Gems: `{ "type": "gems", "counts": { "red": 2, "purple": 3 } }` —
-  collect all listed gems. Every color you require must actually exist on
-  the board in at least that quantity.
+- Gems: `{ "type": "gems", "counts": { "red": 8, "purple": 6 } }` —
+  collect *at least* the listed count of each color. Gems ride on the
+  generated tray pieces (spawned only for colors you still need), so the
+  goal does NOT depend on gems being pre-placed on the board — you don't
+  put gems in the board at all for a gem goal, and counts can be large.
+  Collecting more than the goal is fine. Once a color is fully collected
+  it stops appearing on new pieces.
 
 ### Rules the validator enforces
 

diff --git a/PROGRESS.md b/PROGRESS.md
@@ -172,6 +172,22 @@ lose-screen/80%-banner visual eyeballing during play, a CI workflow
 - Session ended mid slice-D device verification at user request; all
   code committed on `dev`, working tree clean, 43/43 tests green.
 
+### 2026-07-16 — Gems ride on tray pieces (quest gem stages reworked)
+- User: pre-placing all gems on the grid made stages swingy and capped
+  goals low. Now gems spawn on generated tray pieces (assignGems, ~50%
+  of pieces carry one, big pieces sometimes two), drawing only colors
+  still needed; a met color stops spawning; over-collecting is fine.
+  A placed gem is collected when a line through it clears.
+- Model: GameState gains trayGems (per-slot cell→color) + gemGoal;
+  placement.stampWithGems; engine threads gems on place/refill; the
+  controller passes the goal; board renders placed gems in the piece
+  color (pre-placed stay light); tray pieces show their gems.
+- Validator: dropped the "board must contain the goal's gems" rule
+  (obsolete); added a gem-count sanity range. All 20 gem stages had
+  their board gems stripped and goals raised (single 8 / two 6 / three 5).
+- Workflow: per user, land on dev only from here — no auto-promote to
+  main (they promote later). See memory no-auto-promote-to-main.
+
 ### 2026-07-16 — Playtest round 5: 7 polish items
 - Ghost dial-back: nearest-legal snap capped to a 1-cell radius (catches
   grid-line straddling, no longer teleports onto far gaps; over occupied

diff --git a/SAVE_MODEL.md b/SAVE_MODEL.md
@@ -46,6 +46,8 @@ silently discarding progress.
   "roundBestCombo": 7,
   "allClears": 1,                       // this run; absent in old saves -> 0
   "clearFocus": true,                   // classic mode's easy-clears dealing
+  "gemGoal": {"red": 8},                // quest gem stage target (else absent)
+  "trayGems": [{"0": "red"}, {}, {}],   // gems on each tray slot (else absent)
   "gems": {"red": 1}                    // collected this run (quest only)
 }
 ```

diff --git a/content/quests/manifest.json b/content/quests/manifest.json
@@ -6,21 +6,21 @@
       "title": "First Steps",
       "release_date": "2026-07-01",
       "file": "packs/starter.json",
-      "checksum": "770475f32eaa716e132fb1de37d1c3cf8cfa53904d018101e77e92a8969ffdfa"
+      "checksum": "8c70a5bdbc7a9a059ef8f106e7d70e5a3dd45f7664f511cd989f5d17f4aae400"
     },
     {
       "id": "deep-dig",
       "title": "Deep Dig",
       "release_date": "2026-07-05",
       "file": "packs/deep-dig.json",
-      "checksum": "8578afdf6304fd3fe8ca1281fb2b2387ab5de383b36b417278d2a437bc518a80"
+      "checksum": "eefa0748debb175ecb710141bb39e4b207fa3850162ad0b746b496c0615690b7"
     },
     {
       "id": "treasure-trail",
       "title": "Treasure Trail",
       "release_date": "2026-07-26",
       "file": "packs/treasure-trail.json",
-      "checksum": "f0b78a9ea566c9b5af0a410e06fb4f4e40b58931536ba329de4764f8c2facc9f"
+      "checksum": "c4e1c2d4edd1831459d9b263a5eb91739d50a3fc9eca2daa67af5553115af2b9"
     }
   ]
 }
diff --git a/content/quests/packs/deep-dig.json b/content/quests/packs/deep-dig.json
@@ -29,18 +29,18 @@
       "id": "d02",
       "board": [
         "........",
-        "..b.....",
+        "..3.....",
         "........",
         "........",
-        "3b33.333",
-        "44..44b4",
+        "3333.333",
+        "44..4434",
         "44..4444",
         "111...11"
       ],
       "goal": {
         "type": "gems",
         "counts": {
-          "blue": 3
+          "blue": 8
         }
       },
       "tray": [
@@ -75,19 +75,19 @@
       "id": "d04",
       "board": [
         "........",
-        ".g....r.",
+        ".3....3.",
         "........",
         "........",
         "3333.333",
-        "77g7.777",
+        "7737.777",
         "777..777",
-        "1r11...1"
+        "1311...1"
       ],
       "goal": {
         "type": "gems",
         "counts": {
-          "green": 2,
-          "red": 2
+          "green": 6,
+          "red": 6
         }
       },
       "tray": [
@@ -121,19 +121,19 @@
     {
       "id": "d06",
       "board": [
-        "...p....",
+        "...3....",
         "........",
         "........",
         "000..000",
         "3333.333",
-        "5p5...55",
-        "55p...55",
-        "5p5...55"
+        "535...55",
+        "553...55",
+        "535...55"
       ],
       "goal": {
         "type": "gems",
         "counts": {
-          "purple": 4
+          "purple": 8
         }
       },
       "tray": [
@@ -167,19 +167,19 @@
     {
       "id": "d08",
       "board": [
-        "y.......",
+        "3.......",
         "........",
         "........",
         "000..000",
         "3333.333",
-        "444.y444",
+        "444.3444",
         "444..444",
-        "4y44.444"
+        "4344.444"
       ],
       "goal": {
         "type": "gems",
         "counts": {
-          "yellow": 3
+          "yellow": 8
         }
       },
       "hard": true,
@@ -214,20 +214,20 @@
     {
       "id": "d10",
       "board": [
-        "..r..b..",
+        "..3..3..",
         "........",
         "........",
         "111...11",
-        "3r33.333",
-        "77..7r77",
-        "777.7b77",
+        "3333.333",
+        "77..7377",
+        "777.7377",
         "........"
       ],
       "goal": {
         "type": "gems",
         "counts": {
-          "red": 3,
-          "blue": 2
+          "red": 6,
+          "blue": 6
         }
       },
       "tray": [
@@ -262,20 +262,20 @@
     {
       "id": "d12",
       "board": [
-        ".p....g.",
+        ".3....3.",
         "........",
-        "..g.....",
+        "..3.....",
         "111...11",
-        "3g33.333",
-        "5p55.555",
+        "3333.333",
+        "5355.555",
         "555..555",
-        "5p5.5555"
+        "535.5555"
       ],
       "goal": {
         "type": "gems",
         "counts": {
-          "purple": 3,
-          "green": 3
+          "purple": 6,
+          "green": 6
         }
       },
       "hard": true,
@@ -311,19 +311,19 @@
     {
       "id": "d14",
       "board": [
-        "r.......",
+        "3.......",
         "........",
         "........",
         "3333.333",
-        "7r..7777",
-        "7r.77777",
-        "00r00.00",
-        "0000r.00"
+        "73..7777",
+        "73.77777",
+        "00300.00",
+        "00003.00"
       ],
       "goal": {
         "type": "gems",
         "counts": {
-          "red": 5
+          "red": 8
         }
       },
       "hard": true,
@@ -336,23 +336,23 @@
     {
       "id": "d15",
       "board": [
-        "r.......",
+        "3.......",
         "........",
         "........",
         "3333.333",
-        "1b...111",
-        "111.g111",
-        "44y4..44",
-        "444..4p4"
+        "13...111",
+        "111.3111",
+        "4434..44",
+        "444..434"
       ],
       "goal": {
         "type": "gems",
         "counts": {
-          "red": 1,
-          "blue": 1,
-          "purple": 1,
-          "yellow": 1,
-          "green": 1
+          "red": 5,
+          "blue": 5,
+          "purple": 5,
+          "yellow": 5,
+          "green": 5
         }
       },
       "hard": true,