The clockwork plays at a watchable pace

One command per beat — 1.5 seconds, the replay's 1x cadence — each
broadcast with its board state as it lands, starting a beat after
the human's own action settles. The pump is per-room, re-entrancy
guarded, and stops the moment the maze wants a human (or the game
ends). Watching an automaton stalk your treasure across the maze is
now a spectacle instead of a teleport.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

packages/server/src/index.ts

@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ import {
   loadPersistedRooms,
   addAutomaton,
   addChat,
-  driveAutomatons,
+  driveOneAutomaton,
   makeTransferCode,
   redactFor,
   roomCount,
@@ -184,15 +184,26 @@ function broadcast(room: Room, makeMessage: (playerId: PlayerId) => unknown): vo
   }
 }
 
-/** After a human acts, the clockwork answers; every step is broadcast. */
+/**
+ * The clockwork plays at a watchable pace: one command every beat, each
+ * broadcast as it lands, until the maze wants a human again.
+ */
+const BOT_STEP_MS = 1500;
+const pumping = new Set<string>();
 function runBots(room: Room): void {
-  const steps = driveAutomatons(room);
-  for (const step of steps) {
+  if (pumping.has(room.id)) return;
+  pumping.add(room.id);
+  const tick = () => {
+    const step = driveOneAutomaton(room);
+    if (!step) {
+      pumping.delete(room.id);
+      return;
+    }
     broadcast(room, (playerId) => ({ type: "events", events: redactFor(step.events, playerId) }));
-  }
-  if (steps.length > 0) {
     broadcast(room, (playerId) => ({ type: "state", view: viewForPlayer(room, playerId), seq: room.log.length }));
-  }
+    setTimeout(tick, BOT_STEP_MS);
+  };
+  setTimeout(tick, 800); // a beat after the human's own action settles
 }
 
 function broadcastRoomState(room: Room): void {