The handoff test: make one change

If your team will maintain a playable after delivery, source handoff is part of the purchase. The promise to include source files needs to describe what another person can actually open and use.

A practical acceptance exercise is to make one routine change from the delivered package. This gives a creative lead a specific check to agree before production begins.

Choose a small edit

Use an edit that reflects the next team's likely work, such as changing the CTA copy or replacing an approved image. Ask someone who did not build the original to perform it using the supplied project and instructions.

The person should have the tools and access that the handoff agreement says are required. This is not a test of whether an arbitrary machine can run a project with no preparation.

Produce a fresh export

Opening the project is only the first part. Export the revised build and check the change in the resulting file. If that cannot be done, record the point where the process stopped.

The gap might be a missing font, an unrecorded tool version, a local only dependency, a build command or an asset with restricted rights. Each requires a different remedy. Naming the dependency is more useful than describing the entire handoff as incomplete without detail.

Agree the limits of transfer

Some tools and assets carry licence or account restrictions. Confirm who supplies those licences, what the receiving team must obtain and which files are excluded. Receiving a copy of a project does not by itself establish every right needed to reuse its contents.

This is an operational checklist, not a claim about any particular licence. Read the terms for the actual assets and tools in the job.

Keep the result proportionate

A successful CTA edit shows that the documented path supports that routine change. It does not prove the receiving team can replace the engine or redesign the mechanic without further work.

Put the required edit, export and dependency list into the brief when maintainability matters. Then both sides know what a usable handoff means before the delivery date.