How playtesting works with Bricklayer
F5 and Shift+F5 in Bricklayer, what happens with and without Studio MCP, and a testing habit that saves time.
Updated November 8, 2026
Roblox Studio is still where your game runs. Bricklayer gives you shortcuts to start and stop it, and lets your AI do the same once Studio's MCP server is on.
The shortcuts
| Action | Shortcut | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Start Playtest | F5 | With Studio MCP on, Bricklayer starts play directly. Without it, Bricklayer flushes your file edits to disk and prompts you to press F5 inside Studio. |
| Stop Playtest | Shift+F5 | Stops the playtest in Studio. Needs Studio MCP. |
You can always press Play in Studio yourself too. Both ways run the same game.
Let the AI test its own work
With Studio's MCP server turned on, your AI can start a playtest, read the Output window, and stop it again. That turns "it doesn't work" into a loop the AI can fix by itself:
Playtest the game, try to reach stage 3, then read the Output for errors and fix any you find. Show me the diff before applying.
A testing habit that saves time
- Ask for one change.
- Approve it.
- Press F5 and try exactly that change.
- Then ask for the next one.
Testing after every change means that when something breaks, you know which change did it. Testing after ten changes means hunting.
Edits made while a playtest is running do not affect the running game. Stop, then play again to test new code.
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