diff --git a/dialogable.lua b/dialogable.lua
index 5da0ed4..0cad3ba 100644
--- a/dialogable.lua
+++ b/dialogable.lua
@@ -6,6 +6,10 @@
 Dialogable = {}
 
 function Dialogable:onBump()
-	if self.book then Dialogue.open(self.book) end
+	if self.book then
+		local wasOpen = Dialogue.isOpen()
+		Dialogue.open(self.book)
+		if Sound and not wasOpen then Sound.jabber() end
+	end
 	return true
 end
diff --git a/door.lua b/door.lua
index 186594a..67d03ba 100644
--- a/door.lua
+++ b/door.lua
@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@ end
 function Door:unlock()
 	self.locked = false
 	self.collision = "none"
+	if Sound then Sound.play("doorUnlock") end
 end
 
 function Door:lock()
diff --git a/main.lua b/main.lua
index 798c539..c8877ba 100644
--- a/main.lua
+++ b/main.lua
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ require "_helpers"
 require "input"
 require "profiler"
 require "color"
+require "sound"
 require "room"
 require "world"
 require "world_seed"
@@ -26,6 +27,13 @@ narrator = require "narrator.narrator"
 startSignBook = require "stories.start_sign"
 jorgeBook = require "stories.jorge"
 
+-- DEV/DEBUG mode. When on, the level editor is available and rooms with no
+-- player copy present still render every channel, so whole levels stay visible
+-- instead of a black screen. Turn it off for a player-facing build; both the
+-- editor and that all-channels fallback then disappear. Override at launch with
+-- the DEBUG env var (DEBUG=0 to force off, DEBUG=1 to force on).
+DEBUG = os.getenv("DEBUG") ~= "0"
+
 function love.load()
 	globalAssetProperties = {} -- rebuilt from the filesystem (art/ + .meta) by getAllAssets
 
@@ -95,9 +103,9 @@ function love.draw()
 	love.graphics.setCanvas(gameCanvas)
 	love.graphics.clear()
 	love.graphics.setBlendMode("screen")
-	if editorView == "world" then
+	if DEBUG and editorView == "world" then
 		gameWorld:draw()
-	elseif editorView == "wire" then
+	elseif DEBUG and editorView == "wire" then
 		gameWorld:drawWireEditor(wireEditorCamera())
 	else
 		currentRoom:draw()
@@ -127,17 +135,20 @@ function love.draw()
 	-- Render the sidebar at native panel resolution: the canvas is panel-sized,
 	-- and editorDraw works in the fixed virtual space, scaled up by a transform.
 	-- Blitting the canvas 1:1 afterwards means no rescaling of the final image
-	-- (crisp, nearest-neighbor throughout — nothing is averaged).
-	love.graphics.setCanvas(sideBarCanvas)
-	-- The gameplay view now intentionally extends beyond its old room bounds.
-	-- Keep the editor panel opaque so that neighbourhood preview never shows
-	-- through empty areas of the UI.
-	love.graphics.clear(0, 0, 0, 1)
-	love.graphics.push()
-	love.graphics.scale(editorRenderScale, editorRenderScale)
-	editorDraw()
-	love.graphics.pop()
-	love.graphics.setCanvas()
+	-- (crisp, nearest-neighbor throughout — nothing is averaged). The editor is a
+	-- DEBUG-only surface, so skip the whole panel in a player-facing build.
+	if DEBUG then
+		love.graphics.setCanvas(sideBarCanvas)
+		-- The gameplay view now intentionally extends beyond its old room bounds.
+		-- Keep the editor panel opaque so that neighbourhood preview never shows
+		-- through empty areas of the UI.
+		love.graphics.clear(0, 0, 0, 1)
+		love.graphics.push()
+		love.graphics.scale(editorRenderScale, editorRenderScale)
+		editorDraw()
+		love.graphics.pop()
+		love.graphics.setCanvas()
+	end
 
 	-- Collect every visible layer before the accessibility pass.  Applying the
 	-- shader here also covers the editor sidebar, FPS display, and dialogue,
@@ -147,7 +158,7 @@ function love.draw()
 	love.graphics.setBlendMode("alpha")
 	love.graphics.setColor(1, 1, 1, 1)
 	love.graphics.draw(finalCanvas, 0, 0)
-	love.graphics.draw(sideBarCanvas, sideBarBox.x, sideBarBox.y)
+	if DEBUG then love.graphics.draw(sideBarCanvas, sideBarBox.x, sideBarBox.y) end
 	love.graphics.print("Current FPS: "..tostring(love.timer.getFPS( )), 10, 10)
 	PerfProfiler:draw()
 	Dialogue.draw()
@@ -208,6 +219,9 @@ function love.keypressed(key)
 	-- 	worldSha = worldSha - 1
 	-- end
 
+	-- Editor text-field controls (room-name entry etc.): DEBUG-only.
+	if not DEBUG then return end
+
 	if key == "return" then
 		response = ""
 		editorCompleteResponse()
@@ -225,24 +239,31 @@ function love.keypressed(key)
 	end
 end
 
+-- Every mouse/text callback below only ever drives the editor, so they are
+-- inert outside DEBUG: a player-facing build is keyboard-only.
 function love.mousepressed(x, y, button)
+	if not DEBUG then return end
 	editorMouseHandler(x, y, button)
 end
 
 function love.mousemoved(x, y)
+	if not DEBUG then return end
 	editorMouseMoved(x, y)
 end
 
 function love.mousereleased(x, y, button)
+	if not DEBUG then return end
 	editorMouseReleased(x, y, button)
 end
 
 function love.textinput(t)
+	if not DEBUG then return end
 	response = response .. t
 	editorTextHandler(response)
 end
 
 function love.wheelmoved(dx, dy)
+	if not DEBUG then return end
 	-- Scroll the editor's asset/folder list when the cursor is over the sidebar.
 	if editorView == "room" and love.mouse.getX() > width then
 		editorScrollRoomList(dy)
@@ -358,6 +379,8 @@ function cycleAccessibilityMode()
 end
 
 function _initSounds()
+	Sound.init()
+
 	staticWave = sfxr.newSound()
 	staticWave.waveform = sfxr.WAVEFORM.NOISE -- was `wavetype = 3`; field renamed in this sfxr
 	staticWave.frequency.start = .1
diff --git a/room.lua b/room.lua
index 3b984f3..4ee4901 100644
--- a/room.lua
+++ b/room.lua
@@ -140,6 +140,9 @@ function Room:getRenderChannels()
 	for _, color in ipairs({"red", "green", "blue"}) do
 		if self.player[color] then table.insert(channels, color) end
 	end
+	-- No player copy lives here, so the view would be black. In debug/dev mode
+	-- render every channel instead, letting whole (player-less) levels be seen.
+	if #channels == 0 and DEBUG then return {"red", "green", "blue"} end
 	return channels
 end
 
@@ -456,6 +459,7 @@ function Room:movePlayerLocal(key)
 	end
 
 	if moved then
+		if Sound then Sound.play("playerMove") end
 		if useWorld then gameWorld:playerJoinCheck(self, previousPositions, newPositions)
 		else self:playerJoinCheck(previousPositions, newPositions) end
 		self:tick()
@@ -1119,6 +1123,7 @@ function nextRoom(pos)
 
 	local currentName = currentRoom.name
 	local nextName = gameWorld and currentName and gameWorld:getNeighbor(currentName, exit)
+	if Sound and nextName and nextName ~= currentName then Sound.play("levelChange") end
 	currentRoom:save()
 
 	-- Missing map neighbours intentionally wrap back into the room just exited.
diff --git a/sound.lua b/sound.lua
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e16bec1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/sound.lua
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+-- Central sound-effect registry. One preloaded Source per named effect; the game
+-- calls Sound.play("name") to (re)trigger it. Ambient static + music live in
+-- main.lua's _initSounds; this covers the one-shot gameplay/UI feedback.
+--
+-- Top level does NO audio calls on purpose: requiring this under the test love
+-- stub (which never runs Sound.init) must be side-effect free. Until Sound.init
+-- runs, Sound.sfx is empty and Sound.play is a harmless no-op.
+Sound = {}
+
+Sound.sfx = {}      -- name -> Source
+Sound.jabbers = {}  -- pool of npc chatter Sources, picked at random
+
+local function load(path)
+	return love.audio.newSource(path, "static")
+end
+
+function Sound.init()
+	Sound.sfx = {
+		playerMove    = load("sounds/player_move.ogg"),
+		switchFail    = load("sounds/switch_fail.wav"),
+		switchSuccess = load("sounds/switch_success.wav"),
+		doorUnlock    = load("sounds/door_unlock.ogg"),
+		levelChange   = load("sounds/level_change.ogg"),
+		uiButton      = load("sounds/ui/button.wav"),
+	}
+	Sound.jabbers = {
+		load("sounds/jabber_1.ogg"),
+		load("sounds/jabber_2.ogg"),
+	}
+end
+
+-- Restart-and-play a named effect. A static Source only plays one instance at a
+-- time, so stopping first makes rapid retriggers (e.g. mashing move) audible.
+function Sound.play(name)
+	local src = Sound.sfx[name]
+	if not src then return end
+	src:stop()
+	src:play()
+end
+
+-- Pick a random npc jabber clip and play it. Used when a Dialogable starts talking.
+function Sound.jabber()
+	if #Sound.jabbers == 0 then return end
+	local src = Sound.jabbers[love.math.random(#Sound.jabbers)]
+	src:stop()
+	src:play()
+end
diff --git a/world.lua b/world.lua
index 8988be5..4e15355 100644
--- a/world.lua
+++ b/world.lua
@@ -707,6 +707,7 @@ function World:movePlayer(room, key)
 		current[color] = player:getGridPos()
 	end
 	if moved then
+		if Sound then Sound.play("playerMove") end
 		self:markDirty(room)
 		self:playerJoinCheck(room, previous, current)
 		self:tick(room)
@@ -811,6 +812,7 @@ function World:nextRoom(room, pos)
 	elseif pos.y > gridHeight then exit, entry.y = "bottom", 1
 	elseif pos.y < 1 then exit, entry.y = "top", gridHeight end
 	local nextName = self:getNeighbor(room.name, exit) or room.name
+	if Sound and nextName ~= room.name then Sound.play("levelChange") end
 	local sourceLocation = self:roomLocation(room.name)
 	local destinationLocation = self:roomLocation(nextName)
 	local activeColors = room:getActiveColors()