diff --git a/web/zebra-spaces.html b/web/zebra-spaces.html
index 0803b67..cc98b09 100644
--- a/web/zebra-spaces.html
+++ b/web/zebra-spaces.html
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@
   html.theme-dark .status-line { color: #888; }
   html.theme-dark .timeline,
   html.theme-dark .cameras-col { border-right-color: #222; }
-  html.theme-dark .timeline-frame { background: #000; border-color: #222; }
+  html.theme-dark .game-tile-frame { background: #000; border-color: #222; }
   /* buttons + inputs */
   html.theme-dark button,
   html.theme-dark .game-tabs button,
@@ -176,19 +176,25 @@
     position: relative;
   }
   .controls { min-width: 0; }
+  /* games live in the LEFT column now (under cameras + screens-thumbs)
+   * so people can play casually during a meeting without competing
+   * with screen-shares for the middle slot. The tabs wrap if the
+   * column is narrow; the iframe is sized for the column. */
+  .games-h2 { margin-top: 0.5rem; }
   .game-tabs {
-    display: grid; grid-auto-flow: column; grid-auto-columns: max-content;
-    gap: 0.4rem; margin-bottom: 0.5rem;
+    display: grid; grid-auto-columns: minmax(0, 1fr); grid-auto-flow: row;
+    gap: 0.25rem; margin-bottom: 0.35rem;
   }
   .game-tabs button {
     background: #fff; color: #000; border: 1px solid #000;
-    padding: 0.3rem 0.8rem; font-family: monospace; font-size: 0.8rem; cursor: pointer;
+    padding: 0.25rem 0.5rem; font-family: monospace; font-size: 0.72rem;
+    cursor: pointer; text-align: left;
   }
   .game-tabs button.active { background: #000; color: #fff; }
   .game-tabs button:hover:not(.active) { background: #f0f0f0; }
-  .timeline-frame {
-    min-height: 80vh; width: 100%;
-    border: 1px solid #ddd; background: #fff;
+  .game-tile-frame {
+    width: 100%; aspect-ratio: 4 / 3;
+    border: 1px solid #ddd; background: #fff; display: block;
   }
   @media (max-width: 800px) {
     body { padding: 1.25rem; }
@@ -280,8 +286,7 @@
   }
   .screen-tile.needs-tap .tap-play { display: grid; }
   /* spotlight active → hide the game iframe so the spotlight tile owns the column */
-  .timeline:has(> #sec-spotlight:not(.hidden)) > .game-tabs,
-  .timeline:has(> #sec-spotlight:not(.hidden)) > #game-frame { display: none; }
+  /* (games live in sec-cameras now — no timeline-side hide rule needed) */
 
   /* camera tiles live in the LEFT column now — single column, stacked
    * vertically. Each tile keeps a 16:9 letterbox so faces don't squash. */
@@ -497,14 +502,28 @@ try {
 
 <div class="page">
 
-<!-- left column: cameras stacked vertically so face-cams stay visible
-     during a screen share without dwarfing the screen itself. Hidden
-     when nobody has a camera on. -->
-<aside id="sec-cameras" class="cameras-col hidden">
+<!-- left column: cameras at top, then screen-thumbs, then games at the
+     bottom. Games are persistent (always visible) so the column is
+     always on; cameras + screens push the games further down as people
+     join + share. People can play during the meeting without the games
+     ever competing with a live screen-share for the middle slot. -->
+<aside id="sec-cameras" class="cameras-col">
   <h2>cameras</h2>
   <div id="cameras"></div>
   <h2 class="screens-thumbs-h2 hidden">screens</h2>
   <div id="screens-thumbs"></div>
+  <h2 class="games-h2">games</h2>
+  <div class="game-tabs" id="game-tabs">
+    <button type="button" class="active" data-game="unmario"
+            data-src="https://unmario.com/">unmario</button>
+    <button type="button" data-game="cake"
+            data-src="https://cuppcb.com/games/cake-murder-adventure/">cake murder adventure</button>
+  </div>
+  <iframe id="game-frame" class="game-tile-frame"
+          src="https://unmario.com/"
+          title="game"
+          loading="lazy"
+          referrerpolicy="no-referrer"></iframe>
 </aside>
 
 <main class="timeline">
@@ -514,22 +533,6 @@ try {
   <section id="sec-spotlight" class="hidden">
     <div id="spotlight"></div>
   </section>
-
-  <!-- placeholder content until the v0.3 event timeline lands: a game switcher
-       framing an external playable. Iframes load unsandboxed so the game JS can
-       run; if a target refuses framing (X-Frame-Options / CSP frame-ancestors)
-       the iframe goes blank — no impact on the controls column. -->
-  <div class="game-tabs" id="game-tabs">
-    <button type="button" class="active" data-game="unmario"
-            data-src="https://unmario.com/">unmario</button>
-    <button type="button" data-game="cake"
-            data-src="https://cuppcb.com/games/cake-murder-adventure/">cake murder adventure</button>
-  </div>
-  <iframe id="game-frame" class="timeline-frame"
-          src="https://unmario.com/"
-          title="game"
-          loading="lazy"
-          referrerpolicy="no-referrer"></iframe>
 </main>
 
 <aside class="controls">
@@ -1546,9 +1549,14 @@ function logSpotlightChange(uuid, key){
 
 function updateContainerVisibility(){
   $('sec-spotlight').classList.toggle('hidden', !spotlight);
+  /* sec-cameras is ALWAYS visible now — the games tiles live there as
+   * persistent residents that get pushed down by arriving cameras +
+   * screens. Only the cameras-header and screens-header toggle. */
   const anyCam = cameraVideos.size > 0;
   const anyScreen = screenVideos.size > 0;
-  $('sec-cameras').classList.toggle('hidden', !(anyCam || anyScreen));
+  /* hide the 'cameras' h2 when no live cameras to avoid an empty header */
+  const camH2 = document.querySelector('#sec-cameras > h2:first-of-type');
+  if (camH2) camH2.classList.toggle('hidden', !anyCam);
   document.querySelector('.screens-thumbs-h2').classList.toggle('hidden', !anyScreen);
 }
 
@@ -3218,8 +3226,8 @@ logLine('', 'ready — pick a handle, type a rendezvous code, enter the space');
 
 <footer style="margin:2.2rem auto 0;font-size:0.65rem;color:#999;line-height:1.7;word-break:break-all;font-family:monospace">
   <span id="pi-seal" style="color:#777;cursor:default;user-select:none" title="">page integrity</span> &nbsp;·&nbsp; built <span class="stamp-date">2026-06-02</span><br>
-  md5 <span class="stamp-md5">5b160894e031e4a9362e8fdb09bc6905</span><br>
-  sha256 <span class="stamp-sha">80bdc123f6e3b3297af300b3a2076498a389bbff63042926373aa9eae7fa0a27</span><br>
+  md5 <span class="stamp-md5">947c4c514376d2995517d8576ac3e3a4</span><br>
+  sha256 <span class="stamp-sha">583d56867cce3995325c8f35b83388dcbd6fb14584f64dfcac3a7dcb28556f1c</span><br>
   <span style="color:#bbb">hashes are of this page with these two fields zeroed — to verify, blank them and re-hash</span><br>
   <span style="color:#bbb">one self-contained file — <strong>save a copy</strong> and verify against these hashes; point at your own servers with ?signal= and ?turncred=, or <a href="host-your-own.html" style="color:#999">host your own community</a></span>
 </footer>