diff --git a/src/game/engine/scenes/tests/auto_play.gd b/src/game/engine/scenes/tests/auto_play.gd
index 6820622b..ad1fc00c 100644
--- a/src/game/engine/scenes/tests/auto_play.gd
+++ b/src/game/engine/scenes/tests/auto_play.gd
@@ -799,6 +799,10 @@ func _apply_per_player_difficulty_overrides() -> void:
 	# DataLoader.get_data("difficulty") returns {"easy": {full entry}, "normal": {...}, ...}
 	# already keyed by id — no wrapping "ai_difficulty" array at this level.
 	var diff_data: Dictionary = DataLoader.get_data("difficulty")
+	print("AutoPlay: per_player_override entry: diff_data.size=%d P0='%s' P1='%s'" % [
+		diff_data.size(),
+		EnvConfig.get_var("AI_DIFFICULTY_P0", "__unset__"),
+		EnvConfig.get_var("AI_DIFFICULTY_P1", "__unset__")])
 	if diff_data == null or diff_data.is_empty():
 		return
 	# Use a fixed upper bound — this runs before loading_screen.gd populates