diff --git a/src/game/engine/scenes/tests/auto_play.gd b/src/game/engine/scenes/tests/auto_play.gd
index 98a412fb..4c4ebe02 100644
--- a/src/game/engine/scenes/tests/auto_play.gd
+++ b/src/game/engine/scenes/tests/auto_play.gd
@@ -346,6 +346,7 @@ func _process(_delta: float) -> void:
 				if btn != null:
 					print("AutoPlay: [world map] loaded")
 					_world_map = _find_node_by_name(get_tree().root, "WorldMap")
+					_count_lairs_on_map()
 					_state = "fix_start"
 					_frame = 0
 			if _frame > 600:
@@ -394,6 +395,24 @@ func _process(_delta: float) -> void:
 		_frame = 0
 
 
+func _count_lairs_on_map() -> void:
+	var game_map: RefCounted = GameState.get_game_map()
+	if game_map == null:
+		return
+	var counts: Dictionary = {}
+	for axial: Vector2i in game_map.tiles:
+		var tile: Resource = game_map.tiles[axial]
+		if tile == null:
+			continue
+		var lt: String = tile.lair_type if "lair_type" in tile else ""
+		if lt != "":
+			counts[lt] = int(counts.get(lt, 0)) + 1
+	var total: int = 0
+	for k: String in counts:
+		total += int(counts[k])
+	print("AutoPlay: lairs on map = %d %s" % [total, str(counts)])
+
+
 # ── Start Position Fix ───────────────────────────────────────────────
 
 func _fix_start_positions_if_needed() -> void:
@@ -1338,6 +1357,7 @@ func _explore(unit: Variant, player: RefCounted, game_map: RefCounted) -> void:
 			any_valid = pos
 		var fog_count: float = 0.0
 		var food_hint: float = 0.0
+		var lair_adjacent: float = 0.0
 		var neighbors: Array[Vector2i] = HexUtilsScript.get_neighbors(pos)
 		for n: Vector2i in neighbors:
 			var norm: Vector2i = HexUtilsScript.normalize_position(
@@ -1351,7 +1371,9 @@ func _explore(unit: Variant, player: RefCounted, game_map: RefCounted) -> void:
 			else:
 				var ny: Dictionary = tile.get_yields(player.index)
 				food_hint += float(int(ny.get("food", 0)))
-		var score: float = fog_count * 2.0 + food_hint * 3.0
+				if tile.lair_type != "":
+					lair_adjacent += 1.0
+		var score: float = fog_count * 2.0 + food_hint * 3.0 + lair_adjacent * 20.0
 		if founder_pos.x >= 0:
 			var dist: int = HexUtilsScript.hex_distance(pos, founder_pos)
 			if dist <= 5: