diff --git a/packages/examples/src/examples/platformer/entities/HUD.ts b/packages/examples/src/examples/platformer/entities/HUD.ts
index 4fb735c4b..4347bd4bf 100644
--- a/packages/examples/src/examples/platformer/entities/HUD.ts
+++ b/packages/examples/src/examples/platformer/entities/HUD.ts
@@ -165,8 +165,10 @@ class UIContainer extends Container {
 		// Use screen coordinates
 		this.floating = true;
 
-		// make sure our object is always draw first
-		this.z = Number.POSITIVE_INFINITY;
+		// Draw order comes from the `addChild(child, z)` in `play.ts`.
+		// `renderable.z` is not a property — the accessor is `depth`, an alias
+		// for `pos.z` — so assigning it here only ever made an expando that
+		// nothing read, and the container was ordered by `autoDepth` instead.
 
 		// give a name
 		this.name = "HUD";
diff --git a/packages/examples/src/examples/platformer/entities/controls.ts b/packages/examples/src/examples/platformer/entities/controls.ts
index 72baa0ead..588c881d5 100644
--- a/packages/examples/src/examples/platformer/entities/controls.ts
+++ b/packages/examples/src/examples/platformer/entities/controls.ts
@@ -213,8 +213,10 @@ export class VirtualJoypad extends Container {
 		// Use screen coordinates
 		this.floating = true;
 
-		// make sure our object is always draw first
-		this.z = Number.POSITIVE_INFINITY;
+		// Draw order comes from the `addChild(child, z)` in `play.ts`.
+		// `renderable.z` is not a property — the accessor is `depth`, an alias
+		// for `pos.z` — so assigning it here only ever made an expando that
+		// nothing read, and the container was ordered by `autoDepth` instead.
 
 		// give a name
 		this.name = "VirtualJoypad";
diff --git a/packages/examples/src/examples/platformer/play.ts b/packages/examples/src/examples/platformer/play.ts
index e27bdbc51..7b6b00d05 100644
--- a/packages/examples/src/examples/platformer/play.ts
+++ b/packages/examples/src/examples/platformer/play.ts
@@ -17,6 +17,9 @@ import UIContainer from "./entities/HUD";
 import { MinimapCamera } from "./entities/minimap";
 import { gameState } from "./gameState";
 
+/** draw order for the screen-space overlays — above every level layer */
+const HUD_Z = 100;
+
 export class PlayScreen extends Stage {
 	private virtualJoypad?: VirtualJoypad;
 	private HUD?: UIContainer;
@@ -40,14 +43,15 @@ export class PlayScreen extends Stage {
 		if (typeof this.HUD === "undefined") {
 			this.HUD = new UIContainer();
 		}
-		app.world.addChild(this.HUD);
+		// explicit z: the HUD draws over the level
+		app.world.addChild(this.HUD, HUD_Z);
 
 		// display if debugPanel is enabled or on mobile
 		if (plugin.cache.debugPanel?.panel.visible || device.touch) {
 			if (typeof this.virtualJoypad === "undefined") {
 				this.virtualJoypad = new VirtualJoypad();
 			}
-			app.world.addChild(this.virtualJoypad);
+			app.world.addChild(this.virtualJoypad, HUD_Z);
 		}
 
 		// vignette post-effect + built-in color grading (always applied last).
diff --git a/packages/melonjs/skills/melonjs-performance/SKILL.md b/packages/melonjs/skills/melonjs-performance/SKILL.md
index 6cf5bbe0b..9198360af 100644
--- a/packages/melonjs/skills/melonjs-performance/SKILL.md
+++ b/packages/melonjs/skills/melonjs-performance/SKILL.md
@@ -81,11 +81,17 @@ Two rules that cause subtle bugs when missed:
   successfully recycled object never sees it. Pair event subscriptions with
   `onActivateEvent` / `onDeactivateEvent` instead, or you leak handlers.
 
-Engine classes are poolable too: `pool.pull("Tween", target)`. The registered
-names carry no `me.` prefix — `Entity`, `Collectable`, `Trigger`, `Light2d`,
+Engine classes are poolable too: `pool.pull("Tween", target)`. The canonical
+names are unprefixed — `Entity`, `Collectable`, `Trigger`, `Light2d`,
 `Particle`, `Sprite`, `NineSliceSprite`, `Renderable`, `Text`, `BitmapText`,
 `ImageLayer`, `Tween`, `ColorLayer`.
 
+`pool.register` additionally aliases every name under an `me.` prefix, pointing
+at the same entry, so `pool.pull("me.Tween")` resolves identically — and the
+same alias is registered with the Tiled object factory, which is why a map
+authored against melonJS 1.x still finds its classes. Prefer the unprefixed
+name in new code; do not "correct" an `me.`-prefixed one, it is not broken.
+
 ## `scale()` is multiplicative
 
 A pooled sprite arrives carrying its previous life's transform, and calling
diff --git a/packages/melonjs/skills/melonjs-physics/SKILL.md b/packages/melonjs/skills/melonjs-physics/SKILL.md
index 3eb53436c..1c1736ca3 100644
--- a/packages/melonjs/skills/melonjs-physics/SKILL.md
+++ b/packages/melonjs/skills/melonjs-physics/SKILL.md
@@ -120,6 +120,19 @@ this.body.setVelocity(vx, vy);
 this.body.force.x = this.body.maxVel.x;
 ```
 
+`maxVel` is what turns a force into a speed, so the two are set together. Use
+the setters rather than writing the vectors — both take an optional THIRD
+argument for the depth axis, left unchanged when omitted, so a 2D call keeps
+its behaviour:
+
+```js
+this.body.setMaxVelocity(3, 15);   // walk speed, jump speed
+this.body.setFriction(0.4, 0);     // ground drag, none vertically
+```
+
+`friction` here is per-axis per-step velocity damping, not a surface
+coefficient — see the built-in quirks below.
+
 Under matter and planck, `syncFromPhysics()` copies the engine body's position
 back onto `renderable.pos` after every step, so a direct write is simply erased
 — no error. The built-in world integrates `pos` in place instead, so a write
diff --git a/packages/melonjs/skills/melonjs-ui-and-text/SKILL.md b/packages/melonjs/skills/melonjs-ui-and-text/SKILL.md
index 87225033b..616260796 100644
--- a/packages/melonjs/skills/melonjs-ui-and-text/SKILL.md
+++ b/packages/melonjs/skills/melonjs-ui-and-text/SKILL.md
@@ -129,6 +129,40 @@ Three things matter here:
   real accessor is `depth` (an alias for `pos.z`); `addChild(child, z)` sets it
   for you.
 
+### Buttons: extend the handlers, do not bind listeners
+
+`UISpriteElement` is a `Sprite` that already registers itself for pointer
+events, so a button is made by overriding methods rather than by wiring
+`registerPointerEvent`:
+
+| handler | fires | returns |
+|---|---|---|
+| `onClick(event)` | pressed | `false` to stop the event propagating |
+| `onRelease(event)` | pressed and released | `false` to stop propagating |
+| `onOver(event)` | pointer enters | — |
+| `onOut(event)` | pointer leaves | — |
+| `onHold()` | pressed and held | — |
+
+```js
+class MuteButton extends UISpriteElement {
+    constructor(x, y) {
+        super(x, y, { image: atlas, region: "speaker.png" });
+        this.setOpacity(0.5);
+    }
+    onOver() { this.setOpacity(1.0); }
+    onOut()  { this.setOpacity(0.5); }
+    onClick() {
+        audio.muteAll();
+        return false;          // consumed — do not fall through to the world
+    }
+}
+```
+
+The pointer still has to reach it: a renderable with `isKinematic = true` — the
+default on a plain `Renderable` — is skipped by the broadphase and receives
+nothing. `UISpriteElement` and `UIBaseElement` clear it for you; anything else
+you make clickable has to clear it itself.
+
 ### In a 3D scene, a HUD needs a SMALL depth
 
 `floating` opts a renderable out of the camera transform. It does **not** opt it