diff --git a/index.html b/index.html
index d67378b..293499a 100644
--- a/index.html
+++ b/index.html
@@ -78,9 +78,22 @@ if (location.hostname !== 'splatter-tennis.wuwi.one') {
     html { height: 100vh; }
     canvas { height: calc(100vh - env(safe-area-inset-top, 0px)); }
   }
-  /* desktop key hint — up in the empty top-right corner now that the rack owns the bottom edge */
-  #hint { position: fixed; top: 6px; right: 10px; text-align: right;
+  /* desktop key hint — top-right, shifted left of the quit chip that owns the corner now */
+  #hint { position: fixed; top: 6px; right: 52px; text-align: right;
           font: 400 10px Silkscreen, monospace; color: #6b7688; }
+  /* THE DOOR OUT (Oliver: every tennis screen lacked an exit — force-closing the app was the only
+     way back to the menu). A quiet chip during play; tapping it freezes the world and asks. */
+  #quit { position: fixed; top: calc(env(safe-area-inset-top, 0px) + 8px); right: 8px; z-index: 5; }
+  #quit button { width: 34px; height: 34px; background: rgba(14,23,20,0.72); border: 2px solid var(--line);
+                 color: var(--dim); font: 400 15px Silkscreen, monospace; cursor: pointer;
+                 -webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; }
+  #qAsk { position: fixed; inset: 0; z-index: 6; background: rgba(0,0,0,0.55);
+          display: flex; align-items: center; justify-content: center; }
+  #quit[hidden], #qAsk[hidden] { display: none; }
+  .qBox { background: var(--solid); border: 2px solid var(--line); padding: 18px 16px;
+          width: min(320px, 84vw); display: flex; flex-direction: column; gap: 10px; }
+  .qBox p { margin: 0 0 6px; font: 400 12px Silkscreen, monospace; color: var(--cream);
+            text-align: center; letter-spacing: 1px; }
   @media (pointer: coarse) { #hint { display: none; } }
   /* ---- THE MENU PALETTE. The canvas HUD keeps its own blue-grey and gold; the menus are
      deliberately a different room — dark court green, one acid accent, and one crimson reserved for
@@ -355,6 +368,14 @@ if (location.hostname !== 'splatter-tennis.wuwi.one') {
 <canvas id="c" width="480" height="270"></canvas>
 <div id="safe"></div>
 <div id="hint">move: WASD/arrows &nbsp;·&nbsp; serve/swing: SPACE &nbsp;·&nbsp; aim: hold a direction while swinging &nbsp;·&nbsp; T: tuning panel</div>
+<div id="quit" hidden><button id="qChip">&#10005;</button></div>
+<div id="qAsk" hidden>
+  <div class="qBox">
+    <p>LEAVE THE MATCH?</p>
+    <button class="btn big" id="qYes">BACK TO THE MENU</button>
+    <button class="btn sec" id="qNo">PLAY ON</button>
+  </div>
+</div>
 <div id="intro" data-stage="splash">
   <div class="card">
     <!-- The title screen IS the menu. A separate menu stage behind it was the same logo over the
@@ -471,6 +492,6 @@ if (location.hostname !== 'splatter-tennis.wuwi.one') {
     </div>
   </div>
 </div>
-<script type="module" src="src/main.js?v=237"></script>
+<script type="module" src="src/main.js?v=238"></script>
 </body>
 </html>
diff --git a/src/main.js b/src/main.js
index ce48241..dcfe9ca 100644
--- a/src/main.js
+++ b/src/main.js
@@ -230,6 +230,7 @@ function start(modeId = pickedMode) {
   // differ by at this point: gore is the game as it always was, classic is the same tennis with the
   // turn switched off, and zombie tennis is the match taking the court. Everything else about a mode
   // lives in the code that reads G.classic / G.match, never here.
+  quitChip.hidden = false;               // the door out rides every run (see the quit block below)
   G.classic = modeId === 'classic';
   // the difficulty rides on G like G.classic does, so a mid-run restart keeps the CPU you chose
   G.diff = G.classic ? (DIFFS.find(d => d.id === pickedDiff) || DIFFS[1]) : null;
@@ -467,6 +468,7 @@ const maybeRestart = () => {
   restartRun();
   refreshSplash();          // the run just ended: the splash count has moved
   intro.hidden = false;
+  quitChip.hidden = true;   // the door out goes with the run it belonged to
   // stats.lastRun() survives restartRun on purpose — it lives in the stats module, not on G, which
   // has just been restored from PRISTINE. Consumed on read, so the prompt appears once.
   const run = stats.lastRun();
@@ -476,6 +478,26 @@ const maybeRestart = () => {
 cv.addEventListener('pointerdown', maybeRestart);
 addEventListener('keydown', maybeRestart);
 
+// THE DOOR OUT (Oliver: every tennis screen lacked an exit — force-closing the app was the only
+// way back). The chip shows for the whole run; tapping it (or Escape on desktop) freezes the
+// world and asks. Quitting is the death path minus the death: restartRun resets everything and
+// nothing is banked — an abandoned run never happened, statistically.
+const quitChip = document.getElementById('quit'), qAsk = document.getElementById('qAsk');
+document.getElementById('qChip').addEventListener('click', () => { paused = true; qAsk.hidden = false; });
+document.getElementById('qNo').addEventListener('click', () => { qAsk.hidden = true; paused = false; });
+document.getElementById('qYes').addEventListener('click', () => {
+  qAsk.hidden = true; paused = false; quitChip.hidden = true;
+  restartRun();
+  refreshSplash();
+  intro.hidden = false;
+  go('splash');
+});
+addEventListener('keydown', e => {
+  if (e.key !== 'Escape' || !intro.hidden || quitChip.hidden) return;
+  qAsk.hidden = !qAsk.hidden;
+  paused = !qAsk.hidden;
+});
+
 // A tap on the SCOREBOARD toggles the miss-log overlay, and that is now all it does. The triple-tap
 // that opened test mode has moved to the back room on the splash (see below): a cheat you can trip
 // by accident mid-run is a bug, and this one sat on the one thing you tap to read the log.