diff --git a/PROJECT.md b/PROJECT.md
index 6324b65..ded7ebf 100644
--- a/PROJECT.md
+++ b/PROJECT.md
@@ -596,10 +596,20 @@ is in the HTML now and main.js only ever takes it off. The keyboard-hint strip h
 (`body:has(#splash.busy) #hint`), so the loading screen really is court, title and bar.
 
 **THE MENU DEALS ITSELF IN.** The canvas modals have always arrived on an easeOutBack overshoot;
-the splash now does the same once, on the boot: plaque, fixture, OTHER GAMES, the pair, the build
-line fly in from the left 70ms apart (`@keyframes dealIn`, hung off `#splash:not(.busy)` so the
-class removal IS the trigger). It fires on the boot only — coming back from a run must not make
-you wait for a flourish you have already seen — and `prefers-reduced-motion` turns it off.
+every menu screen does the same now — on EVERY arrival, not just the boot (Oliver, twice: "immer
+reinfliegen" and "auch für die untermenüs"). `@keyframes dealIn` flies an element in from the left
+on that overshoot, and `main.dealStage()` re-arms the `deal` class on #intro at the one funnel
+every stage change passes (remove, force a reflow, add — an animation whose class never left
+cannot restart, and CSS has no replay switch).
+- THE SPLASH deals its own five: plaque, fixture, OTHER GAMES, the pair, the build line, 70ms apart.
+- EVERY OTHER SCREEN deals its BANDS — header, content, footer — through
+  `#intro.deal > .card > div:not(#splash) > *` with an nth-child stagger. The panel's old
+  whole-slab `drop` retired: a slab says "a screen appeared", a deal says "the machine is laying
+  this out for you".
+- THE POSTER WALL deals its three ROOMS instead of its list, and the list itself stops animating —
+  a moving child inside a moving parent starts at twice the offset and reads as a stutter.
+- `prefers-reduced-motion` turns all of it off, and the splash holds its deal until the boot gate
+  lifts (there is nothing to deal while the loading state is up).
 
 **EVERY SCREEN OPENS AT ITS TOP.** `#intro` is the one scroller the menus share, so a scroll earned
 on the stats screen outlived it — go back and the splash came up scrolled, buttons off screen
diff --git a/index.html b/index.html
index f0884dd..ed3e149 100644
--- a/index.html
+++ b/index.html
@@ -196,8 +196,32 @@ if (location.hostname !== 'splatter-tennis.wuwi.one' && !window.Capacitor?.isNat
   #intro[data-stage="player"] #player,
   #intro[data-stage="promo"] #promo,
   #intro[data-stage="card"] #card,
-  #intro[data-stage="newbest"] #newbest { display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex: 1;
-                                        animation: drop 0.3s ease-out; }
+  #intro[data-stage="newbest"] #newbest { display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex: 1; }
+  /* ...and every screen DEALS ITS BANDS IN (2026-08-31, Oliver: "wäre natürlich auch toll für die
+     untermenüs"). The panel used to drop in as one slab; now its header, its content and its
+     footer arrive one after the other on the same overshoot the splash and the canvas modals use.
+     The children of the stage, not the stage itself — a slab that drops says "a screen appeared",
+     a deal says "the machine is laying this out for you". The splash keeps its own finer stagger
+     below (its two bands would otherwise fly as two lumps), hence the :not. */
+  #intro.deal > .card > div:not(#splash) > * {
+    animation: dealIn 0.28s cubic-bezier(0.34, 1.56, 0.64, 1) backwards; }
+  #intro.deal > .card > div:not(#splash) > *:nth-child(1) { animation-delay: 0.02s; }
+  #intro.deal > .card > div:not(#splash) > *:nth-child(2) { animation-delay: 0.09s; }
+  #intro.deal > .card > div:not(#splash) > *:nth-child(3) { animation-delay: 0.16s; }
+  #intro.deal > .card > div:not(#splash) > *:nth-child(4) { animation-delay: 0.23s; }
+  #intro.deal > .card > div:not(#splash) > *:nth-child(n+5) { animation-delay: 0.30s; }
+  /* the poster wall deals its ROOMS, not one lump: the list is the whole screen there, so letting
+     it arrive as a single band wastes the entrance. The list itself stops animating — a moving
+     child inside a moving parent starts at twice the offset and reads as a stutter. */
+  #intro.deal #stmode > #modeList { animation: none; }
+  #intro.deal #modeList > .mgroup {
+    animation: dealIn 0.28s cubic-bezier(0.34, 1.56, 0.64, 1) backwards; }
+  #intro.deal #modeList > .mgroup:nth-child(1) { animation-delay: 0.09s; }
+  #intro.deal #modeList > .mgroup:nth-child(2) { animation-delay: 0.17s; }
+  #intro.deal #modeList > .mgroup:nth-child(3) { animation-delay: 0.25s; }
+  @media (prefers-reduced-motion: reduce) {
+    #intro.deal > .card > div:not(#splash) > *,
+    #intro.deal #modeList > .mgroup { animation: none; } }
   /* the overlay is HIDDEN during play, not removed: a restart puts it straight back, and the
      display:grid above would otherwise win over the hidden attribute */
   #intro[hidden] { display: none; }
@@ -522,26 +546,26 @@ if (location.hostname !== 'splatter-tennis.wuwi.one' && !window.Capacitor?.isNat
   /* THE DEAL-IN (2026-08-31, Oliver: "es wäre toll, wenn sich die buttons nach dem laden aufbauen
      würden — arcade style"). The canvas modals have always arrived on an easeOutBack overshoot
      rather than decelerating politely into place; this is that same snap, in CSS, for the one
-     moment the menu has an entrance to make. It fires ONCE, on the boot: the rule hangs off
-     :not(.busy), so it triggers when main.js takes the loading state off and never again — coming
-     back from a run must not make you wait for a flourish you have already seen. */
+     moment the menu has an entrance to make. It plays on EVERY arrival at the title screen, not
+     just the boot (Oliver) — main.dealSplash re-arms the class, because an animation whose class
+     never left cannot restart itself. */
   @keyframes dealIn {
     from { opacity: 0; transform: translateX(-56px); }
     60%  { opacity: 1; }
     to   { opacity: 1; transform: translateX(0); }
   }
-  #splash:not(.busy) #plaque,
-  #splash:not(.busy) .foot.bare > * {
+  #intro.deal #splash #plaque,
+  #intro.deal #splash .foot.bare > * {
     animation: dealIn 0.3s cubic-bezier(0.34, 1.56, 0.64, 1) backwards; }
-  #splash:not(.busy) #plaque { animation-delay: 0.02s; }
-  #splash:not(.busy) #mStart { animation-delay: 0.12s; }
-  #splash:not(.busy) #mOther { animation-delay: 0.19s; }
+  #intro.deal #splash #plaque { animation-delay: 0.02s; }
+  #intro.deal #splash #mStart { animation-delay: 0.12s; }
+  #intro.deal #splash #mOther { animation-delay: 0.19s; }
   /* the pair of secondary buttons is a CLASS, so it needs the same weight as the shorthand above
      to override its delay — the id selectors around it get there on their own */
-  #splash:not(.busy) .foot.bare > .two { animation-delay: 0.26s; }
-  #splash:not(.busy) #build  { animation-delay: 0.33s; }
+  #intro.deal #splash .foot.bare > .two { animation-delay: 0.26s; }
+  #intro.deal #splash #build  { animation-delay: 0.33s; }
   @media (prefers-reduced-motion: reduce) {
-    #splash:not(.busy) #plaque, #splash:not(.busy) .foot.bare > * { animation: none; } }
+    #intro.deal #splash #plaque, #intro.deal #splash .foot.bare > * { animation: none; } }
   /* the boot bar wears the stats screen's kill bar, doing duty as a loading bar. While #splash is
      .busy it stands in the buttons' place — same band, same height, so nothing jumps when it goes. */
   #boot { display: none; margin-bottom: 10px; }
diff --git a/src/main.js b/src/main.js
index 99dc769..71f62b7 100644
--- a/src/main.js
+++ b/src/main.js
@@ -93,8 +93,22 @@ const go = stage => {
   if (stage === 'train') buildTrain();
   intro.dataset.stage = stage;
   intro.scrollTop = 0;
+  dealStage(stage);
   menuMusic();
 };
+// THE ARCADE ENTRANCE, re-armed. The title screen deals its plaque and buttons in from the left
+// every time you arrive at it — off a run, off the stats, off the boot. Removing the class and
+// forcing a reflow before adding it back is the whole trick: an animation whose class never left
+// cannot restart, and there is no "replay" switch in CSS.
+function dealStage(stage) {
+  // the title screen waits for the boot: while the loading state is up there is nothing to deal
+  // (the element is looked up here, not read off the const below: go() can fire before that line
+  // has run, and a temporal-dead-zone throw in the menu funnel would take every screen with it)
+  if (stage === 'splash' && document.getElementById('splash').classList.contains('busy')) return;
+  intro.classList.remove('deal');
+  void intro.offsetWidth;
+  intro.classList.add('deal');
+}
 
 // --- MODE selection in TWO STEPS (config.MENU + config.MODES): three posters on top, and the
 // picked one deals its own second step underneath — classic deals the difficulty chips, zombie
@@ -1001,7 +1015,8 @@ const tick = setInterval(function watchLoad() {
   clearInterval(tick);
   // fonts.ready resolves once nothing is pending — including the three faces warmed above — so the
   // first canvas frame is never the system serif.
-  (document.fonts ? document.fonts.ready : Promise.resolve()).then(() => splash.classList.remove('busy'));
+  (document.fonts ? document.fonts.ready : Promise.resolve())
+    .then(() => { splash.classList.remove('busy'); dealStage('splash'); });
 }, 100);
 
 // THE FIRST TAP ANYWHERE ON THE OVERLAY STARTS THE THEME, and does nothing else — the screens have