diff --git a/src/components/launch/hudPointerSurface.test.ts b/src/components/launch/hudPointerSurface.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..704cb2904
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/components/launch/hudPointerSurface.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,76 @@
+import { readFileSync } from "node:fs";
+import ts from "typescript";
+import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
+
+const launchWindowSource = readFileSync(new URL("./LaunchWindow.tsx", import.meta.url), "utf8");
+const sourceFile = ts.createSourceFile(
+	"LaunchWindow.tsx",
+	launchWindowSource,
+	ts.ScriptTarget.Latest,
+	true,
+	ts.ScriptKind.TSX,
+);
+
+function findElementByRef(refName: string): ts.JsxElement {
+	let match: ts.JsxElement | undefined;
+
+	function visit(node: ts.Node) {
+		if (match) return;
+
+		if (ts.isJsxOpeningElement(node)) {
+			const ref = node.attributes.properties.find(
+				(attribute): attribute is ts.JsxAttribute =>
+					ts.isJsxAttribute(attribute) &&
+					attribute.name.getText(sourceFile) === "ref" &&
+					attribute.initializer?.getText(sourceFile) === `{${refName}}`,
+			);
+			if (ref && ts.isJsxElement(node.parent)) {
+				match = node.parent;
+				return;
+			}
+		}
+
+		ts.forEachChild(node, visit);
+	}
+
+	visit(sourceFile);
+	if (!match) throw new Error(`Could not find JSX element with ref ${refName}`);
+	return match;
+}
+
+function getAttributeNames(element: ts.JsxElement): string[] {
+	return element.openingElement.attributes.properties.flatMap((attribute) =>
+		ts.isJsxAttribute(attribute) ? [attribute.name.getText(sourceFile)] : [],
+	);
+}
+
+function getClassNameSource(element: ts.JsxElement): string {
+	const className = element.openingElement.attributes.properties.find(
+		(attribute): attribute is ts.JsxAttribute =>
+			ts.isJsxAttribute(attribute) && attribute.name.getText(sourceFile) === "className",
+	);
+	return className?.initializer?.getText(sourceFile) ?? "";
+}
+
+describe("HUD pointer surface", () => {
+	it("keeps the stationary layout wrapper click-through after the HUD moves", () => {
+		const transformElement = findElementByRef("hudBarTransformRef");
+		const layoutWrapper = transformElement.parent;
+
+		expect(ts.isJsxElement(layoutWrapper)).toBe(true);
+		if (!ts.isJsxElement(layoutWrapper)) return;
+
+		expect(getClassNameSource(layoutWrapper)).toContain("pointer-events-none");
+		expect(getClassNameSource(layoutWrapper)).not.toContain("pointer-events-auto");
+		expect(getAttributeNames(layoutWrapper)).not.toContain("onMouseEnter");
+		expect(getAttributeNames(layoutWrapper)).not.toContain("onMouseLeave");
+	});
+
+	it("makes the visibly transformed HUD bar interactive", () => {
+		const hudBar = findElementByRef("hudBarRef");
+
+		expect(getClassNameSource(hudBar)).toContain("pointer-events-auto");
+		expect(getAttributeNames(hudBar)).toContain("onMouseEnter");
+		expect(getAttributeNames(hudBar)).toContain("onMouseLeave");
+	});
+});