diff --git a/assets/images/background-spellingbee.png b/assets/images/background-spellingbee.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6727349
Binary files /dev/null and b/assets/images/background-spellingbee.png differ
diff --git a/assets/videos/games/spellingBee.mp4 b/assets/videos/games/spellingBee.mp4
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..86058b3
Binary files /dev/null and b/assets/videos/games/spellingBee.mp4 differ
diff --git a/src/data/assetManifest.js b/src/data/assetManifest.js
index 6eb738b..f9f9cdb 100644
--- a/src/data/assetManifest.js
+++ b/src/data/assetManifest.js
@@ -256,6 +256,9 @@ export const MANIFEST = {
     image('bg-jewelquest-menu', 'assets/images/background-jewelquest-menu.png'),
   ],
   bejeweled: [image('bg-bejeweled', 'assets/images/background-bejeweledblitz.png')],
+  // Still gameplay background for Spelling Bee — the intro clip is swapped for
+  // this once a puzzle starts (SpellingBeeGame.showImageBackground).
+  spellingbee: [image('spellingbee-bg', 'assets/images/background-spellingbee.png')],
   rushhour: [
     // Carries its own title, so the level-select screen draws no heading.
     // In-play art is procedural (see games/rushhour/RushHourArt.js).
diff --git a/src/games/spellingbee/SpellingBeeGame.js b/src/games/spellingbee/SpellingBeeGame.js
index 142fda5..6bfcce1 100644
--- a/src/games/spellingbee/SpellingBeeGame.js
+++ b/src/games/spellingbee/SpellingBeeGame.js
@@ -17,6 +17,28 @@ const INK_DARK    = '#1a1208';  // dark letter on the honey center hex
 const TITLE_GOLD  = '#f2c14e';
 const PAPER       = 0x1e1a12;   // panels
 
+// ── Background video ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+// Animated bee-on-a-flower clip used as a live backdrop behind the board.
+// Loaded on demand (not in the asset manifest) and muted — the game has its
+// own soundtrack and SFX, so the clip is purely visual. Source resolution is
+// used to scale until the real texture decodes (a Video's own width/height
+// report a square placeholder before its first frame).
+const BG_VIDEO_KEY = 'spellingbee-bg-video';
+const BG_VIDEO_PATH = 'assets/videos/games/spellingBee.mp4';
+const BG_VIDEO_SRC_W = 864;
+const BG_VIDEO_SRC_H = 480;
+// The clip is bright, so dim it a touch to keep the title and board readable
+// without killing the color.
+const BG_DIM_ALPHA = 0.38;
+// Fallback for revealing the start panel: if the intro clip never finishes its
+// first loop (stalled download, unsupported codec, ...), bring the panel up
+// anyway. Just past the clip's ~15 s runtime.
+const INTRO_REVEAL_FALLBACK_MS = 20000;
+// Still gameplay backdrop, preloaded by GameRoomScene via data/assetManifest.js.
+// Replaces the intro clip the moment a puzzle actually starts.
+const BG_IMAGE_KEY   = 'spellingbee-bg';
+const BG_IMAGE_PATH  = 'assets/images/background-spellingbee.png';
+
 const DEPTH = { bg: 0, panel: 2, comb: 8, combTxt: 10, word: 12, ui: 20, overlay: 40, overlayUI: 42 };
 
 // ── Honeycomb geometry ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
@@ -48,6 +70,9 @@ export default class SpellingBeeGame extends Phaser.Scene {
     this.curLetters  = [];        // per-char text objects for the current word
     this.foundTexts  = [];
     this.hexes       = {};        // letter -> { container, gfx, isCenter }
+    this.bgVideo     = null;
+    this.bgImage     = null;  // still gameplay background (replaces the video)
+    this.panelRevealed = false;  // difficulty panel shown (intro finished)
   }
 
   create() {
@@ -57,6 +82,8 @@ export default class SpellingBeeGame extends Phaser.Scene {
     this.add.rectangle(GAME_WIDTH / 2, GAME_HEIGHT / 2, GAME_WIDTH, GAME_HEIGHT, FELT)
       .setDepth(DEPTH.bg);
 
+    this.buildVideoBackground();
+
     this.add.text(40, 36, 'SPELLING BEE', {
       fontFamily: 'Righteous', fontSize: '46px', color: TITLE_GOLD,
     }).setDepth(DEPTH.ui);
@@ -70,6 +97,89 @@ export default class SpellingBeeGame extends Phaser.Scene {
       this.input.keyboard.off('keydown', this.keyHandler);
       this.keyHandler = null;
     }
+    // The video may already be gone (e.g. the error handler destroyed it).
+    if (this.bgVideo?.scene) this.bgVideo.destroy();
+    this.bgVideo = null;
+    if (this.bgImage?.scene) this.bgImage.destroy();
+    this.bgImage = null;
+  }
+
+  // ── Background video ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+  // Bring up the looping background clip on top of the felt base. In this
+  // Phaser version a VideoFile "load" is a synchronous no-op — it only records
+  // the URL in the video cache (the real fetch happens when the Video object
+  // is created, in showBackgroundVideo) — so there is no async window to wait
+  // out: queue it if needed and show it immediately. A fetch/playback failure
+  // is handled by the video's 'error' event, leaving the felt base visible.
+  buildVideoBackground() {
+    if (!this.cache.video?.exists(BG_VIDEO_KEY)) {
+      this.load.video(BG_VIDEO_KEY, BG_VIDEO_PATH, true); // noAudio — visual only
+      if (!this.load.isLoading()) this.load.start();
+    }
+    this.showBackgroundVideo();
+  }
+
+  showBackgroundVideo() {
+    const v = this.add.video(GAME_WIDTH / 2, GAME_HEIGHT / 2, BG_VIDEO_KEY)
+      .setDepth(DEPTH.bg);
+    v.setLoop(true);
+    v.setMute(true);
+
+    // Cover, not contain: fill edge-to-edge. The clip's aspect (864x480) is
+    // within a hair of the game's (1920x1080), so the crop is imperceptible.
+    const fit = () => {
+      const w = v.videoTexture ? v.width : BG_VIDEO_SRC_W;
+      const h = v.videoTexture ? v.height : BG_VIDEO_SRC_H;
+      v.setScale(Math.max(GAME_WIDTH / w, GAME_HEIGHT / h));
+    };
+    fit();
+    v.on('created', fit);
+    v.on('playing', fit);
+
+    // A load failure mid-playback (or a browser refusing the element) falls
+    // back to the felt rectangle already underneath — and reveals the start
+    // panel, which otherwise waits for the intro loop.
+    v.once('error', () => {
+      this.revealStartPanel();
+      if (v.scene) v.destroy();
+    });
+
+    this.bgVideo = v;
+    v.setAlpha(0);
+    v.play(true);
+    this.tweens.add({ targets: v, alpha: 1, duration: 700, ease: 'Sine.easeOut' });
+
+    // Dim layer on top of the footage so the title and board stay readable.
+    // Fixed alpha: it only darkens the felt base while the video fades in, so
+    // the footage never flashes bright before settling. (It also dims the
+    // still gameplay backdrop once the video is swapped out — see
+    // showImageBackground.)
+    this.add.rectangle(GAME_WIDTH / 2, GAME_HEIGHT / 2, GAME_WIDTH, GAME_HEIGHT,
+      0x000000, BG_DIM_ALPHA).setDepth(DEPTH.bg + 1);
+  }
+
+  // Swap the intro clip for the still gameplay backdrop (honeycomb PNG).
+  // Preloaded via the asset manifest, so the texture is almost always ready;
+  // the else branch covers a scene started without that preload. The felt
+  // rectangle stays underneath as the ultimate fallback.
+  showImageBackground() {
+    if (this.bgImage) return;
+    if (!this.textures.exists(BG_IMAGE_KEY)) {
+      this.load.image(BG_IMAGE_KEY, BG_IMAGE_PATH);
+      if (!this.load.isLoading()) this.load.start();
+    }
+    if (this.textures.exists(BG_IMAGE_KEY)) {
+      this.bgImage = this.add.image(GAME_WIDTH / 2, GAME_HEIGHT / 2, BG_IMAGE_KEY)
+        .setOrigin(0.5).setDisplaySize(GAME_WIDTH, GAME_HEIGHT).setDepth(DEPTH.bg);
+    } else {
+      this.load.once('filecomplete', (type, key) => {
+        if (type !== 'texture' || key !== BG_IMAGE_KEY) return;
+        if (!this.sys.isActive() || this.bgImage) return;
+        this.bgImage = this.add.image(GAME_WIDTH / 2, GAME_HEIGHT / 2, BG_IMAGE_KEY)
+          .setOrigin(0.5).setDisplaySize(GAME_WIDTH, GAME_HEIGHT).setDepth(DEPTH.bg);
+      });
+    }
   }
 
   // ── Start panel (opponent-select is skipped for this solo game) ─────────────
@@ -107,6 +217,31 @@ export default class SpellingBeeGame extends Phaser.Scene {
       b.setDepth(DEPTH.ui);
       this.startObjs.push(b);
     });
+
+    // Hidden until the intro clip has played a full loop (see revealStartPanel).
+    this.startObjs.forEach((o) => o.setAlpha(0));
+
+    // The first 'loop' event of the background video means the clip has just
+    // played through once — the natural moment to surface the difficulty
+    // choice. The safety timer covers a clip that never gets that far; the
+    // video's 'error' handler (showBackgroundVideo) does the same immediately.
+    const reveal = () => this.revealStartPanel();
+    this.bgVideo?.once(Phaser.GameObjects.Events.VIDEO_LOOP, reveal);
+    this.time.delayedCall(INTRO_REVEAL_FALLBACK_MS, reveal);
+  }
+
+  // Fade the difficulty panel in. Whichever trigger fires first (intro loop,
+  // video error, fallback timer) wins; the rest are no-ops.
+  revealStartPanel() {
+    if (this.panelRevealed) return;
+    // Panel not built yet — bail without consuming the reveal; a later trigger
+    // (loop timer / fallback) will fire once it exists.
+    if (!this.startObjs.length) return;
+    this.panelRevealed = true;
+    this.startObjs.forEach((o) => {
+      if (!o.scene) return;
+      this.tweens.add({ targets: o, alpha: 1, duration: 700, ease: 'Sine.easeOut' });
+    });
   }
 
   async startPuzzle(difficulty) {
@@ -130,6 +265,12 @@ export default class SpellingBeeGame extends Phaser.Scene {
     this.maxScore   = data.maxScore ?? 0;
     this.tiers      = buildTiers(this.maxScore, difficulty);
 
+    // Difficulty screen is over: retire the intro clip and bring up the still
+    // honeycomb backdrop. (If the fetch above failed we never get here, and
+    // the player stays on the difficulty screen with the clip still playing.)
+    if (this.bgVideo?.scene) { this.bgVideo.destroy(); this.bgVideo = null; }
+    this.showImageBackground();
+
     this.buildBoard();
   }