diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/ci.yml b/.gitea/workflows/ci.yml
index 9b12a14d..1d901c70 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -1,13 +1,16 @@
 # Runs the whole proof on the Gitea runner: gate, the editor suite and the three example games.
 #
-# `runs-on: game-maker-ci` picks the image built from tools/ci/Dockerfile. The render device and
-# /dev/shm come from the runner's own container.options (/_stacks/git/runner/config.yaml), not
-# from here – without them chromium falls back to software WebGL.
+# `runs-on: game-maker-wsl` is the runner in the WSL2 distro game-maker-ci on melektaus-atx
+# (#283). Its label picks the image built from tools/ci/Dockerfile. The GPU (/dev/dxg and the
+# Windows driver libraries), /dev/shm and GAME_MAKER_BROWSER=wsl come from that runner's own
+# config.yaml, not from here – without them chromium falls back to software WebGL and the harness
+# stops. The runner on stein2 still carries `game-maker-ci` with the same image and its Intel
+# GPU; pointing both jobs back at that label moves the runs there again.
 #
 # Two jobs without `needs:`, so they start together and use both slots of the runner
-# (`capacity: 2`, four cores). The gate no longer stands in front of the suite: a lint error used
-# to cost the full e2e run before it was reported, and the run reported it after six minutes
-# instead of one. Both still have to pass for the push to be green.
+# (`capacity: 2`, four cores on either host). The gate no longer stands in front of the suite:
+# a lint error used to cost the full e2e run before it was reported, and the run reported it
+# after six minutes instead of one. Both still have to pass for the push to be green.
 #
 # The price is contention: while the gate runs, vitest and chromium share the four cores, and the
 # suite measures text widths and frame counts. That is why the gate caps vitest at two workers
@@ -20,7 +23,7 @@ on:
 
 jobs:
   gate:
-    runs-on: game-maker-ci
+    runs-on: game-maker-wsl
     timeout-minutes: 20
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v4
@@ -42,7 +45,7 @@ jobs:
           php tests/php/releases.test.php
 
   suite:
-    runs-on: game-maker-ci
+    runs-on: game-maker-wsl
     timeout-minutes: 45
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v4
diff --git a/tools/ci/Dockerfile b/tools/ci/Dockerfile
index f38dc415..7490d9fd 100644
--- a/tools/ci/Dockerfile
+++ b/tools/ci/Dockerfile
@@ -10,11 +10,14 @@ FROM node:22-bookworm
 # chromium + the Vulkan drivers: the e2e harness starts chromium with --use-angle=vulkan and has
 # no software fallback. The render device itself comes from the runner's container.options;
 # without it chromium falls back to llvmpipe and gets WebGL 1.0 only.
+# xvfb serves the other GPU path, GAME_MAKER_BROWSER=wsl (tools/lib/browser.mjs): under WSL2 the
+# GPU is /dev/dxg behind Mesa's d3d12 driver, which headless chromium cannot reach, an X11 one can.
 # php-cli serves api/index.php, which every tool loads and saves its project through.
 # The fonts are the host's set on purpose: the checks measure text widths to find click points,
 # so a different set moves them.
 RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends \
       chromium mesa-vulkan-drivers libvulkan1 \
+      xvfb \
       php-cli php-mbstring \
       fonts-dejavu-core fonts-droid-fallback fonts-noto-color-emoji fonts-noto-mono \
       fonts-texgyre fonts-urw-base35 \
diff --git a/tools/lib/browser.mjs b/tools/lib/browser.mjs
index 73653c46..6d0f95df 100644
--- a/tools/lib/browser.mjs
+++ b/tools/lib/browser.mjs
@@ -1,16 +1,9 @@
 import { spawn } from 'node:child_process';
 
-const FLAGS = [
-  '--headless',
+const COMMON = [
   '--hide-scrollbars',
-  /**
-   * Measured (idle editor, 20 s): software WebGL 373% of a core at 8 fps, HD 630 via ANGLE/Vulkan 69% at
-   * 56 fps; no software fallback on purpose. `--use-angle=gl` and `--use-gl=egl` get no WebGL context at all.
-   */
-  '--use-angle=vulkan',
   '--ignore-gpu-blocklist',
   '--enable-gpu',
-  '--enable-features=Vulkan',
   // None of this serves a headless check, and its stderr was full of GCM sign-in retries.
   '--disable-background-networking',
   '--disable-sync',
@@ -23,19 +16,102 @@ const FLAGS = [
   '--autoplay-policy=no-user-gesture-required',
 ];
 
+const HEADLESS = [
+  '--headless',
+  /**
+   * Measured (idle editor, 20 s): software WebGL 373% of a core at 8 fps, HD 630 via ANGLE/Vulkan 69% at
+   * 56 fps; no software fallback on purpose. `--use-angle=gl` and `--use-gl=egl` get no WebGL context at all.
+   */
+  '--use-angle=vulkan',
+  '--enable-features=Vulkan',
+];
+
+/**
+ * GAME_MAKER_BROWSER=wsl, for a runner inside WSL2 (#283). There the GPU is /dev/dxg behind Mesa's
+ * d3d12 driver: no DRM render node, no Vulkan. Headless chromium finds no surface and gets no WebGL,
+ * an X11 chromium on ANGLE/GL does. So this mode brings its own invisible X server.
+ *
+ * Measured on an RTX 4070: WebGL 2.0 on "D3D12 (NVIDIA …), OpenGL 4.2", 60 frames a second while
+ * drawing. A Wayland chromium on weston reached the GPU too, but drew at ~40 and let the editor's
+ * clock stall for good in a long run – its frames hang on the compositor's callbacks.
+ * A real window can be backgrounded, headless never is, hence the three flags that keep it drawing.
+ */
+const WSL = [
+  '--ozone-platform=x11',
+  '--use-angle=gl',
+  '--disable-renderer-backgrounding',
+  '--disable-backgrounding-occluded-windows',
+  '--disable-background-timer-throttling',
+];
+
 /** Starts chromium with the CDP port open; `proc.stderr` carries its last words. */
-export function launchBrowser({ port, width, height }) {
+export async function launchBrowser({ port, width, height }) {
+  const wsl = process.env.GAME_MAKER_BROWSER === 'wsl';
+  const display = wsl ? await startXvfb({ width, height }) : null;
   const proc = spawn(
     'chromium',
     // --no-sandbox: this container runs as root, where chromium refuses to start otherwise.
     [
-      ...FLAGS,
+      ...COMMON,
+      ...(wsl ? WSL : HEADLESS),
       '--no-sandbox',
       `--remote-debugging-port=${port}`,
       `--window-size=${width},${height}`,
       'about:blank',
     ],
-    { stdio: ['ignore', 'ignore', 'pipe'] },
+    { stdio: ['ignore', 'ignore', 'pipe'], env: display ? display.env : process.env },
   );
-  return { proc, stop: () => proc.kill('SIGTERM'), where: 'local chromium' };
+  if (display) proc.once('exit', display.stop);
+  return {
+    proc,
+    stop: () => proc.kill('SIGTERM'),
+    where: wsl ? `local chromium on Xvfb ${display.env.DISPLAY} (WSL, d3d12)` : 'local chromium',
+  };
+}
+
+/**
+ * An X server that shows nothing. It only has to hold the window: the drawing happens in Mesa's
+ * d3d12 driver, which hands finished frames over by copy. `-displayfd` lets it pick a free display
+ * and report it, so two runs never share one.
+ */
+async function startXvfb({ width, height }) {
+  const xvfb = spawn(
+    'Xvfb',
+    ['-displayfd', '3', '-screen', '0', `${width}x${height}x24`, '-nolisten', 'tcp'],
+    {
+      stdio: ['ignore', 'ignore', 'pipe', 'pipe'],
+    },
+  );
+  const log = [];
+  xvfb.stderr.on('data', (b) => log.push(String(b)));
+  const stop = () => xvfb.kill('SIGTERM');
+  const number = await new Promise((resolve) => {
+    let got = '';
+    const timer = setTimeout(() => resolve(null), 10_000);
+    xvfb.stdio[3].on('data', (b) => {
+      got += String(b);
+      if (got.includes('\n')) {
+        clearTimeout(timer);
+        resolve(got.trim());
+      }
+    });
+    xvfb.once('exit', () => {
+      clearTimeout(timer);
+      resolve(null);
+    });
+  });
+  if (!number) {
+    stop();
+    throw new Error(`Xvfb never reported a display:\n${log.join('').trim().slice(-2000)}`);
+  }
+  const env = {
+    ...process.env,
+    DISPLAY: `:${number}`,
+    // Without both, Mesa picks llvmpipe: the d3d12 driver is not its default, and it needs the
+    // Windows side's libd3d12/libdxcore, which WSL mounts there.
+    GALLIUM_DRIVER: 'd3d12',
+    LD_LIBRARY_PATH: ['/usr/lib/wsl/lib', process.env.LD_LIBRARY_PATH].filter(Boolean).join(':'),
+  };
+  delete env.WAYLAND_DISPLAY;
+  return { env, stop };
 }
diff --git a/tools/lib/harness.mjs b/tools/lib/harness.mjs
index ea595b73..3673a8d1 100644
--- a/tools/lib/harness.mjs
+++ b/tools/lib/harness.mjs
@@ -129,6 +129,27 @@ async function waitForChrome(port) {
   throw new Error('chromium did not start');
 }
 
+/**
+ * Names the GPU in the log and refuses software rendering. Under WSL (#283) a missing d3d12 driver
+ * does not fail: Mesa falls back to llvmpipe, which still offers WebGL 2, and every check would pass
+ * at a fraction of the speed the timing-sensitive ones assume.
+ */
+async function requireGpu(cdp) {
+  const { result } = await cdp.send('Runtime.evaluate', {
+    expression: `(() => {
+      const gl = document.createElement('canvas').getContext('webgl2');
+      if (!gl) return null;
+      const info = gl.getExtension('WEBGL_debug_renderer_info');
+      return info ? gl.getParameter(info.UNMASKED_RENDERER_WEBGL) : gl.getParameter(gl.RENDERER);
+    })()`,
+    returnByValue: true,
+  });
+  const renderer = result.value;
+  console.log(`renderer: ${renderer ?? 'no WebGL 2'}`);
+  if (!renderer || /llvmpipe|softpipe|lavapipe|swiftshader/i.test(renderer))
+    throw new Error(`no GPU for WebGL 2 (${renderer ?? 'no context'}) – the checks would run in software`);
+}
+
 /** The toolbox handed to a check body – everything a step needs to drive and inspect the editor. */
 function makeTools({ cdp, projectId, baseUrl, consoleLog, check, shotPrefix }) {
   // A throwing expression is reported, never swallowed: a mutate that dies half-way leaves the
@@ -520,7 +541,7 @@ function makeTools({ cdp, projectId, baseUrl, consoleLog, check, shotPrefix }) {
 
 export async function runChecks(options, body) {
   const { projectId, baseUrl, port = 9333, shotPrefix = 'gm-e2e', width = 1280, height = 800 } = options;
-  const { proc: chrome, stop: stopBrowser, where } = launchBrowser({ port, width, height });
+  const { proc: chrome, stop: stopBrowser, where } = await launchBrowser({ port, width, height });
   console.log(`browser: ${where}`);
 
   const consoleLog = [];
@@ -585,6 +606,7 @@ export async function runChecks(options, body) {
       deviceScaleFactor: 1,
       mobile: false,
     });
+    await requireGpu(cdp);
     cdp.on((msg) => {
       if (msg.method === 'Runtime.consoleAPICalled')
         consoleLog.push(msg.params.args.map((a) => a.value ?? a.description).join(' '));