diff --git a/apps/ai-game-creator-shell/src-tauri/src/agent/direct_runtime.rs b/apps/ai-game-creator-shell/src-tauri/src/agent/direct_runtime.rs
index 64343f79f..910a37e65 100644
--- a/apps/ai-game-creator-shell/src-tauri/src/agent/direct_runtime.rs
+++ b/apps/ai-game-creator-shell/src-tauri/src/agent/direct_runtime.rs
@@ -2349,6 +2349,13 @@ fn direct_game_sources_referenced_taonier_assets(root: &Path) -> Vec<String> {
                     ) && asset.media_type == "image/png"
                         && asset.source.kind == GameCreationAppAssetSourceKind::Canvas
                         && asset.local_path.starts_with("assets/")
+                        // Canonical slices are admitted above only after the
+                        // full slice manifest/receipt/content validation. Do
+                        // not let this generic manifest fallback bypass it.
+                        && !(asset.kind == "art-spritesheet-slice"
+                            && asset
+                                .local_path
+                                .starts_with("assets/art-spritesheet-slices/"))
                 })
                 .map(|asset| asset.local_path),
         );