when i hit launch on my first playground challenge-it loads a standard looking dash board-i do not see how to the challenge to complete it?

Hi Martin!

This looks more like a Salesforce platform/Lightning issue than a problem with your Case layout or workflow configuration. The $A.componentService.hasDefinition is not a function error points toward a Lightning component/record layout issue. 

Since you’ve already found the Salesforce Known Issue, I’d check whether your org is affected and follow the workaround/status provided there. 

You can also try a hard refresh or another browser to rule out a caching issue. If it still reproduces, I wouldn’t make further changes to the Case layout. 

The Known Issue you linked should be the best place to track Salesforce’s fix and any available workaround.