diff --git a/src/pydata_sphinx_theme/assets/styles/content/_code.scss b/src/pydata_sphinx_theme/assets/styles/content/_code.scss
index 6371097ea..d7dd169b2 100644
--- a/src/pydata_sphinx_theme/assets/styles/content/_code.scss
+++ b/src/pydata_sphinx_theme/assets/styles/content/_code.scss
@@ -59,6 +59,10 @@ code.literal {
 
 a > code {
   color: var(--pst-color-inline-code-links);
+
+  &:hover {
+    color: var(--pst-color-link-hover);
+  }
 }
 
 // Minimum opacity needed for linenos to be WCAG AA conformant
diff --git a/tests/sites/colors/conf.py b/tests/sites/colors/conf.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..dcc46be53
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/sites/colors/conf.py
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+"""Test conf file."""
+
+# -- Project information -----------------------------------------------------
+
+project = "PyData Tests"
+copyright = "2020, Pydata community"
+author = "Pydata community"
+
+root_doc = "index"
+
+# -- General configuration ---------------------------------------------------
+
+# Add any Sphinx extension module names here, as strings. They can be
+# extensions coming with Sphinx (named 'sphinx.ext.*') or your custom
+# ones.
+extensions = []
+html_theme = "pydata_sphinx_theme"
+html_copy_source = True
+html_sourcelink_suffix = ""
diff --git a/tests/sites/colors/index.rst b/tests/sites/colors/index.rst
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..3605765de
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/sites/colors/index.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+Test of colors
+==============
+
+Some text with a `text link <https://pydata.org>`__.
+
+Heading 1
+---------
+
+Some text with a :ref:`cross reference link <a-cross-reference>`
+
+Heading 2
+~~~~~~~~~
+
+Some text with ``inline code``.
+
+
+.. _a-cross-reference:
+
+Heading 3
+`````````
+
+Some text with a |code link|_.
+
+
+.. the below replacement is included to emulate what intersphinx / autodoc / numpydoc generate (links on text formatted as code), which (sadly) can't be done using nesting of standard rST markup.
+
+.. |code link| replace:: ``inline code link``
+.. _code link: https://pydata.org
diff --git a/tests/test_playwright.py b/tests/test_playwright.py
index d327dc8c0..9b95d78f6 100644
--- a/tests/test_playwright.py
+++ b/tests/test_playwright.py
@@ -1,16 +1,22 @@
 """Build minimal test sites with sphinx_build_factory and test them with Playwright."""
 
 from pathlib import Path
+from typing import Callable
 from urllib.parse import urljoin
 
 import pytest
 
+try:
+    from pathlib import UnsupportedOperation  # added in Py 3.13
+except ImportError:
+    UnsupportedOperation = NotImplementedError
+
 # Using importorskip to ensure these tests are only loaded if Playwright is installed.
 playwright = pytest.importorskip("playwright")
 from playwright.sync_api import Page, expect  # noqa: E402
 
-path_repo = Path(__file__).parents[1]
-path_docs_build = path_repo / "docs" / "_build" / "html"
+repo_path = Path(__file__).parents[1]
+test_sites_dir = repo_path / "docs" / "_build" / "html" / "playwright_tests"
 
 
 def _is_overflowing(element):
@@ -24,6 +30,29 @@ def _is_overflowing(element):
     return element.evaluate("e => e.clientWidth < e.scrollWidth", element)
 
 
+def _build_test_site(site_name: str, sphinx_build_factory: Callable) -> None:
+    """Helper function for building simple test sites (with no `confoverrides`)."""
+    sphinx_build = sphinx_build_factory(site_name)
+    sphinx_build.build()
+    assert (sphinx_build.outdir / "index.html").exists(), sphinx_build.outdir.glob("*")
+    return sphinx_build.outdir
+
+
+def _check_test_site(site_name: str, site_path: Path, test_func: Callable):
+    """Make the built test site available to Playwright, then run `test_func` on it."""
+    test_sites_dir.mkdir(exist_ok=True)
+    symlink_path = test_sites_dir / site_name
+    try:
+        symlink_path.symlink_to(site_path, True)
+    except UnsupportedOperation:
+        pytest.xfail("filesystem doesn't support symlinking")
+    else:
+        test_func()
+    finally:
+        symlink_path.unlink()
+        test_sites_dir.rmdir()
+
+
 def test_version_switcher_highlighting(page: Page, url_base: str) -> None:
     """In sidebar and topbar - version switcher should apply highlight color to currently selected version."""
     page.goto(url=url_base)
@@ -60,28 +89,51 @@ def test_breadcrumb_expansion(page: Page, url_base: str) -> None:
 
 
 def test_breadcrumbs_everywhere(
-    sphinx_build_factory, page: Page, url_base: str
+    sphinx_build_factory: Callable, page: Page, url_base: str
 ) -> None:
-    """Test building the base html template and config."""
-    sphinx_build = sphinx_build_factory("breadcrumbs")
+    """Test breadcrumbs truncate properly when placed in various parts of the layout."""
+    site_name = "breadcrumbs"
+    site_path = _build_test_site(site_name, sphinx_build_factory=sphinx_build_factory)
 
-    # Basic build with defaults
-    sphinx_build.build()
-    assert (sphinx_build.outdir / "index.html").exists(), sphinx_build.outdir.glob("*")
-    symlink_path = path_docs_build / "playwright_tests" / "breadcrumbs"
-    symlink_path.parent.mkdir(exist_ok=True)
-    try:
-        symlink_path.symlink_to(sphinx_build.outdir, True)
+    def check_breadcrumb_truncation():
         page.goto(
-            urljoin(url_base, "playwright_tests/breadcrumbs/hansel/gretel/house.html")
+            urljoin(url_base, f"playwright_tests/{site_name}/hansel/gretel/house.html")
         )
         # sidebar should overflow
         text = "In the oven with my sister, so hot right now. Soooo. Hotttt."
         el = page.locator("#main-content").get_by_text(text).last
         assert _is_overflowing(el)
-        # footer containers will never trigger ellipsis overflow because... their min-width is content? TODO
+        # footer containers never trigger ellipsis overflow because min-width is content
         el = page.locator(".footer-items__center > .footer-item")
         assert not _is_overflowing(el)
-    finally:
-        symlink_path.unlink()
-        symlink_path.parent.rmdir()
+
+    _check_test_site(site_name, site_path, check_breadcrumb_truncation)
+
+
+def test_colors(sphinx_build_factory: Callable, page: Page, url_base: str) -> None:
+    """Test that things get colored the way we expect them to.
+
+    Note: this is not comprehensive! Please feel free to add to this test by editing
+    `../sites/colors/index.rst` and adding more `expect` statements below.
+    """
+    site_name = "colors"
+    site_path = _build_test_site(site_name, sphinx_build_factory=sphinx_build_factory)
+
+    def check_colors():
+        page.goto(urljoin(url_base, f"playwright_tests/{site_name}/index.html"))
+        primary_color = "rgb(10, 125, 145)"
+        hover_color = "rgb(128, 69, 229)"
+        spans = {
+            "text link": primary_color,
+            "cross reference link": primary_color,
+            "inline code": "rgb(145, 37, 131)",
+            "code link": "rgb(8, 93, 108)",  # teal-600, AKA #085d6c
+        }
+        for text, color in spans.items():
+            el = page.get_by_text(text).first
+            expect(el).to_have_css("color", color)
+            if "link" in text:
+                el.hover()
+                expect(el).to_have_css("color", hover_color)
+
+    _check_test_site(site_name, site_path, check_colors)