Battle Drones is a browser‑based, Command & Conquer‑style real‑time strategy game that evolved through 12 major iterations, adding 3D models, varied terrain, random map generation, and both local and online multiplayer via audio synchronization. The game features nine buildings, seven ground vehicles, six aerial vehicles, and three infantry units, with fog of war, area‑effect weapons, and multiple play modes such as skirmish and last‑stand. The project showcases how AI‑assisted coding (primarily Claude) can accelerate game development and introduce innovative multiplayer mechanics using sound.
Chirp Pong is a two‑player competitive pong‑style game that runs entirely in static HTML on two separate phones. The game state is transmitted via audio chirps captured by each phone’s microphone, using the Web Microphone API to interpret the sounds. The project adds graphical and gameplay twists to make the experience more engaging than classic pong.
Simon Willison discusses a new inflection point in October 2026 for creating video games using AI, noting that Claude Opus 5.5 now reliably produces compelling 3D models, music, and especially game design. He reports having successfully "vibe coded" four enjoyable games without inspecting the code, and highlights that the real challenge is now generating novel, delightful concepts that AI alone could not conceive. The author compares Opus 5.5’s fun factor to GPT‑6 Astra, which he finds lacking in that regard.
The article announces the release of the official music video for "DE STAAT - FREEDOM" by Dutch alternative rock band De Staat. It notes that at 00:44 in the video, visual effects are credited to Matties Grooten of Fake it or Leave it. The post also mentions the video’s presence on Hacker News and tags it with music, AI, generative‑AI, and pelican‑riding‑a‑bicycle.
Panache is a real‑time strategy game for mobile and browser set in France’s Belle Époque around 1900, featuring steampunk elements such as dirigibles, steam‑powered trucks, armored ships, and marching fortresses. The game was released under an Apache 2.0 license and already has a French‑language fork that reskins it to a steampunk 1900s France, adding an animated intro and French‑twisted music. The updates are mainly aesthetic, with new models and an intro video showcased on the game’s page.
Stop Making TUIs Thomas Ptacek advocates for building real native user interfaces for even the smallest of personal tools, because coding agents have reduced the cost of getting a usable-enough GUI up and running to almost nothing. I wrote about my vibe-coded bandwidth and GPU monitoring macOS task bar apps back in March , and I'm still using both of those on a daily basis.
Simon Willison created an animated transition tool that morphs a map from the Mercator projection to the Equal Earth projection using D3. The project was inspired by the recent UN vote on the Equal Earth map projection and was built with GPT‑6 Astra (medium) in ChatGPT Work. It showcases how modern AI and web technologies can visualize complex geospatial transformations.
Simon Willison experimented with Claude Opus 5.5 to compose computer game music, specifically aiming for a style reminiscent of the original *Secret of Monkey Island*. He designed a simple text-based format for the music and built an artifact capable of playing it, including example tracks. The results were surprisingly good, prompting questions about whether this compositional ability is a new capability emerging in recent text models.
Simon Willison introduces GPT‑6 Astra, a new model that offers improved attention to detail, better prompt comprehension, and the ability to generate more sophisticated outputs. The model excels at creating 3D renderings, producing detailed scenes such as gardens, shipyards, animals, cityscapes, and even Dyson spheres. Willison highlights its whimsical creativity, noting examples like a pelican wearing a red neckerchief riding a bicycle.
SF October 14th: A Birds of a Feather Session on Agentic Engineering I'm hosting an evening event with Jesse Vincent in San Francisco on Wednesday 14th October for people who are building weird and in...
Claude Cowork and the standard chat interface are merging into a single Claude experience, allowing users to hand over tasks or ask quick questions that the system will continue to handle even after the laptop is closed. The rollout will begin with Pro and Max plan users across web, desktop, and mobile, and will extend to new users on these plans over the coming weeks. This integration suggests Claude is evolving into a general agent, simplifying the distinction between Cowork and regular Claude usage.
Simon Willison describes a game experiment called "Tree Appreciator" created with Claude Opus 5.5 Max. The game, built in three.js, presents two algorithmically generated trees and challenges players to appreciate their differences through a spot‑the‑difference style mechanic. After three hours and seven minutes of processing, Claude produced a polished, music‑and‑animation‑rich game with achievements that feels both fun and beautiful.
The article announces that Claude Code will now support AGENTS.md files starting with version 2.1.277. If a CLAUDE.md file is absent in a folder, Claude will automatically look for and use AGENTS.md, leveraging Claude Code mods to customize the harness. The built‑in mod is available for use, and users can also create their own custom project instructions.