Vibe-code a 3D town-building game with Claude Code
- Posted
- by Ethan Mollick
- Last checked
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- How we verify
Evidence: Article or interviewA newsletter, journalist or interview account of what happened.
Outcome
From a single informal prompt, Claude Code built a working 3D game for placing buildings and driving around in about four minutes; follow-up prompts added a fire truck, traffic, and fires.
Reported by One Useful Thing:Working game in about four minutes
This is the source's own number. We haven't measured it.
Agent
Prompt Original prompt
Exact prompt as published in the source.
make a 3D game where I can place buildings of various designs and then drive through the town i create.
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Optional stronger version
Our rewrite with extra checks. The poster didn't test it.
Goal: Make a browser 3D game where I place different buildings and then drive a car through the town I built. Inputs (fill in or confirm): - Where it runs (browser) and controls (keyboard/touch) - How many building types to start with - Any style (low-poly, cartoon) Rules: - Use a single HTML file with a well-known 3D library loaded from a CDN. - Two modes: build mode (place/rotate/remove buildings on a grid) and drive mode (simple car physics, collisions with buildings). - Show on-screen help for controls. - Keep it running smoothly on a laptop; limit object counts if needed. - Save the town layout in the browser so it survives a refresh. - Make it run by opening one HTML file, no install. - Keep frame rate smooth; tell me if adding features slows it down. If you get stuck: If something breaks, keep the last working version and explain what you changed. If a login, CAPTCHA or two-step code appears, stop and ask me to handle it; never guess or store passwords. Verify before you finish: Play-test: place five buildings, switch to drive mode and drive around without falling through the ground. Output: The game file, controls list and known limitations. Done when: I can build a small town and drive through it in one session.
Source
https://www.oneusefulthing.org/p/speaking-things-into-existence
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