Build an Arcade Game with Claude Code in 10 Minutes

What We're Building

Orbit Catch is a simple but addictive arcade game. You control a moon orbiting a planet - hold to expand your orbit, release to contract. Catch the golden gems, avoid the asteroids. The longer your streak, the higher your combo multiplier.

Play it now: orbit-catch.dartup.dev

Let's Build It

Step 1: Set Up

Create a new folder and fire up Claude Code:

Step 2: The Magic Prompt

Here's the prompt that creates the entire game. It's detailed because good prompts make good games:

Build me an arcade game called "Orbit Catch" with these specs:

GAMEPLAY:
- A moon orbits around a central planet
- Player holds/taps to expand the orbit radius, releases to contract
- Golden gems spawn randomly - catch them for points
- Gray asteroids spawn - hitting one ends the game
- Combo system: consecutive catches multiply score (up to 5x)
- Difficulty increases over time (more asteroids, faster spawns)
- High score saved to localStorage

VISUAL STYLE:
- Space theme with dark purple/black gradient background
- Twinkling star field
- Neon cyan glow on the moon with motion trail
- Purple planet with subtle ring
- Gold gems that pulse and rotate
- Particle explosions when catching gems
- Screen shake on death

UI:
- Large score display with glow effect at top center
- Combo multiplier that appears during streaks
- High score in corner
- Start screen with title, play button, instructions
- Game over screen with final score, new high score badge, retry button
- Share to X button that posts score

TECHNICAL:
- Single HTML file with embedded CSS and JS
- Use HTML5 Canvas for rendering
- Smooth 60fps animations
- Touch-friendly (works on mobile)
- Orbitron font from Google Fonts for that arcade feel

Make it feel polished and juicy - lots of visual feedback!

Claude will think for a moment, then generate a complete game:

Step 3: Test It

Open the file in your browser and play:

You should see a fully playable game. Click/tap and hold anywhere to expand your orbit. Try to catch the gold gems while avoiding the gray asteroids. See how high you can score!

Step 4: Tweak It (Optional)

Not quite right? Just tell Claude what to change:

"Make the moon orbit faster"

"Add a power-up that gives temporary invincibility"

"Change the color scheme to red and orange"

"Make the asteroids spin"

"Add sound effects"

Step 5: Deploy

Ready to share with the world? One more prompt:

Deploy this to DartUp as "orbit-catch"

That's it. Your game is live on the internet. Send the link to friends, post it on social media, put it in your portfolio.

How It Works

Under the hood, the game uses HTML5 Canvas for rendering. Here's what makes it feel good:

• Smooth orbit expansion: The radius lerps (linear interpolation) toward the target, creating that satisfying elastic feel
• Motion trail: The moon leaves a fading trail of previous positions, making movement feel dynamic
• Particle explosions: When you catch a gem, particles burst outward with physics-based movement
• Screen shake: A subtle camera shake on death adds impact
• Glow effects: Multiple layered shadows create that neon look

More Game Ideas

Now that you know the process, try these:

Wrapping Up

You just built and deployed a real game. Not a tutorial project that sits on your hard drive - a live game with a URL that anyone can play.

The whole thing took one prompt and a deploy command. That's the power of building with Claude Code. You describe what you want, it writes the code, you ship it.

Now go make something fun. 🎮