Kraig Adams 835K159K75.3K29.2KWork with me

A game in progress · early playtest

Swarmlight

A small colony game: you're the colony's mind, flying one small drone, on a cheap and dangerous planet, in debt. I'm designing it and playtesting every version; Claude, Anthropic's AI, writes the code.

Play the current buildRead the devlog

  • Version 15
  • Updated Oct 30, 2026
  • Plays in a desktop browser, with mouse and keyboard

Version 15, day 3

The colony's power lines lit at night with pink bugs moving in

What it is

Mine by hand, then build until it runs itself

You're the colony's mind, flying one small drone body. You land on a cheap, dangerous starter planet with almost nothing. You drill ore by hand, build a smelter, run power out on poles and put miners to work, until the colony does the work for you.

By day you explore and build. At night the dark belongs to the bugs, and only what you keep lit is safe. The plan for the story: you're a freelancer who borrowed 5 million credits to get here, and the company that lent it wants a little more each dawn.

It's an early prototype, two days old, built with Claude. Things change with every version, and saves can reset.

Where it stands

Stage
Early prototype, version 15
Updated
Oct 30, 2026, 1:09 pm
Playable now
The opening: land, drill by hand, build the smelter, run power out, put miners to work, fill the first shipment and survive the nights. It plays in a desktop browser with a keyboard and mouse.
Next
  • Version 16: the freelancer's story, the loan and the company's messages.
  • A research line that unlocks things one at a time.
  • Kraig's notes from playing version 15.
Open question
Whether the early hand work feels like work, and the first miner like relief.

How it's being made

The full devlog

I direct and playtest

I decide what the game is and how it should feel, play every version, and send notes as I go: what's confusing, what's too fast, what I want next.

Claude writes the code

Claude, Anthropic's AI, turns each note into a new version, tests it and publishes it, often within minutes. It also asks questions and suggests a default when a decision is open.

Every version is logged

The devlog keeps my notes in my own words, what changed and screenshots, so you can follow the whole thing from the first message.

Latest from the devlog

All 13 entries
  1. A lander falling toward a dark planet's curve, with the words Home sent you here aloneOct 30, 1:09 pm · v15Version 15: work, then relief
  2. Oct 30, 11:55 amNot fun yet, and a story in debt
  3. The colony's power lines lit at night with pink bugs moving inOct 30, 9:31 am · v14Version 14: ideas from ExoMiner
  4. A colony ringed with towers, solar panels and batteriesOct 30, 12:58 am · v13Version 13: the danger returns

Play the build

It plays in a desktop browser with a mouse and keyboard. It's an early build: it changes every day and saves can reset between versions. Tell me what felt good and what didn't.

Play version 15Send feedback

Written with Claude, from the conversation where the game is being made.