Making Swarmlight: the devlog
Every version of a game I'm making with Claude, from the first message to version 15: my notes in my own words, what changed, and screenshots.
I'm designing this game and playtesting it as it's built; Claude, Anthropic's AI, writes all the code. Each entry below is one round: my notes in my own words (trimmed, never reworded), what Claude proposed or built, and what changed. Times are New York time. Every screenshot was taken from that version's own build, saved in the code history, in a desktop browser. Most show a game a scripted test player had been playing for a few minutes. Kraig's notes are quoted as typed. Those from the first evening and night carry the time of the build they shaped; later ones the time they were written into the design log.
- Day two: work, then reliefOct 30, 9:31 am to 1:09 pm
- The colony on an alien planetOct 29, 11:39 pm to Oct 30, 12:58 am
- The first evening: a ship in spaceOct 29, 9:27 pm to 11:13 pm
Day two: work, then relief
Oct 30, 9:31 am to 1:09 pm · v14–v15
Kraig played version 14, said it wasn't fun yet, and an interview reshaped the start and the story.
v15build
Version 15: work, then relief
“i think buildings off the hub should look and work like modules. similar to exominer.”Kraig, 9:51 am
Claude: Claude built the interview's answers, then reviewed the build and fixed what it found.
- An intro: the landing, then one iron patch to drill by hand.
- Modules snap onto the hub. The first smelter has one slot, and a second slot is a real upgrade.
- Power you can read: every line shows, colored by whether it is live, short or cut off.
- A 7-minute day. Only what has power lights the ground, and roaming bugs bite anything dark.
- Unlocks come one at a time, each when you need it.
(open full size)Version 15's intro. 
(open full size)Day 2 for a scripted player: modules on the hub, each with its rates. 
(open full size)Day 3: power lines, towers and the launch pad. playtestdesign
Not fun yet, and a story in debt
“it was better but still not fun. the progression was too fast. i didn't feel the pain of working and releaf of automation or upgrade”Kraig, 9:49 am
“the beginning can be slow”Kraig, 9:53 am
“i want this first planet to be the cheapest starter planet and you feel that. not very good pick. dangerous, not much value, lonely but with a few other poor colonists who also have to settle for this with debt”Kraig, 11:55 am
Claude: Claude read the recording: the trouble was contrast, not the clock. Hand-mining didn't hurt, and upgrades changed numbers you couldn't feel. A long interview followed, one card at a time.
- Work first, then relief: slow hand-mining, then a miner that clearly beats you.
- Explore by day, hide by night. The dark is deadly, and light is how you expand.
- The story: one freelancer, dropped with the hub on a cheap, dangerous planet, owing a company a 5 million credit loan. Losing the hub ends the game.
- The story arrives in version 16, after Kraig plays version 15.
v14build
Version 14: ideas from ExoMiner
“i want to use elements from exominer”Kraig, 7:27 am
“drone should come with every miner and it constantly goes from miner to base”Kraig, 7:27 am
Claude: The opening became hand work: mine by hand, build a smelter, run power out on poles. Each step unlocks the next.
- A power grid on poles, and a drone with every miner.
- Storage caps: what doesn't fit burns, and you see the money lost.
- Each machine runs one recipe, so balancing ores means owning several.
(open full size)Version 14 on bug night 2: the grid lit up and the bugs coming in.
The colony on an alien planet
Oct 29, 11:39 pm to Oct 30, 12:58 am · v8–v13
Overnight the game moved to a planet: a colony, drones, power, night and the hives.
v13build
Version 13: the danger returns
“1: Destroy the hives”Kraig, 12:58 am
“bugs come at night”Kraig, 12:58 am
Claude: Four hives sit far out in the fog. Bug nights raid the colony; by day the hives are sleepy and you can wear one down.
- Towers run on the colony's power. A blast tower hits a whole cluster.
- Attack drones and ship upgrades for going on the offence.
- Destroy the last hive and the planet is safe. A scripted player wins in 43 to 57 minutes.
(open full size)Version 13 on day 5: towers around the colony before the next bug night. 
(open full size)The same game: a daytime raid on a hive, its health bar at the top left of it. v10–v12build
Versions 10 to 12: power, night and exploration
“day/night cycle with solar and battery”Kraig, 12:04 am
Claude: Three short builds overnight.
- Version 10: day and night. Solar panels make power by day and batteries carry the night.
- Version 11: a bigger planet under fog, richer ore farther out, wrecks and crystal fields.
- Version 12: a cleaner opening, tuned against Kraig's recorded play.
(open full size)Version 10: the colony's power readout and its light at dusk. v9build
Version 9: easier to read
“we need to make it all look better and easier to understand what's happening and the recepies and such”Kraig, 11:57 pm
Claude: A clarity pass before any new feature.
- Visible recipes and item icons.
- A status on every machine, auto-sell, a cleaner screen and pixel-style sprites.
(open full size)Version 9: icons, labels and a line at the top that says what to do next. v8build
Version 8: an alien planet
“i think we should put this game on an alien planet. you're a colonist that lands and starts the mission of colonizing it and taking out the enemy to make it safe”Kraig, 11:39 pm
Claude: The setting moved from space to a planet. The enemy became native alien bugs that breed and live in hives. This build was the peaceful half first: the colony and its drones.
- Land, build the colony, and let drones carry ore from miners.
- Better ores lie farther from the base.
(open full size)Version 8: the peaceful colony, before the bugs came back.
The first evening: a ship in space
Oct 29, 9:27 pm to 11:13 pm · v1–v7
From the first idea to a playable build the same evening, then one feature a build.
v7build
Version 7: a swarm that grows around you
“i want slower enemies and faster to kill and much more of them”Kraig, 11:13 pm
Claude: In version 5 no bot ever copied itself around the far outposts, so the swarm now grows where you are busy.
- Each tower has its own recharging battery instead of shared ammo.
- A constant swarm plus surges announced from the edges.
(open full size)Version 7: more bots, slower and easier to kill. v4–v6build
Versions 4 to 6: a recorder, a build menu and a factory
“we need to have a build menu. can use the cursor”Kraig, 10:51 pm
“you can sell ore for credits which you use to buy upgrades or buildings”Kraig, 10:51 pm
“or you can process the ore into more valuable items which has a higher sell value”Kraig, 10:58 pm
Claude: One feature a build, each played before the next.
- Version 4: a playtest recorder, so Claude can read how a session went.
- Version 5: a build menu you use with the mouse, and ore sold for credits.
- Version 6: the base factory, with storage, a smelter and a constructor.
(open full size)Version 6: the first smelter next to the base. v3build
Version 3: one continuous game
“i don't like going back to the middle circle to end runs. it should be one continuous map and game”Kraig, 10:33 pm
Claude: No more trips or load-out screen. One game keeps going on one map, and flying over the base banks your hold.
- Buy miners, towers and ammo at the base any time, and drop them out in the field.
- Losing the ship costs its hold; it comes back at the base. Losing the base ends the game.
- The game saves on your device every few seconds.
(open full size)Version 3 after four minutes of a scripted player: the base, the rocks and the first bots at the edges. v2build
Version 2: trips out from a base
“the enemy should usually overwhelm the mining outpost. you need to bring resources to build the towers and defense and mining machinery then get back to base”Kraig, 10:10 pm
Claude: Claude made each run one trip: load out at the base, set up at a deposit, and get home before the swarm takes the outpost.
- A load-out from banked ore: miners, towers and ammo, within a cargo limit.
- Losing the ship loses the trip's haul.
v1build
Version 1: playable within the hour
“Cut build 1 down so I can play it tonight. Aim for something playable within the hour.”Kraig, 9:38 pm
Claude: Claude cut the plan to the smallest thing worth playing: plain shapes, one map, one tower, one kind of bot.
- Fly a small ship. Mine by flying close to rocks: poor grey ones near the start, rich gold ones far out.
- One tower: it costs ore, drops where the ship is and shoots on its own. The ship has no gun.
- Bots chase the ship and copy themselves if left alive. Ignored, the swarm reaches about 160 at five minutes.
- Fly back into the jump gate to leave with your haul.
(open full size)Version 1, a few seconds in: plain shapes, the ore count and the swarm count. design
The idea: small, with a hard cap
“I want to design a new game ... This one stays small with a hard cap, per the Solhex lesson.”Kraig, 9:27 pm
“i'm thinking rouge game? tower defense but factory automation back at base to upgrade”Kraig, 9:27 pm
Claude: Claude asked one question at a time and wrote down each answer: small (a win in about two hours), lit pixel art, you fly a small ship, a light story. It picked the working name Swarmlight: the swarm, and the lit look.
- A hard cap from day one: 8 towers, 6 base machines, 5 enemy types. Adding anything means cutting something.
- The rules kept from the last game: fix the first 10 minutes before adding depth, and let strangers play it quietly first.
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.