Hamza

I like building apps & games.

Currently building RATS!!, a 1–4 player co-op tower defense in Godot. Free demo Dec 3.

Sharing how I build it. Wishlist below

[Hamza @Spidermanzdev]

In August, my game was grey lanes, orange dots and a yellow square for a barn.

Eleven weeks later it's RATS!!, a co-op tower defense: four worlds, four crowned rats, thousands of rats on screen, and every visual drawn by the game's own code. No image generators, no 3D models.

I built it with Claude writing the code in Claude Code and Godot running the game. My job is the director's: what the game is, how it looks, every playtest, and saying no.

The moment that changed how I work: in mid-October, Claude rated its own new art 9/10. The same screenshots went to Codex blind, with no clue which version was new, and it gave them 4/10. Codex was right. So I rebuilt the look, and since then nothing that builds the game gets to grade its own work.

How it runs now:
- every feature starts as a written plan before any code
- Claude builds each feature in its own copy of the project; the tests decide when it's done, not Claude's report
- after every change, a bot plays 25 seeded runs, so nothing breaks the balance by accident
- the game films itself, and every visual change is judged on real screenshots, never on the code
- Codex reviews every change and grades the art blind, against Kingdom Rush, Thronefall and Bloons TD 6, never against my last version
- 63 test suites run before every commit

About 1,000 commits in. The one thing I'd pass on: get a second opinion that can't tell which answer is yours.

[Hamza @Spidermanzdev]

@hakimieiqbal How much further is the quality improved utilizing auto sprite, vs have opus make the spirites themselves via code?

[Hamza @Spidermanzdev]

@VerStudiovn If you are past the recommended wait time, it doesn’t hurt to reach out to them! The support team is really good

[Hamza @Spidermanzdev]

Once it’s setup it works really work. I also utilize argon or Astra to help audit and review as it goes through.

I do feel it works really well autonomously - I find most times the work is being done over night and in the day time I’m reviewing, playtesting, etc

Allows you to manage your main work, while you do this on the side

[Hamza @Spidermanzdev]

@JonasTyroller better discovery is the right fix but i'm not waiting on it.

my whole plan is a free demo in dec, it's the one thing a tiny page has that gives people a reason to click. small devs, what are you betting on meanwhile?

[Hamza @Spidermanzdev]

@DaneloKikisch Wishing ya nothing but wins!! Such an exciting momemt

[Hamza @Spidermanzdev]

@slotsandskulls 7 days, congrats! what's one thing you wish you'd done earlier before launch week?

[Hamza @Spidermanzdev]

@UltrinikXD the 'and animations… and sound…' list never ends 😂
which move are you keeping unfair on purpose?

[Hamza @Spidermanzdev]

@NemeleDevo 374 deaths in 54 minutes 😂 and they still finished is the best playtest stat i've seen all week.

which death got the biggest laugh?

[Hamza @Spidermanzdev]

@GamewithDave Legend!! Thank you 👊🏽

[Hamza @Spidermanzdev]

@shanerounce The most fun part is the journey and what you learn along the way :)

[Hamza @Spidermanzdev]

In August, my game was grey lanes, orange dots and a yellow square for a barn.

Eleven weeks later it's RATS!!, a co-op tower defense: four worlds, four crowned rats, thousands of rats on screen, and every visual drawn by the game's own code. No image generators, no 3D models.

I built it with Claude writing the code in Claude Code and Godot running the game. My job is the director's: what the game is, how it looks, every playtest, and saying no.

The moment that changed how I work: in mid-October, Claude rated its own new art 9/10. The same screenshots went to Codex blind, with no clue which version was new, and it gave them 4/10. Codex was right. So I rebuilt the look, and since then nothing that builds the game gets to grade its own work.

How it runs now:
- every feature starts as a written plan before any code
- Claude builds each feature in its own copy of the project; the tests decide when it's done, not Claude's report
- after every change, a bot plays 25 seeded runs, so nothing breaks the balance by accident
- the game films itself, and every visual change is judged on real screenshots, never on the code
- Codex reviews every change and grades the art blind, against Kingdom Rush, Thronefall and Bloons TD 6, never against my last version
- 63 test suites run before every commit

About 1,000 commits in. The one thing I'd pass on: get a second opinion that can't tell which answer is yours.

[Hamza @Spidermanzdev]

@AnalogDreamDev so exciting! keep us posted on the demo news

[Hamza @Spidermanzdev]

What's funny is I actually went the exact opposite way.

Claude code writes most of my code on RATS!! but every visual is drawn by code, no image gen, no models. slower to get pretty, but when the stress test throws
16,384 rats on screen i never had to draw a single one, when i hated the look, i changed the code and every rat updated at once

- Utilized godot CLI

- Claudecode, it could also call astra model from codex via bash commands which allowed me to utilize it for audits.

[Kimo @asynkimo]

Claude Code + SpriteCook + Godot built this platformer, every sprite and animation included

Give Claude access to game asset generation and models like Opus 5.5 and Astra quality check their own art: they look at every asset, check it fits the game, and regenerate what doesn't

Just talk to Claude about your game, let it do the building

[Hamza @Spidermanzdev]

Our steam page:

https://t.co/RpFnV15gWf

[Hamza @Spidermanzdev]

1,000 on screen in godot is where it gets fun. my stress test for RATS!! goes up to 16,384 rats, all drawn in code. what actually kept it sane was 65 test suites running headless from the godot cli after every change. claude breaks stuff quietly otherwise

thousands of rats makes it fun :)

[ZzeroQ @zzzerooq]

Up to 1,000 monsters and 1,000 building pieces! My vibe-coded game already has freeform building, resource gathering, equipment, leveling, stats, buffs, and skill combinations. Still lots to improve, but it's coming together! #VibeCoding #Godot #GameDev #IndieDev #AIGameDev #IndieGame

[Hamza @Spidermanzdev]

@SwiminScorpions quake mission packs is a perfect evening. scourge of armagon or dissolution of eternity?

[Hamza @Spidermanzdev]

@SyntheticBeef does it also let you know what languages as well the games been done in/supported?

[Hamza @Spidermanzdev]

the game is RATS!!, a co-op tower defense for up to four farmhands. steam link in my bio.

[Hamza @Spidermanzdev]

I put a dinner bell on every farm.

If most of the team stands in it, the next wave comes right now, and you get paid for the time you skipped.

Somebody always rings it early. Every single time. Then the whole team panics.

Who's the bell-ringer in your group? #WishlistWednesday #gamedev