1. Start with a project that already runs
Use a small game whose source you can edit. For a first browser exercise, the official MDN Canvas game tutorial linked below gives a JavaScript project and incremental lessons. Follow its run instructions and confirm the original controls and restart before changing it. Keep a copy or working commit. This page supplies an adapted workflow and sample prompts checked against Anthropic's documentation; we have not executed these prompts in a Claude session.
2. Open Claude Code in that project's folder
Follow Anthropic's current quickstart for installation and account access. Open a terminal in your game project's directory and start Claude Code with the claude command. Ask it to describe the entry point, movement, collision, scoring and restart logic before editing. This uses your separate Claude access, not this site's generation credits. Never assume the agent knows the exact files and supported APIs until it has inspected them.
Inspect this browser game without changing files. Identify how to run it, the update loop, player controls, collisions, scoring and restart. Explain where one additional mechanic could fit. Use the existing runtime and dependencies.3. Define one interaction from the second inspiration
For a paddle-and-ball baseline, try a temporary slowdown pickup. Collection affects timing, so the added mechanic changes how the existing loop plays. Define the duration, speed multiplier, stacking behavior and reset rule rather than asking for two complete games. This is a proposed exercise, not a pretested generated result.
Plan one addition to this original paddle-and-ball game: a collectible that slows the ball to half its normal speed for three seconds. Keep the paddle and collision controls working. Collecting another pickup refreshes the timer without multiplying the slowdown. Restart and a new round reset the effect. Use original shapes and the current code. First list the files to change and the tests; wait for me to review the plan before editing.4. Review and implement one small change
Check that the plan uses the project's existing runtime and does not rewrite unrelated systems. Let the agent implement the bounded change, then run the game using its documented command. Read any errors and inspect the changed files. If it does not start, ask for one reproducible fix before adding more mechanics. Anthropic documents a workflow of exploring a project, making changes and testing; it does not promise that an arbitrary game pair can be merged.
5. Test the interaction and recovery
The result needs a playtest even if the code builds. Use the original baseline for comparison and make failures concrete.
- Check the original paddle movement and ball collisions without collecting the pickup.
- Collect it and observe whether the ball slows for the intended interval, then returns to normal.
- Collect another during the effect and check that it refreshes the duration rather than reducing the speed again.
- Restart or begin a new round during the effect and check the initial speed, score and timers.
- Close and reopen the game, repeat the sequence, and record any failures before saving the change.
6. Ask for a specific repair when a check fails
Describe one action sequence and the expected behavior. Include the relevant error or observed state and ask for the smallest correction. Repeat the failed check and the original controls afterward.
After collecting two slowdown pickups, the ball stays slow permanently. Expected: a pickup refreshes a three-second timer, then the ball returns to its original speed. Inspect the effect timer and speed reset, explain the cause, and make the smallest fix. Check restart during the effect as well.If you mean merging installed commercial games
That is a separate route. Use a supported mod project, the host game's documented APIs and the exact version requirements. Melty's official site describes giving its instructions to Claude Code or Codex to create mashups, but we have not installed or tested that workflow. This browser exercise does not establish mod compatibility or let Claude read, reverse-engineer and combine arbitrary game executables on demand.
Keep a useful result
Save the source, run instructions, controls and test notes together. Record which game versions and dependencies matter if you are working on a mod. For the browser exercise, keep the original baseline so you can isolate whether a later change broke the added mechanic or the original loop. If your goal is simply to explore two ideas without a local coding workflow, use the browser maker and test its output separately.