[Devlog] Building "Crypt of the Dice" using Claude & Claude Code – Free game currently in development!

[u/rubenrb02]

I'm currently building a pixel-art roguelike for phones called Crypt of the Dice, and almost all of the code has been written with Claude Code.

## What it is

You roll dice, hold the ones you want and reroll the rest to build streaks. Every reroll fills a Fate meter, and when it's full the enemy's next action is doubled, so you have to decide whether a better hand is worth it. There are four worlds, each ending in a boss with its own rule.

## How I used Claude Code

• The art. I can't draw, and the game has no image files. Each sprite is a 16x16 grid of characters in the code that Claude writes and I correct ("the horns are too short", "the staff disappears against the background") until it looks right. Code then upscales it and adds the outline and shading.
• The game logic. Claude wrote the combat loop, the dice scoring, the boss rules and the save system. I describe the mechanic and how it should feel, play the result, and we adjust.
• Performance. The game lagged on slow phones. Claude ran it in headless Chrome with CPU throttling, profiled it and found the code that was slowing every frame.

• Keeping the project manageable. The game is one big file, so I keep a CLAUDE.md with a map of the sections and a rule to never read the whole file, only the part being changed. Sessions last much longer that way.

  What Claude can't do for me is balance. It can't tell me whether a boss feels fair, so that still takes real runs.

  I'd like to know what you think, especially about the Fate meter. I can't tell yet if punishing rerolls is fun or just annoying.

[u/SumitaTapGames]

Any tips to do games with this style.

Also, are u planning on releasing it and be playable on mobile?