Claude Code Effort Levels Tested: Low Builds Sonic in 9 Min, Max Spends 2.5 Hours for Best Game
daniel_mac8 · x · 2026-09-28
After reading Thariq's post on effort in Claude Code, a developer had Opus 5.5 build a 3D Sonic game at all five effort levels and played every one. Low finished in 9 minutes with barely any self-testing; Max took 2.5 hours, most of it spent testing and fixing, producing the most playable build. The article breaks down how the effort setting changes agent autonomy and output quality.
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