Solo dev builds 3-team browser battler with Claude Code: 800+ commits, 80 live players in 5 weeks

zrikz · reddit · 2026-11-04

A developer shared Shrinebreaker, a browser-based 3-team mage battler inspired by 1990s Magestorm, built almost entirely by Claude Code (Opus 5.5): 800+ commits in 5 weeks, 80+ live players, and thousands of hours of playtesting. Free to play in any modern browser, with an experimental Windows app.

The game

3v3v3 (up to 33-per-side) matches across four disciplines plus a new public-trial class, Druid (30 spells, six spirit beasts)
Modes include Conquest, capture the flag, deathmatch, escort; bots fill teams, plus guilds, a season pass, daily quests, and seasonal arena monsters

The Claude Code workflow (the real highlight)

One main Claude session acts as "producer": triages in-game feedback tickets, writes briefs, spawns background agents
Each agent works in its own git worktree/branch, writes tests, takes screenshots, reports back; the main session reviews, merges, deploys
Written deploy rules: releases only when nobody is online, verified by Playwright runs against the live site across 4 interface/screen combos, notes auto-posted to Discord
Hundreds of test suites as the safety net; the Druid class got its first balance pass within hours of launch, driven by live match stats

The author admits "5 weeks" leaned on a year of prior game dev and existing backend infra; from scratch he estimates 8-10 weeks.

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Solo dev builds 3-team browser battler with Claude Code: 800+ commits, 80 live players in 5 weeks

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