Dev builds free browser tycoon game Mall Bats with Claude writing nearly all the code
jacobjr23 · reddit · 2026-11-09
A Reddit developer, inspired by the documentary Secret Mall Apartment, used Claude Opus 5.5 to build Mall Bats, an isometric tycoon/stealth game where you secretly live in a dying 2004 mall's drop ceiling, siphon power from stores, send your crew fishing after closing, and win by buying the mall at a New Year's Eve auction.
- Claude wrote nearly all the code: simulation, crew AI, isometric renderer, a balance bot, and the PixelLab art pipeline
- Claude also produced the trailer by staging shots inside the running game and synthesizing the music
- The author handled design, playtesting, and feedback; a March attempt failed before last week's successful rebuild
- Free, no-install, playable in the browser at mall-bats.vercel.app
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