Carl the Cactus Survives Boston Winter

Artist Statement

10-07-2026

The game I have created on Claude Code is called Carl survives a Boston Winter. When I found myself brainstorming ideas of what I wanted to use to represent myself, the first thing that came to mind was my dear succulents. At first I got prompts like the Cactus Club and Restaurant Rush which I thought were too generic as they simulated game models I have seen before that operate on serving customers. The game is meant to be representative of my plant cacti in my room that is indeed actually named Carl. Fun fact he has been with me for 10 years! The game shows my plant trying to find some light and receiving water in what we all know as a brutal Boston winter. Cacti lovers know it can be hard to find a sweet spot to not overwater but also nourish the stems. That is exactly how I came up with the idea of having the challenge of my roommates, who are named exactly the same as in real life, pose a threat to my plants' watering schedule. To add an extra challenge, as the plants water and heat levels decrease and pose a threat of dying, the lamp and flower at the corners of the screen pose a potential life saving option. These are also actual items that I do indeed have in my bedroom window next to my plant. The theme of the trivia style questions coming from the flower when the water levels decrease, are business questions, representative of my business major. The theme of the questions coming from the lamp when the heat levels decrease are communication questions, representative of my communication minor.

A decision I defend is making the time for the water levels to move quicker than that of the heat, because I do believe cacti react more sensitively to water than heat. Also in the winter the heat levels don't actually fluctuate dramatically. Another decision I made was the impulsivity of my roommates watering, which is directly correlated to their real life personality and whether or not I think they would be consistent or random with such responsibility. Claude had suggested making all three roommates water at three different set times. I chose to keep it to my suggestion because I feel it was more realistic, we are such a spontaneous chaotic group and I felt it added character to the game and the characters. I definitely defend that design even if AI believed otherwise. One aspect where the collaboration was present was with the point system as the player goes on in the game. I think it offered a good cutoff period to win and the point to match so I decided to keep it. Also Claude had suggested to start carl off with a little more than half of

the water level when the game starts which I thought was really smart since its reflective of how cacti often hold water in strenuous situations. Although I did not write the code, which I think would have been cool since I actually have coded uno and crossy road before, I do think the game is very personal. My cactus is very unique but I do think personal attributes like my room design, my real roommates and my setting make the game my own. The struggle of balancing water and heat has been something that I faced as a new plant owner many years ago, but clearly I am doing something right if he is still here with us.:)) The game's theme and attributes are representative of me and so I think I did a good job at authoring it.

AI Disclosure:

The Game “Carl the Cactus Survives Boston WInter” is coded by Claude, I however authored player names, challenges and the feeling. Claude helped come up with round time and point systems for the game, requirements remained the same as per instructions. Claude had some difficulty with round times so it took around 3 iterations for it to be a sustainable and playable round time for users, to my liking.