Flappy Husky

Business Administration - Concentrations: Marketing & MIS - Minor in Interdisciplinary AI The arcade game I created along with Claude Code is about a Husky (Northeastern student) who is walking or “flapping” from Back Bay to Fenway Park. I walk this route every day to get to my Solidcore classes in Fenway. I wanted to make it specific to myself but at the same time relatable to all Northeastern students so that’s why the destination is Fenway Park instead of Solidcore specifically. This game is inspired by Flappy Bird. I don’t have much experience with video games and didn’t grow up playing many of them, but Flappy Bird was one I did play as a kid, and making this one felt nostalgic in a way I didn't expect. The obstacles change as the Husky travels: Back Bay–inspired brownstones first, then a stretch representing the Fens, then the iconic green of the ballpark itself.

One design decision I changed several times was how the Fens could be represented in the obstacles. Claude had chosen generic green pipes with blue and red tops to represent the “baseball spirit”. I wanted that section of the path to show the greenery from the Fens and the fences from around the gardens there, clearly distinct from the ballpark’s green. A second decision was taking out the on-screen timer Claude had put in the first version. The game’s goal is just to get to the destination, not to finish as quickly as possible. The 120-second limit still exists in the game's logic, it's just not something you see.

At the beginning the collaboration was back and forth since I asked Claude at the start to verify specific stuff with me before including it or editing it in the game. After that, it was me directing it to include or remove/change things I didn’t like. Something I didn’t ask for that Claude improved was the Northeastern-inspired Husky. Claude thought the ears looked like devil horns initially and recreated them to look more like the husky, but I hadn’t noticed it and wouldn’t have corrected Claude initially.

For this game, I authored the idea, the story, the path, and what would and wouldn’t be included in the game. For the Fens section, I didn’t know how to include greenery effectively, but I knew I wanted it to truly show the park. From there, Claude gave me a few suggestions and I took that and created my own idea of how I wanted it to be. I didn’t write any of the code myself. My opening design brief described the husky, the Boston route, the timing, and the color palette. Some of the actual prompts that guided this: “This is a collaborative project. I will make the creative decisions, and you will help me clarify them, evaluate their feasibility, implement them after authorization, and improve the game through playtesting.” (part of the design brief) Later, after the first build, I asked to "add sticker designs on the obstacles (randomized, 20+ designs) and add background music similar to 'Take Me Out to the Ball Game.'"

AI disclosure: Claude Code was used for the entire technical part of the assignment and contributed design suggestions that I evaluated and revised. I gave ChatGPT my ideas and

instructions, and it helped me turn them into the initial design brief for Claude Code. There were a few rounds of discussion on the design before the code was written, then about four major changes/additions after the first build. Also, I rejected Claude’s original generic obstacles and removed the visible timer. I also used ChatGPT to help shorten my original artist statement.