Penguin Run

I grew up skiing and in particularly I have a deep love for ski racing. It's a real passion of mine, so I wanted my game to feel like a run down a course: The steering between gates, watching the snow ahead, going as fast as you dare try. Penguin Run is comprised of two penguins sliding down an icy slalom run to reach an igloo, with a hungry seal chasing them.

The penguins weren't a random decision. My best friend and I each have a penguin stuffed animal, one pink and one blue, and for years they have been our symbol of friendship. That's why there are two of them, why they're pink and blue, and why even the flags on the course are pink and blue. The addition of the seal is there to make the game more exciting and high stakes.

The decision I would defend the most is that both penguins race side by side, but you have to play strategically in order to outrun the seal, like in ski racing. In the final game, the blue penguin always makes it to the igloo and shows you the way. Whether you make it too is up to you. You're racing for safety together, but not against each other, however, players can try to race the other penguin if they choose. The second decision is the course itself. It's built like a slalom, because that's what I love about ski racing. If you miss a gate, the seal lunges closer, so a mistake on the course becomes a real danger instead of just a lost point.

The third is the belly slide. Holding down makes your penguin flop onto its stomach and goes faster, but it's harder to steer. This element gave players the option to challenge themselves and move at a faster pace. I also asked for the other penguin to belly-flop whenever you do, so if a player chooses can try to race the other penguin at the same time.

The collaboration was apparent in places I didn't expect. I asked for a game that had the cute element of the penguins but also felt tense, so Claude added background music that speeds up and adds drums as the seal gets closer. That made the chase feel much scarier than what I had originally described.

There were elements to the game that wasn't always what I wanted. Claude added elements to the penguins I didn't ask for and I had them removed. I initially wanted the penguins to look like Pudgy Penguins, but Claude couldn't copy a brand's characters, so they became an original design. I told the AI the graphics looked too low quality and arcade-like and pushed until they looked more modern, although I feel it

wasn’t able to achieve it to the level I wanted. I also asked for easier steering, and options to be able to slow down or pick up the pace.

I think the game is mostly mine. Claude wrote the code and drew the shapes, but the ideas and the meaning came from me. The ski racing, charactters, and the chasing seal came from my own thought process and ideas. Without me, the different elements of the game that I came up with wouldn’t be there and the game wouldn’t exist. Claude did the technical work, but the idea is mine.

Prompts that shaped the game:

"I would like to do a game where penguins slip and slide on ice and need to run away from a seal. They also have to follow a pattern (like a ski course) and save themselves."

"The one that is not controlled by me always survives, and the one I control survives if I can outrun the seal, but both are racing for safety"

"When my penguin belly flops can the other do the same, so they are always in sync"

AI disclosure

I used Claude to help brainstorm and help explain how to build the game using Claude Code. Claude code was used to build and edit the game. I asked Claude Code to make the changes I saw fit to finally end with a finished product I was happy with.