How to use Claude to ship mobile puzzle games

Omar Alhaddad shipped Block Orbit and Gridrise after using Claude Code across gameplay, rendering and publishing work. The single retrospective covers both games: a block puzzle on a rotating cylinder and a tower-placement puzzle whose clues depend on edge visibility.

Claude implemented mechanics, interface work, save systems, level parsing and platform integrations. Rendering used different stacks: Swift and Metal for Block Orbit, and React Native with Three.js for Gridrise. Alhaddad describes substantial iteration on shaders and game feel rather than an unreviewed first generation.

Publishing chores became part of the agent workflow. A custom image skill called Gemini's image API to produce achievement icons, inspected results against requirements and retried unsuitable images. Another skill generated store screenshots in a Next.js project; Alhaddad requested added iPad support when the initial version lacked it.

The source links released games and describes the human work that remained. Alhaddad kept architecture and design notes, supplied precise visual descriptions and reviewed code because rendering corrections could introduce subtle defects. Claude helped implement the chosen games and package their assets, while their design direction and release judgment stayed with the developer.

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Source: Blog · Omar Alhaddad