Gaming · Do this yourself

Rebuild SimCity 2000 as a low-poly web game with 27 subagents.

✅ He says that after about 2 hours with 27 subagents he had a running build; the clone came together over a few days.

No X data

Based on drdator on Hacker News (opens in new tab)

Who it’s for

Hobbyists, game makers and anyone who wants to build something fun with AI.

Adapt it to your industry

  • Teacher: a small quiz game for your class
  • Shop or brand: a daily puzzle that brings customers back
  • Event organizer: a simple trivia game for your audience

Step by step

  1. Write the game idea in three sentences: what the player does, how they win, how long one round takes.
  2. Open Claude (artifacts) or ChatGPT (canvas) and paste the prompt below with your idea.
  3. Ask for a single-page web version you can play right in the browser.
  4. Play it, then ask for one change at a time (“make it harder”, “add a score”).
  5. When you like it, ask how to put it online for free (for example on Vercel or Netlify) and follow the steps.
  6. Share the link with 5 friends and watch where they get stuck.

Ready-to-copy prompt

Decompile the original with Ghidra and port it to TypeScript one function at a time, keeping a table of ported functions. Render with low-poly WebGL.

Start with AI

Opens the AI with this guide and the prompt filled in.

Open in ChatGPT (opens in new tab)Open in Claude (opens in new tab)Open in Grok (opens in new tab)
Cost
$0–20/month (free tiers or one AI plan)Our estimate
Time
A few days (sourced)From the source

How to make money from it

Pricing idea: Keep the game free and earn from light ads, a small paid tier with extra modes, or sponsors.

Finding your first 10 customers

  • Share it in communities about the game’s topic.
  • Add a “share your score” button so players bring friends.
  • Post a short clip of gameplay on social media every day for a week.

Ideas, not promises. Results vary.

Details: source, numbers and tags

What they did

drdator started with one prompt asking for a TypeScript WebGL low-poly replica of the full game logic, with the original files available. The agent decompiled it with Ghidra and translated the old PowerPC code function by function.

How it went

He says that after about 2 hours with 27 subagents he had a running build; the clone came together over a few days.

Worth knowing

Work only from software you own, and respect copyright when publishing.

Difficulty
AdvancedOur rating
Time to build
A few days (sourced)From the source
Monthly cost
Not reported
Revenue
Not reportedWe only show revenue the source states
Engagement
37 HN points32 comments · fetched Oct 15, 2026
X buzz
No X data

Posted · Added Oct 16, 2026

Original builder recipe

  • Claude (Opus-class) with subagents
  • Ghidra
  • TypeScript + WebGL
  1. Describe the game or mod you want.
  2. Build it with your agent in small playable steps.
  3. Playtest after each step.
  4. Share or publish, respecting copyright.

Tags

Agent Claude
Industry Games

Read the original

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