ARGON DOMINATES
Steer a swarm of thousands of argon atoms after your cursor and absorb every other noble gas in the chamber.
Official site dexnazar.itch.io, verified Nov 3, 2026. The developer's own itch.io page (dexnazar), linked from its official AI Browser Game Jam 5 submission page.
Where to play
Every platform this game is on. Links are checked against official sources; we never host or mirror games.
- Play free — itch.ioitch.ioReleasedFree
Plays in the browser on itch.io. No download.
Browser (no download) · Mobile · Official link verified Nov 3, 2026.
About ARGON DOMINATES
ARGON DOMINATES is a real-time swarm strategy game in the browser. Your army is a gas of thousands of violet argon atoms that flows after your cursor along the shortest path through the chamber. Press it into neon, krypton or xenon and you wear their atoms down; every atom you break turns violet and joins you. Holding discharge makes the atoms near your cursor move and hit twice as hard until they overheat, and an ion beacon splits your gas into two streams for ten seconds. Each rival gas behaves differently: neon is fast and fragile, krypton slow and dense, and xenon flanks your weakest group. Six abstract levels (Valve, Orbit, Lattice, Molecule, Vortex and Nucleus) each build on one spatial idea, with medals and best times, a difficulty that eases a step after each loss, a slow-motion last stand and a free battle mode. A late-night radio voice narrates. The developer, dexnazar, describes it as being in the spirit of Liquid War (1995) and says the mechanic is inspired by it. The page says Claude Code wrote the simulation, the WebGL2 renderer and shaders, the audio engine, the levels, the UI and the tools under the developer's direction, and the devlog says the game was made in a day. It plays with mouse, keyboard or touch (phones in landscape) and needs WebGL2. Free in the browser on itch.io; it was entered in AI Browser Game Jam 5.
How it was built
Partially verifiedThe AI Tools Used answer on the jam submission reads “Claude Code (Claude): all code - simulation, WebGL2 renderer and shaders, audio engine, levels, UI, balance-testing bots; parallel Claude subagents for modules.” The itch.io page says the code was written by Claude Code, directed by dexnazar, who chose the concept, judged every build and asked for the reworks, and that independent modules (key-art renderer, sound integration, gas looks, design review) were built in parallel by Claude subagents. The devlog adds that Claude split the work across parallel subagents with written interface contracts, that bots playing every level were used for balance, and that three agents built five alternative gas renderers in parallel. Which Claude model was used is not stated.
- DeveloperDevlog “How ARGON DOMINATES was made in a day with AI”: “I directed; Claude Code wrote the game.” — dexnazar (itch.io devlog)
Per the devlog, a separate code review through the Codex CLI caught a bug early (atoms could leak through the open border of the grid). The Codex CLI with OpenAI image generation also produced the UI design comps, the menu key art (later cleaned by hand-written scripts) and the cover art, per the page and the jam answer.
Made in one day (29 Oct 2026), per the devlog, and built for the Ultimate AI-Powered Game Jam #6 as well as entered in AI Browser Game Jam 5. Claude Code wrote the JavaScript game: a 320×180 grid simulation with one atom per cell and a shortest-path field per gas, a WebGL2 renderer, the audio engine, the levels and the UI, with parallel Claude subagents for separate modules and bots for balance testing. The interface was redone with the open-source Impeccable design skill after the developer rejected the first version. The narrator and the music were generated with ElevenLabs; the sound effects are licensed stock recordings from Envato Elements, not AI-made, and the font is Jost (SIL Open Font License).
- Engine / framework
- None (JavaScript with WebGL2)
- Languages
- JavaScript
- Team size
- Not disclosed
- Initial build time
- One day: started on the morning of 29 Oct 2026Developer Reporteddexnazar (itch.io devlog)
- Development time
- Not disclosed
- Development cost
- Not disclosed
- AI-written code
- Not disclosed
“I directed; Claude Code wrote the game.”Verification notes: Gameplay, controls and AI use from the developer's itch.io page (published 29 Oct 2026, 15:18 UTC; updated 16:05 UTC the same day; status Released; HTML5; genre Strategy), the AI Tools Used answer on the official AI Browser Game Jam 5 submission page and the devlog “How ARGON DOMINATES was made in a day with AI” (29 Oct 2026), all re-read on 5 Nov 2026. The jam answer says Claude Code wrote all code, but no percentage is given, so no AI code share is recorded. The engine is not named; the page describes a WebGL2 renderer written for the game. Liquid War (1995, by Thomas Colcombet and Christian Mauduit) is named by the developer as the inspiration for the mechanic; no names or assets from it are used, so no IP notice is recorded. The page also lists the game as a submission to Ultimate AI-Powered Game Jam #6 and Playtest & Feedback Exchange Jam #9. The game's JavaScript makes no calls to AI services. Submissions closed on 31 Oct 2026 and voting runs until 7 Nov 2026, 04:00 UTC, so no placement is recorded; on 5 Nov the submission page showed 1 jam rating (observed; not recorded as a metric). itch.io shows no public rating and no download count. The game was not played.
Development history
Built in a day, published on itch.io (15:18 UTC) with a making-of devlog at 15:25 UTC, and submitted to AI Browser Game Jam 5 (theme: Torch) 1 day and 10 hours before the deadline.
AI Browser Game Jam 5 submissions close; voting was still in progress on 5 Nov 2026.
Officialitch.io (Focaccai)
Game performance
Each figure measures something different — concurrent players, owners, downloads and sales are never interchangeable and are never added together. Labels show where each number comes from.
itch.io
Free in the browser (HTML5, needs WebGL2), with mouse and keyboard or touch; phones in landscape.
Not publicly available: itch.io rating, Gross revenue.
Reviews & rankings
Not yet reviewed by our editors.
Not currently ranked.
Sources
| Source | Type | Published | Accessed |
|---|---|---|---|
| ARGON DOMINATES by dexnazar itch.io | Store page | Oct 29, 2026 | Nov 3, 2026 |
| Rate ARGON DOMINATES for AI Browser Game Jam 5 itch.io (AI Browser Game Jam 5, hosted by Focaccai) | Official site | Not confirmed | Nov 3, 2026 |
| AI Browser Game Jam 5 itch.io (Focaccai) | Official site | Not confirmed | Nov 3, 2026 |
| How ARGON DOMINATES was made in a day with AI dexnazar (itch.io devlog) | Devlog | Oct 29, 2026 | Nov 3, 2026 |
| Official game page (language check) dexnazar | Official site | Not confirmed | Nov 3, 2026 |
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