Barely Rocket Science
Free · play online in your browser, no download
Crack meteorites, cast and temper rocket parts and launch an optimistic inventor's probes toward Kepler-22b, one finger at a time.
Official site ans106.itch.io, verified Nov 3, 2026. The developer's own itch.io page (ans106, display name Santo), linked from its official Jamference: AI Game Jam Hack 2 submission page.
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- 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 Barely Rocket Science
A short crafting game for phones and the browser. Wally Kepler bought a plot of land on Kepler-22b from a very suspicious advertisement and then checked how far away it was; you help him turn his old workshop into a questionable space programme. The game is a chain of four stations. Mine: tap or hold a meteorite for metals, hitting glowing cracks for critical hits, and break through to the core for a burst of resources and a guaranteed rare metal. Cast: choose a nose, tank or engine mould, add three metals and pour when the needle reaches the blue band, experimenting to reveal alloys and hidden formulas. Temper: hold the torch over a part and release in the blue band to improve its key property, with one attempt per part and too much heat cracking it. Launch: assemble the three parts, hold and release, and watch the rocket face Ignition, Max-Q, Escape and Cruise. Every launch uses up the rocket, every failed flight earns Research for better mining tools, alloy formulas and rocket upgrades (including parachutes that recover surviving parts), and the route runs from orbit to the Moon, Mars and Kepler-22b. Every action is one finger (tap, or hold and release) on a phone in landscape or with a mouse. The developer, Santo, says Claude Code wrote most of the Unity code and the alloy texts and Wally's lines, Codex with image generation made the pixel art and helped with parts of the Unity work, and ElevenLabs made the music, sound effects and Wally's voice during development. Made for Jamference: AI Game Jam Hack 2 (theme Crafting, restriction Playable on Mobile), where it ranked 5th of 37 and 2nd for Use of AI. Free in the browser on itch.io.
How it was built
Partially verifiedThe developer's jam answer: “Claude Code helped shape the design, built quick playable prototypes to test the loop, and wrote most of the Unity code, plus the alloy texts and Wally's lines.” The developer's own part was choosing the idea, cutting scope, picking the art style and the audio takes, throwing out what did not work and testing on real phones throughout. No model is named.
- Developeritch.io credits: “Development tools: Claude Code, Codex. Engine: Unity 6.” The AI disclosure ticks AI Assisted, Code, Graphics, Sounds and Text. — itch.io
Per the same answer, “Codex with image generation made the pixel art, interface mockups and cover, and helped with parts of the Unity work.”
Made solo in Unity 6 for Jamference: AI Game Jam Hack 2, with the developer directing AI tools throughout: Claude Code built prototypes and wrote most of the code and the in-game texts, Codex made the pixel art, interface mockups and cover and helped with parts of the code, and ElevenLabs made the music, sound effects and Wally's voice, which were generated during development and ship as files. The developer says the process was recorded task by task. No AI runs in the game and no AI account or API key is needed. Font: Liberation Sans (SIL Open Font License).
- Engine / framework
- Unity
- Languages
- C#
- Team size
- 1 (solo)Developer Reporteditch.io (Jamference: AI Game Jam Hack 2, hosted by dg)
- Development time
- Not disclosed
- Development cost
- Not disclosed
- AI-written code
- Not disclosed
“Made solo, directing AI tools at every stage. No AI runs inside the game.”Verification notes: AI use from the developer's answer on the official Jamference: AI Game Jam Hack 2 submission page; story, stations, controls, credits (Claude Code, Codex, Unity 6) and AI disclosure from the itch.io page; both re-read on 6 Nov 2026. Claude Code wrote “most of the Unity code” and Codex “helped with parts”, so no AI code share is recorded. The jam's own rule (“AI must be part of the build”) is not code-specific. Developer: Santo (itch.io account ans106) is a handle; the answer is written in the first person (“Made solo”, “My part”), and the team list names only Santo, so team size is recorded as one. The same account made RoombaCat for Jamference 1, which is not recorded here. C# is assumed from Unity and not stated by the developer. Publication (20 Oct 2026, 23:48 UTC) and last update (23 Oct 2026, 07:38 UTC) from the itch.io page; the submission page said it was submitted 2 days and 7 hours before the 23 Oct, 07:00 UTC deadline. The page also lists submissions to AI Browser Game Jam 5, where voting was still in progress on 6 Nov 2026, and Playtest & Feedback Exchange Jam #9; no placement is recorded for either. Jam results (10 ratings): 5th overall of 37 (3.900), 2nd in Use of AI, 5th in Polish, 7th in Fun. The Unity web build (loader, framework and data files) was checked and contains only Unity engine boilerplate and no calls to AI services. itch.io shows no public rating and no download count. The game was not played.
Development history
Published on itch.io (23:48 UTC) and submitted to Jamference: AI Game Jam Hack 2 (theme Crafting, restriction Playable on Mobile).
Voting closes: 5th overall of 37 entries and 2nd in Use of AI (10 ratings).
Officialitch.io
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); phones and tablets in landscape, or a mouse. No keyboard required.
Not publicly available: itch.io rating, Gross revenue.
Reviews & rankings
Not yet reviewed by our editors.
Not currently ranked.
Sources
| Source | Type | Published | Accessed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Barely Rocket Science by Santo itch.io | Store page | Oct 20, 2026 | Nov 3, 2026 |
| Barely Rocket Science by Santo for Jamference: AI Game Jam Hack 2 itch.io (Jamference: AI Game Jam Hack 2, hosted by dg) | Official site | Not confirmed | Nov 3, 2026 |
| Jamference: AI Game Jam Hack 2 itch.io (dg) | Official site | Not confirmed | Nov 3, 2026 |
| Top ranked games in the Jamference: AI Game Jam Hack 2 itch.io | Official site | Oct 29, 2026 | Nov 3, 2026 |
| Official game page (language check) Santo | Official site | Not confirmed | Nov 3, 2026 |
