Battle Drones key art · Screenshot of the official page, captured by VibeGameDB on 2026-11-03

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Battle Drones

Name: Battle Drones
Availability: InStock
Author: Simon Willison

A Command & Conquer-style browser RTS, written mostly by Claude Code agents.

Genre: Strategy
Developer: Simon Willison · Solo
Release date: Oct 20, 2026
Price: FreePlayable now
Languages: EnglishEnglish
Observedas of Nov 3, 2026Simon Willison
English interface on the official page; no other language option found.
Gameplay: Multiplayer
Development method: Vibe-Coded · Solo Developer · Open Source · Build in Public
AI coding tools: Claude Code

Play free — official site View on GitHub All ways to play ↓

Official site simonw.github.io, verified Nov 3, 2026. Linked from the developer's own write-up on simonwillison.net.

Where to play

Every platform this game is on. Links are checked against official sources; we never host or mirror games.

BrowserReleasedFree
Runs in a desktop or mobile browser. No download.
Browser (no download) · Mobile · Official link verified Nov 3, 2026.
Play free — official site
GitHubReleased · Source codeFree
Source code repository, not a place to play.
GitHub
View on GitHub

About Battle Drones

A real-time strategy game in the style of Command & Conquer that runs in the browser on desktop and mobile and also installs as an offline web app. Modes include red-versus-blue skirmish, a Last Stand wave mode, online duels through a shared room link, a two-device mode that talks over audio between phones in microphone range, and spectator matches where AI opponents or language-model agents play each other. Simon Willison describes it as heavily vibe coded: across 321 commits the code was written mainly by Claude Code, and he says he has reviewed almost none of it. Sprites and background tiles were generated with OpenAI image models.

rtspwaaudio-multiplayeropen-source

How it was built

Verified

Claude CodePrimary

Written mainly by Claude Code (including Claude Code for web and its multi-agent workflows): Claude Fable 5 for the first version, then Opus 5.5 for most later versions. The developer says he has reviewed almost none of the code.

Developer ReportedBattle Drones—a vibe coded RTS with audio-based multiplayer

Development approach

Agent-driven: the developer steered with prompts such as "Make it a LOT more fun" and let coding agents implement and iterate over 321 commits; sprites and tiles came from OpenAI image models.

Engine / framework: Three.js (early versions used the Phaser 2D framework)
Languages: TypeScript
Team size: 1 (solo)Developer Reportedsimonwillison.net
Development time: Not disclosed
Development cost: Not disclosed
AI-written code: Not disclosed

Verification notes: Tools, models, commit count and play link checked in the developer's own write-up; source code is public.

Reported popularity

Popularity labels are only shown with a source. Press reports describe attention; they are not player counts.

Trending
Jason Kottke linked Simon Willison's write-up of Battle Drones on kottke.org, quoting that the RTS is heavily vibe coded.
Observedkottke.orgPublished Oct 26, 2026

Trending: Rising attention: a documented press report, or a high trend score from observed signals (sample values in this prototype).

Development history

July 2026
First version started with Claude Fable 5.
Developersimonwillison.net
Oct 20, 2026
Write-up published; the game has reached 321 commits.
Developersimonwillison.net

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.

Browser (official site)

ReleasedFree Official site

No public metrics recorded for this listing.

Not publicly available: Concurrent players (site), Monthly revenue, Gross revenue.

GitHub

Released (Source code)Free Store page

No public metrics recorded for this listing.

Not publicly available: GitHub stars.

Sales & revenue (all platforms)

Downloads

Not disclosed

Browser game — there are no downloads to count.

Reviews & rankings

Editorial review

Not yet reviewed by our editors.

Community rating

No community votes yet · ranking needs 25+ votes

Your quality rating

Your originality rating

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Ranking positions

Viral#8

Player reviews

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Sources

Source	Type	Published	Accessed
Battle Drones—a vibe coded RTS with audio-based multiplayer simonwillison.net	Devlog	Oct 20, 2026	Nov 3, 2026
simonw/battledrones GitHub	Repository	Not confirmed	Nov 3, 2026
Simon Willison: “Battle Drones is heavily vibe coded — I’ve ... kottke.org	Press	Oct 26, 2026	Nov 3, 2026
Official game page (language check) Simon Willison	Official site	Not confirmed	Nov 3, 2026