BoneCrawler
Free · play online in your browser, no download
An NES-style dark-fantasy arcade action game: cut through zones of skeletons, pick upgrades from chests and hunt for secrets.
Official site bonecrawler.com, verified Nov 3, 2026. Hosted on the game's own domain, bonecrawler.com, whose home page (© James Deitz) links the entrant's X account immagundam, the itch.io page and the portfolio jamesdeitz.dev; also the entry URL in the official Vibe Jam 2026 games data.
Rights holder / original work: The Legend of Zelda (Nintendo)
The game's secret item is called the Master Sword and one of the cheat codes listed on its controls panel is the player name “Link”; both names come from Nintendo's The Legend of Zelda series, which the developer names as an influence. No source mentions a licence from Nintendo. (itch.io)
VibeGameDB lists this game only to document that it was made with AI coding tools. We do not host it, we do not represent the rights holder, and listing it does not mean it is licensed.
Where to play
Every platform this game is on. Links are checked against official sources; we never host or mirror games.
- Play free — official siteBrowserReleased · Vibe Jam buildFree
Runs in a desktop or mobile browser. No download.
Browser (no download) · Mobile · Official link verified Nov 3, 2026.
- Play free — itch.ioitch.ioEarly access · In developmentFree
Plays in the browser on itch.io. No download.
Browser (no download) · Desktop · itch.io
About BoneCrawler
A top-down, 8-bit NES-style dark-fantasy action game. You wake in a tomb after three hundred years, are called a Bonecrawler and are sent to clear zones of skeleton waves; each chest offers three random choices (an upgrade, a full heart or points), and upgrades to your blade, speed, dodge and magic shield stack as you go. The itch.io page lists six battle zones, two secret zones with two secret NPCs, three bosses, a secret skill and a secret item, and cheat codes entered as the player name. The developer, James Deitz (ImmaGundam), names The Legend of Zelda, Devil May Cry, Ninja Gaiden and The Lord of the Rings as influences and calls the game a prologue to a larger story, to be followed by a comic book and a Unity project. In the jam write-up the developer says AI produced the code (Claude, ChatGPT and Codex for code generation, Gemini for planning and problem-solving; the submission gives ChatGPT a 70% share) while the developer guided the structure and tested; it was entered in the Cursor Vibe Jam 2026, whose rules required at least 90% of each game's code to be written by AI, and finished 568th of 945 entries. Free in the browser on its own site and on itch.io, where a Windows build is name-your-own-price; itch.io marks it as in development.
How it was built
Partially verifiedIn the official Vibe Jam 2026 submission the entrant gives the tools as “Claude 20% / ChatGPT 70% / Gemini 10% (Desktop APIs, occasional Codex)” and answers Yes to the AI-written field. The developer's jam write-up says Claude, ChatGPT and Codex were used for code generation and refinement and Gemini for planning and problem-solving, that AI handled the code generation while the developer kept the agentic workflow aligned with the project's scope, and that different agents handled the engine systems, the UI and web components, and the tooling. The percentages are the entrant's own and are not said to measure code alone.
- DeveloperJam write-up: “AI produced the code, while I guided structure, tested, and ensured each component functioned as intended.” — Vibe Jam
- OfficialJam rule 3: at least 90% of the code has to be written by AI. — Vibe Jam (Pieter Levels)
- Developeritch.io AI disclosure: AI Assisted, Code. — itch.io
Named in the jam write-up with ChatGPT and Codex for code generation and refinement; the submission puts Claude's share at 20%.
Named in the jam write-up as one of the code-generation tools; the submission says it was used occasionally.
Used for planning and problem-solving, per the jam write-up; the submission puts its share at 10%.
Built as an engine rather than “just a game”, in the developer's words: a custom vanilla JavaScript engine with HTML and CSS for the interface and a custom game editor, with different AI agents working in parallel on the engine systems, the UI and web components, and the tooling, in an Agile-style loop of specifying systems, reviewing output and refining. The developer says version 1 was released on 1 April, a working editor and a rough build followed a few days later, and updates were pushed publicly to GitHub during the polish phase; the engine is to be open-sourced once the game has been live for a while. A Windows build wraps the game with the Java SDK and JCEF.
- Engine / framework
- None (custom vanilla JavaScript engine)
- Languages
- JavaScript, HTML, CSS
- Team size
- Not disclosed
- Development time
- Not disclosed
- Development cost
- Not disclosed
- AI-written code
- Not disclosed
“AI produced the code, while I guided structure, tested, and ensured each component functioned as intended.”Verification notes: Tools, shares and the write-up from the entrant's answers in the official Vibe Jam 2026 games data (made with “Claude 20% / ChatGPT 70% / Gemini 10% (Desktop APIs, occasional Codex)”; engine “Vanilla JavaScript engine (Custom Built) & HTML/CSS (UI) + Game Editor (Custom Built)”; genre Action; multiplayer No, mobile Yes; submitted 1 May 2026, 11:14 UTC, on the deadline day; final rank 568 of 945 entries, no award); rule 3 on the jam page requires at least 90% AI-written code. The itch.io page (re-read 5 Nov 2026) lists status In development, HTML5 and Windows, English, an asset licence of CC0, an AI disclosure of “AI Assisted, Code”, a name-your-own-price Windows download (BoneCrawler v2.9.6) and devlogs from 17 Apr 2026 (v2.5.6) to 7 Jun 2026 (v2.9.5 Java version); it shows no rating and no publication date. Developer: bonecrawler.com and the portfolio jamesdeitz.dev name James Deitz (ImmaGundam); the X account immagundam, the handle in the jam data, gives Florida as its location. The write-up describes the developer in the first person (36, IT specialist) and does not say whether anyone else worked on the game, so team size is not recorded. Zones, chests, upgrades, items and cheat codes come from the game's controls and how-to-play panels and the itch.io page; the cheat codes are listed openly in the controls panel. The GitHub repository linked from the itch.io page (ImmaGundam/BoneCrawler) could not be opened from here, so it is not listed and the game is not marked open source. The bonecrawler.com home page shows “Coming Soon” with a “Buy on itch.io” button. The jam build's scripts make no network calls apart from the jam widget; no calls to AI services were found (checked 5 Nov 2026). The jam page's widget counter showed 80 plays for bonecrawler.com on 5 Nov 2026 (observed; sessions, not players or downloads, so not recorded as a metric). The release date is not stated; the developer says version 1 was released on 1 April and the jam submission is dated 1 May 2026.
Development history
Version 1 released, per the developer's jam write-up; a working engine editor and a rough build followed a few days later.
DeveloperVibe JamDesktop build announced on itch.io (devlog “v2.5.9 Desktop available!”).
Observeditch.ioEntered in the Cursor Vibe Jam 2026 on the deadline day (submission date in the official games data, UTC); the jam required at least 90% AI-written code. Final rank 568 of 945 entries, no award.
Java version posted on itch.io (devlog v2.9.5).
Observeditch.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.
Browser (official site)
No public metrics recorded for this listing.
Not publicly available: Concurrent players (site), Monthly revenue, Gross revenue.
itch.io
Free to play in the browser; the Windows build (made with the Java SDK and JCEF) is name-your-own-price.
Not publicly available: itch.io rating, Gross revenue.
Reviews & rankings
Not yet reviewed by our editors.
Not currently ranked.
Sources
| Source | Type | Published | Accessed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cursor Vibe Jam 2026 — rules, prizes and game stats Vibe Jam (Pieter Levels) | Official site | Not confirmed | Nov 3, 2026 |
| Vibe Jam 2026 games data (entrant submissions, final rank, awards) Vibe Jam | Official site | Not confirmed | Nov 3, 2026 |
| BoneCrawler by ImmaGundam itch.io | Store page | Not confirmed | Nov 3, 2026 |
| BoneCrawler - NES-Style Dark Fantasy Arcade Action Game (Vibe Jam build and scripts) James Deitz | Official site | Not confirmed | Nov 3, 2026 |
| BoneCrawler - A story of Magic & Dragons James Deitz | Official site | Not confirmed | Nov 3, 2026 |
| James Deitz — ImmaGundam // Developer Portfolio James Deitz | Official site | Not confirmed | Nov 3, 2026 |
| ImmaGundam (@immagundam) — X profile X | Social post | Not confirmed | Nov 3, 2026 |
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