HALDANE-4
A short ASCII horror story about a lone descent beneath the Antarctic ice.
Official site haldane4.denisbondare.com, verified Nov 3, 2026. Linked as the website on the developer's X profile (@denisbondare; denisbondare.com redirects there); also the entry URL in the official Vibe Jam 2026 games data and linked in the organizer's winners post. The game page links back to the same X profile.
Where to play
Every platform this game is on. Links are checked against official sources; we never host or mirror games.
- Play free — official siteBrowserReleasedFree
Runs in a desktop or mobile browser. No download.
Browser (no download) · Mobile · Official link verified Nov 3, 2026.
About HALDANE-4
A short horror game drawn entirely in ASCII characters. You steer a small submersible down beneath the Ross Ice Shelf in Antarctica, reading depth, pressure and temperature off an operator terminal as things get stranger. Developer Denis Bondarev made it for the Cursor Vibe Jam 2026, where at least 90% of each game's code had to be written by AI, and set himself extra limits: vibe coding only, ASCII graphics, under 5 MB, procedural audio apart from an AI voice-over, and no other assets. His official submission names Cursor as the tool. It won Cursor's “Most Original” special award. It is free in the browser; the page recommends headphones and a desktop, and also offers touch controls.
How it was built
VerifiedIn the official Vibe Jam 2026 submission the entrant lists Cursor as the tool and answers Yes to the AI-written field. He describes the project's own rules as “vibe coding only”, with ASCII graphics, a size under 5 MB, procedural audio except for an AI voice-over, and no other assets. Which model he used inside Cursor is not stated.
- OfficialJam rule 3: at least 90% of the code has to be written by AI. — Vibe Jam (Pieter Levels)
Built for the Cursor Vibe Jam 2026 under self-imposed limits: AI-written code only, ASCII rendering, under 5 MB, sound generated procedurally in code (except an AI voice-over) and no other asset files.
- Engine / framework
- Custom TypeScript engine
- Languages
- TypeScript
- Team size
- Not disclosed
- Development time
- Not disclosed
- Development cost
- Not disclosed
- AI-written code
- Not disclosed
“Vibe coding only, ASCII graphics, <5MB in size, procedural audio (except AI voice-over), no other assets, while still creating something atmospheric that tells a story”Verification notes: Tool (Cursor), engine, genre and the “vibe coding only” statement come from the entrant's own answers in the official Vibe Jam 2026 games data; rule 3 on the jam page requires at least 90% AI-written code. Award and final rank (5) from the official games data and the organizer's winners post of 17 Jun 2026. Developer name from his X profile, which links this game's address. No devlog by the developer describing the Cursor workflow was found, and team size is not stated. The jam page's widget counter showed 4,147 plays for this game on 3 Nov 2026 (observed; plays are sessions, not players or downloads, so not recorded as a metric). The release date is not stated; the jam submission is dated 19 Apr 2026.
Development history
Entered in the Cursor Vibe Jam 2026 (submission date in the official games data). The jam ran through April 2026 with a 1 May deadline and required at least 90% AI-written code.
Wins Cursor's “Most Original” special award, one of 12 special prizes the jam page lists at $1,000 each; final rank 5 in the official games data.
Game performance
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Browser (official site)
No public metrics recorded for this listing.
Not publicly available: Concurrent players (site), Monthly revenue, Gross revenue.
Sales & revenue (all platforms)
Browser game — there are no downloads to count.
Reviews & rankings
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Not currently ranked.
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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 |
| Vibe Jam 2026 winners and how the games are getting close to real production quality levels.io (Pieter Levels, organizer) | Official site | Jun 17, 2026 | Nov 3, 2026 |
| HALDANE-4 (game page) Denis Bondarev | Official site | Not confirmed | Nov 3, 2026 |
| Denis Bondarev (@denisbondare) — X profile X | Social post | Not confirmed | Nov 3, 2026 |
| Official game page (language check) Denis Bondarev | Official site | Not confirmed | Nov 3, 2026 |
