Junkyard Astronauts
Scavenge a junkyard as a robot, weld scrap into a rocket and press the big red button; the highest flight wins, and the Moon is 384,400 km up.
Links go to the official store or developer page. Last verified Nov 3, 2026.
Where to play
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- View on SteamSteamReleased$5.99
Download through the Steam app. A free Steam account is required.
Desktop · Official link verified Nov 3, 2026.
About Junkyard Astronauts
Junkyard Astronauts is a physics building game for one to four players. You are a robot on the night shift in a junkyard, hauling rocket motors, fuel barrels, a leaf blower, a water heater or a fridge back to your build deck and welding them into a rocket. A readout grades the build for integrity, thrust and efficiency before launch, and the physics follows the welds, so most rockets veer, corkscrew or fall apart. Launches happen on a shared pad in the middle of the yard, an altitude board keeps score up to the Moon, and whatever comes down rains back as salvage. In a normal shift there is a clock, a crate with a rocket motor inside comes down by parachute every few minutes and you can shoot parts out of rivals' hands; Sandbox has no clock and no guns. Online play is through Steam with Mac and PC together, text chat and proximity voice, and there are four robots to play. The developer's Steam AI disclosure says the game was developed with substantial help from Claude and that its code was largely written with AI assistance, as were the procedural generator scripts that produce its 3D models, textures and yard layouts; most sound effects and all the music were generated with ElevenLabs models. In a Reddit post the developer says they used Claude with Unreal and Blender through MCP. A paid game on Steam for Windows and macOS since 27 Oct 2026, with a free demo.
Screenshots and art
Junkyard Astronauts key art · Steam store artwork
How it was built
Partially verifiedThe developer's Steam AI disclosure says the game was developed with substantial help from an AI coding assistant (Claude), directed and reviewed by the developer: the game's code was largely written with AI assistance, and the 3D models, textures and yard layouts are produced by procedural generator scripts written with AI assistance. Most sound effects were generated with ElevenLabs' sound-effects model and chosen and levelled by the developer (a few come from licensed human-recorded libraries), all of the music was generated with Eleven Music, and parts of the store text and the achievement names were drafted with AI assistance. No AI service is used during gameplay. In a Reddit post the developer adds that they used Claude with Unreal and Blender through MCP. Whether this was Claude Code or the Claude app is not stated, and no share of the code is given.
- DeveloperPost announcing the Steam page on r/aigamedev by u/muddermister, linking app 5140020: “Been using Claude with unreal and blender through mcp. Lots of typing, lots of errors, hopefully it will be a fun game for other people then me :)” — Reddit (via reddit.sentinel-team.org archive)
Per the Steam disclosure, the developer directed and reviewed Claude, which largely wrote the code and the procedural generator scripts that produce the 3D models, textures and yard layouts; sound effects and music came from ElevenLabs models, and everything was play-tested by the developer before release. The developer's Reddit post says Claude was connected to Unreal and Blender through MCP. The official site says its part stats were read from the game's source at a build of 25 Sep 2026.
- Engine / framework
- Unreal Engine
- Languages
- Not disclosed
- Team size
- Not disclosed
- Development time
- Not disclosed
- Development cost
- Not disclosed
- AI-written code
- Not disclosed
“Junkyard Astronauts was developed with substantial help from an AI coding assistant (Claude), directed and reviewed by the developer. Specifically: the game's code was largely written with AI assistance”- Junkyard Astronauts official site
- Steam page announcement on r/aigamedev (archived subreddit snapshot)
Verification notes: AI use from two developer sources that agree: the developer-written AI disclosure on the game's Steam page (re-read on 4 Nov 2026), which names Claude and says the code was “largely written with AI assistance”, and a post on r/aigamedev by u/muddermister, read in an archived copy of the subreddit dated 18 Sep 2026 (the single-post archive page failed to load), which links the Steam page and says Claude was used with Unreal and Blender through MCP. Because of the “AI assistance” wording the game is listed as AI-assisted. The Reddit account is tied to the developer by the link to app 5140020 and the name; the engine (Unreal) comes from that post only. ElevenLabs and Eleven Music were used for sound and music and are recorded in the text. The studio site (Steam's listed website for the game) links the Steam page and the demo and says its apps are made by one person; it does not state the game's team size. Release date, price, platforms, demo and languages from the Steam store API; Next Fest dates from the official site. The store page showed no user reviews on 4 Nov 2026, so no review figures are recorded. The Brazilian and German age ratings on Steam list violence (14 and 12).
Development history
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.
Steam
US$5.99; on 4 Nov 2026 the Steam store API showed a 17% discount to US$4.97 (US region). Windows and macOS. A free demo (90 minutes of play, without the Moon or Sandbox) is a separate Steam app.
Not publicly available: Concurrent players, Steam reviews, Positive Steam reviews, Estimated owners, Gross revenue.
Sales & revenue (all platforms)
Reviews & rankings
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Sources
| Source | Type | Published | Accessed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Junkyard Astronauts on Steam Steam | Store page | Not confirmed | Nov 3, 2026 |
| Junkyard Astronauts — build a rocket out of scrap and light it muddermis | Official site | Not confirmed | Nov 3, 2026 |
| muddermis — Small, single-purpose iPhone apps muddermis | Official site | Not confirmed | Nov 3, 2026 |
| Junkyard Astronauts steam page finally live (r/aigamedev, u/muddermister; archived subreddit snapshot) Reddit (via reddit.sentinel-team.org archive) | Social post | Not confirmed | Nov 3, 2026 |
