NEEDLE RUN
Fly through gates, don't get caught, collect score multipliers and climb the leaderboard in a neon arena.
Official site needle-run.afterimage-dev.com, verified Nov 3, 2026. The entry URL in the official Vibe Jam 2026 games data, submitted under the X handle AfterimageDev, and hosted on a subdomain of the developer's company site afterimage-dev.com (whose analytics script it loads). The company site's app list does not include the game.
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 · Optimised for desktop; phones get a “better on desktop” notice but can play anyway with a virtual stickFree
Runs in a desktop browser. No download.
Browser (no download) · Official link verified Nov 3, 2026.
About NEEDLE RUN
A neon arcade score-chaser in the browser. You steer a small ship around a glowing grid arena while enemies pour in from the corners; flying through the gates that open across the arena scores points, you must not get caught, and collected multipliers push your score higher. A bomb clears space when you are cornered, and the grid pulses to the beat of the music. Top scores can be posted to a leaderboard under an X handle and website. It is played with the mouse, WASD or a gamepad. The entrant names the Pacifism mode of the Geometry Wars series as the inspiration. It was made for the Cursor Vibe Jam 2026, whose rules required at least 90% of each game's code to be written by AI; the official submission lists “Claude Code CLI” as the tool. It finished 98th of 945 entries. The developer is Afterimage Software, a UK software company. Free; the game says it is optimised for desktop, and mobile support is marked as coming soon.
How it was built
Partially verifiedIn the official Vibe Jam 2026 submission the entrant lists “Claude Code CLI” as the tool and answers Yes to the AI-written field. Neither the game page nor the company site mentions AI in connection with the game, and no devlog describes how Claude Code was used or which model ran it. The submission covers the jam version only.
- 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 on Three.js, with “Claude Code CLI” named as the tool. The game ships as plain JavaScript modules (separate files for the game loop, interface, state and leaderboard API) with Three.js post-processing for bloom and a pixelation shader; scores go to the developer's own leaderboard API.
- Engine / framework
- Three.js
- Languages
- Not disclosed
- Team size
- Not disclosed
- Development time
- Not disclosed
- Development cost
- Not disclosed
- AI-written code
- Not disclosed
“Fly through gates, don't get caught, collect score multipliers, and climb the leaderboard!”Verification notes: Tool (“Claude Code CLI”), engine, genre, pitch, inspiration and the multiplayer (No), mobile (No) and portal flags from the entrant's answers in the official Vibe Jam 2026 games data (submitted 10 Apr 2026, 18:30 UTC; final rank 98 of 945 entries, no award); rule 3 on the jam page requires at least 90% AI-written code. Geometry Wars is named by the entrant as inspiration only; no names or assets from it were found. Developer: the game runs on needle-run.afterimage-dev.com and loads analytics.afterimage-dev.com; afterimage-dev.com is the site of Afterimage Software Ltd (registered in England and Wales, company number 17013924), listing apps such as AWNA and MetricShots but not this game. The jam data gives the X handle AfterimageDev (display name “Nick | Afterimage”, location Scotland; bio “Building in public while managing a 9-5 and a family!”, linking GetScootch.com, AWNA.app and MetricShots.com). The person's surname and the team size are not given. Gameplay, controls, the bomb, the beat-synced grid and the leaderboard come from the game page and its scripts. The game's code talks only to its own leaderboard API, its analytics and the jam widget and portal; no calls to AI services were found. The jam page's widget counters showed 237 plays and 788 portal transfers for needle-run.afterimage-dev.com on 4 Nov 2026 (observed; sessions, not players or downloads, so not recorded as metrics). The release date is not stated; the jam submission is dated 10 Apr 2026.
Development history
Entered in the Cursor Vibe Jam 2026 (submission date in the official games data); the jam required at least 90% AI-written code. Final rank 98 of 945 entries, no award.
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.
Sales & revenue (all platforms)
Browser game — there are no downloads to count.
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 |
| NEEDLE RUN (game page and scripts) Afterimage Software Ltd | Official site | Not confirmed | Nov 3, 2026 |
| Afterimage Software — Software that leaves an impression Afterimage Software Ltd | Official site | Not confirmed | Nov 3, 2026 |
| Nick | Afterimage (@AfterimageDev) — X profile X | Social post | Not confirmed | Nov 3, 2026 |
| Official game page (language check) Afterimage Software Ltd | Official site | Not confirmed | Nov 3, 2026 |
