Nova Lancer
A short vertical-scrolling shmup whose code, art and music were made by Claude and Codex.
Links go to the official store or developer page. Last verified Nov 3, 2026.
Where to play
Every platform this game is on. Links are checked against official sources; we never host or mirror games.
- Play free — itch.ioitch.ioReleasedFree
Plays in the browser on itch.io. No download.
Browser (no download) · itch.io
About Nova Lancer
A free vertical-scrolling arcade shoot 'em up that runs in the browser on itch.io, with three stages, three bosses, two switchable weapons, chain and graze scoring, and touch controls for phones. The developer, hiyaman, says on the itch.io page that AI wrote the code, the pixel art, the music and sound effects and part of the dialogue, while they decided the concept, character, lines and overall design. A devlog says Anthropic's Claude was the lead developer and OpenAI's Codex built the sound engine, drew the portrait and reviewed Claude's code.
How it was built
Partially verifiedLead developer per the developer's devlog: built the stages, bosses, weapons and scoring, tested changes in a browser and packaged the game for itch.io. The product (e.g. Claude Code) and model version are not named.
- Developeritch.io AI disclosure: AI Assisted — Code, Graphics, Sounds, Text; names Claude and Codex. — itch.io
Per the devlog: synthesized the music and sound effects in code, drew the pixel-art portrait and reviewed Claude's code. The product and model version are not named.
The developer, who says they cannot code, directed two AIs: Claude as lead developer and Codex for audio, a portrait and code review. The developer decided the concept, character, lines and overall design.
“I can't code. So I made a shmup with two AIs: Claude and Codex”Verification notes: AI use from the itch.io AI disclosure and the developer's devlog. itch.io shows only relative dates (published 5 days before 2026-11-03), so the release date is approximate. Languages from the devlog; the in-game switch was not checked. AI also made the art and audio.
Development history
- Late October 2026
Released free on itch.io (HTML5), about seven days after work began, per the developer's devlog.
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.
itch.io
Free to play in the browser; optional donation.
No public metrics recorded for this listing.
Not publicly available: itch.io rating, Gross revenue.
Sales & revenue (all platforms)
Browser game — there are no downloads to count.
Reviews & rankings
Not yet reviewed by our editors.
Prototype: your vote is kept only in this browser and is not counted anywhere.
Not currently ranked.
No player reviews yet.
Prototype: reviews are stored in your browser only and are not published or sent to a server. Reviews are shown in the language they were written in.
Sources
| Source | Type | Published | Accessed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nova Lancer on itch.io itch.io | Store page | Not confirmed | Nov 3, 2026 |
| I can't code. So I made a shmup with two AIs: Claude and Codex hiyaman | Devlog | Not confirmed | Nov 3, 2026 |
