The Cradle: Episode 01
Free · play online in your browser, no download
A first-person survival horror under an abandoned Soviet sanatorium, where a shortwave station modelled on the real Buzzer has gone silent. The solo developer says most of the code, engine included, was written by Claude Code.
Official site 0xkot.itch.io, verified Nov 3, 2026. Linked as the game in the developer's own Reddit post on r/ClaudeCode; the developer's own itch.io page (0xKOT).
Age rating: 12+ (App Store)
itch.io content warning: horror themes, jump scares, disturbing imagery involving children, flashing lights. The App Store rates the app 12+ (frequent or intense horror and fear themes; infrequent or mild mature or suggestive themes; infrequent or mild cartoon or fantasy violence, per Apple's lookup data). (itch.io)
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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) · Mobile · Desktop · Official link verified Nov 3, 2026.
- View on the App StoreApp StoreReleased$1.99
Install from Apple's App Store on an iPhone or iPad.
Mobile · Official link verified Nov 3, 2026.
About The Cradle: Episode 01
The Cradle: Episode 01 is a short first-person survival horror game. For twenty years a shortwave station under an abandoned children's sanatorium has broadcast one flat, endless hum on 4625 kHz, the signal radio amateurs call The Buzzer; three days ago it stopped. In September 1996, in the marshes north of Moscow, you play Andrei Vetrov, a radio engineer sent down alone at night to put the station back on air, with only Major Gromov's voice on the walkie-talkie. Children in gas masks move only when you look away, something hunts by sound, so you walk, watch the cameras, hide in wardrobes and lockers and hold your breath, and you piece the story together from duty logs, medical cards and tapes, with puzzles built into the station (fuses, codes, frequencies) and three endings. It takes 45 to 60 minutes, with checkpoints and a chapter menu, and is fully voiced and subtitled in English and Russian. The developer describes it as inspired by Poppy Playtime, Amnesia and the real Buzzer. The solo developer, 0xKOT (Encrypted Cat), built it on a custom narrative-horror engine, NHR, running on three.js, and says most of the code for the engine, its tools and the games was written by Claude Code. On itch.io it plays free in the browser (phones and tablets included, with touch controls) and as Windows and Linux builds at name-your-own-price; since 1 Nov 2026 it is also a $1.99 app for iPhone and iPad.
How it was built
Partially verifiedIn a post on r/ClaudeCode (12 Oct 2026, UTC) the developer writes: “I'm a solo dev, and most of the code was written by Claude Code.” This covers the whole project: the NHR engine, its tools (a YAML map compiler, a 2D room planner, a 3D editor and remotely driven Blender Cycles light baking) and the two games. The developer describes the method: Claude proposes a plan that the developer approves or changes before anything is written; two or three agents often work in parallel in git worktrees, each opening a pull request that the developer reviews by screenshot; levels, stories and placements are kept as YAML, JSON and Python so every AI change is a readable diff; a LESSONS.md file lists every bug class shipped and the rule that now prevents it; and agents prove fixes with headless playthroughs, pixel diffs and before-and-after screenshots. The model is not named.
- Developeritch.io AI disclosure: AI Assisted, Code, Sounds, Text. — itch.io
Built on NHR (Narrative Horror Runtime), the developer's own engine for narrative horror on three.js, which runs in the browser and ships as Windows and Steam Deck apps; levels are written as YAML and compiled into 3D maps, rooms are drawn in a 2D planner and dressed in a 3D editor, and lighting is baked with Blender Cycles on a separate GPU machine. Per the post, work started on 15 Sep 2026; Episode 01 went from first file to playable on itch.io in under two weeks, and the project had 866 commits, 227 merged pull requests and more than 7,000 automated tests, including a QA pass of every level. The score and most sound effects are synthesised in code; the voices are AI-generated with ElevenLabs, and the gas-mask model, textures and some sounds are CC0 assets from Poly Haven, ambientCG and Kenney, per the itch.io credits.
- Engine / framework
- Three.js (NHR, the developer's own engine)
- Languages
- JavaScript
- Team size
- 1 (solo)Developer ReportedReddit (u/EconomyPrudent6511)
- Initial build time
- Under two weeks from the first file to playable on itch.io (engine work began 15 Sep 2026)Developer ReportedReddit (u/EconomyPrudent6511)
- Development time
- Not disclosed
- Development cost
- Not disclosed
- AI-written code
- Not disclosed
“I'm a solo dev, and most of the code was written by Claude Code.”- I built a custom horror game engine with Claude Code in 4 weeks (r/ClaudeCode)
- A level from a blank page to playable in 60 seconds (YouTube)
Verification notes: AI use, the workflow and the project figures come from the developer's post on r/ClaudeCode by u/EconomyPrudent6511 (12 Oct 2026, 02:02 UTC), read from the Arctic Shift Reddit archive on 5 Nov 2026; it links both itch.io games. “Most of the code” is the developer's wording for the whole project (engine, tools and both games); no AI code share is recorded. Story, features, controls, credits, the content warning, platforms, the English and Russian language field, the AI disclosure and the itch.io rating of 5.0 (3 ratings) come from the itch.io page, re-read on 5 Nov 2026 (release date 26 Sep 2026, 20:29 UTC; updated 2 Nov 2026, 07:16 UTC). The App Store release, price and features come from the developer's devlog of 1 Nov 2026; Apple's lookup data (5 Nov 2026) confirms the seller name Maksym Naboka, $1.99, release on 1 Nov 2026, version 1.0.0 of 2 Nov 2026, the 12+ age rating and, at that time, 5 out of 5 from 6 ratings (observed; there is no App Store rating metric, so it is not recorded as one). Apple's data lists only English as a language, while the devlog says the app is voiced and subtitled in English and Russian. The post's “200+ players” and “7 streamers” are the developer's own figures, not metrics. The post mentions Steam Deck builds; no Steam page was found. The post also mentions a local LLM the developer runs on the same GPU machine; nothing indicates the game uses it, and the browser build's scripts make no calls to AI services. The voices were made with ElevenLabs before release. “Inspired by Poppy Playtime, Amnesia” is the developer's description; the game uses none of their names or characters that we found. The game was not played.
Development history
Work on the NHR engine begins, per the developer.
DeveloperReddit (u/EconomyPrudent6511)Released on itch.io (20:29 UTC), playable in the browser.
Observeditch.ioA Halloween side story on the same engine, The Cradle: Trick-or-Treat, is published on its own itch.io page; the developer says it took three days from first file to live.
The developer describes building the engine and games with Claude Code on r/ClaudeCode, citing 200+ players and 7 streamers.
DeveloperReddit (u/EconomyPrudent6511)Released on the App Store for iPhone and iPad at $1.99.
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 in the browser (HTML5, including phones and tablets with touch controls); Windows and Linux builds are name-your-own-price. Headphones recommended.
Not publicly available: Gross revenue.
App Store (iOS)
$1.99 in the US for iPhone and iPad (iOS/iPadOS 18 or later), with no ads, in-app purchases or account, per the developer's devlog.
Not publicly available: Downloads, Gross revenue.
Reviews & rankings
Not yet reviewed by our editors.
Sources
| Source | Type | Published | Accessed |
|---|---|---|---|
| I built a custom horror game engine with Claude Code in 4 weeks. 200+ people have played the games and 7 streamers have streamed them (r/ClaudeCode) Reddit (u/EconomyPrudent6511) | Social post | Oct 12, 2026 | Nov 3, 2026 |
| The Cradle: Episode 01 by 0xKOT itch.io | Store page | Sep 26, 2026 | Nov 3, 2026 |
| The Cradle: Episode 01 is out on the App Store for iPhone and iPad itch.io (0xKOT devlog) | Devlog | Nov 1, 2026 | Nov 3, 2026 |
| The Cradle: Episode 01 (App Store) Apple App Store (seller: Maksym Naboka) | Store page | Nov 1, 2026 | Nov 3, 2026 |
| The Cradle: Trick-or-Treat by 0xKOT itch.io | Store page | Oct 6, 2026 | Nov 3, 2026 |
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