Torchborn
Carry the last flame into the dark by day, guard the brazier by night, and when the bearer dies the heir picks up the torch.
Official site dizurix.itch.io, verified Nov 3, 2026. The developer's own itch.io page (DiZurix), linked from its official AI Browser Game Jam 5 submission page.
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.ioEarly access · Listed as “In development” on itch.io; the browser build is playableFree
Plays in the browser on itch.io. No download.
Browser (no download) · Official link verified Nov 3, 2026.
About Torchborn
A short top-down roguelite about a family keeping the last fire alive in an endless night. By day a bearer explores a new procedural map with a torch that shrinks as it burns, hunting for wood, oil and embers; heavy loads slow you down, and past the edge of your light the shadows wait. By night the same bearer guards the camp's brazier against waves of shadows: strike with the torch, chain three blows into a heavy finisher, parry a leaping shadow to win back a little flame, or throw an ember to blast the dark. The flame is your life, light, weapon and money. When a bearer dies, you choose an heir from three, each with a trait, while the brazier, the camp and the family's heirlooms stay with the lineage. A short night is four nights (about 15 minutes); winning it unlocks the long night, seven nights of about 35 minutes. There are four zones, Near Wood, Old Ruins, Echo Caves and the Source, where the Devourer waits. There are no tutorial screens: the torch teaches you in its own voice. The developer, DiZurix, says Claude Code wrote the game's code, the generated sound and music and the design iterations, and that the procedural graphics and the text were also produced by Claude, directed by a human. Free in the browser on itch.io; it was entered in AI Browser Game Jam 5.
How it was built
Partially verifiedThe AI Browser Game Jam 5 submission says Claude Code (Anthropic's Claude models) wrote the game's code, the generated sound and music and the design iterations, with LittleJS as the engine, and that the trailer was also made with Claude Code from footage recorded in the real game, with music synthesized in code. The itch.io page says the code, the graphics (all drawn procedurally, with no image files), the sound and music (all synthesized at runtime) and the text were produced by Claude, directed by a human. No share of the code is given.
- Developeritch.io page: “Torchborn was built with heavy AI assistance, as the jam asks: the code, the graphics (all drawn procedurally, no image files), the sound and music (all synthesized at runtime) and the text were produced by Claude, directed by a human. Built on the LittleJS engine (MIT).” — itch.io
Built on the LittleJS engine (MIT) for AI Browser Game Jam 5 (theme: Torch). Claude Code wrote the code and the design iterations; the graphics are drawn procedurally with no image files, and the sound and music are synthesized at runtime in code. The trailer was also made with Claude Code, from footage recorded in the game. A large update on 28 Oct 2026 added zone sound and music, five interface languages, a new look, a reworked fight (combo finisher and parry) and accessibility options such as a calm mode, screen-shake and text-size settings. The developer calls the jam version a proof of concept with a short loop and says there are more ideas for it.
- Engine / framework
- LittleJS
- Languages
- JavaScript
- Team size
- Not disclosed
- Initial build time
- Not disclosed
- Development time
- Not disclosed
- Development cost
- Not disclosed
- AI-written code
- Not disclosed
“Claude Code (Anthropic's Claude models) wrote the game's code, the generated sound and music, and the design iterations.”- AI Browser Game Jam 5 submission (AI tools used)
- Torchborn: Sound, five languages, a new look, a better fight
Verification notes: AI use from the AI Tools Used answer on the official AI Browser Game Jam 5 submission page (which names Claude Code) and the itch.io page (which says Claude), both re-read on 5 Nov 2026, together with the devlog of 28 Oct 2026. Neither gives a share, so no AI code share is recorded. The itch.io AI disclosure ticks Code, Graphics, Sounds and Text. The listing is recorded as early access because the itch.io page marks the game “In development”; the browser build is public. Publication (20 Oct 2026, 19:45 UTC) and last update (28 Oct 2026, 10:48 UTC) from the itch.io page. Languages: the page text and the devlog say English, French, Spanish, Portuguese and German; the page's language field lists English, Spanish, French, Dutch and Portuguese (Brazil) instead, so German versus Dutch is unconfirmed. The torch's in-game voice is written text, not AI running during play; the build makes no calls to AI services. Team size is not stated. Jam voting was still open on 5 Nov 2026 (it ends on 7 Nov), so no placement is recorded; the submission page showed 2 jam ratings (observed; not recorded as a metric). itch.io shows no public rating. The game was not played.
Development history
Published on itch.io (19:45 UTC) and submitted to AI Browser Game Jam 5 (theme: Torch).
A large update adds zone sound and music, five interface languages, a new look, a reworked fight and accessibility options.
Developeritch.io (DiZurix)AI Browser Game Jam 5 submissions close; voting was still in progress on 5 Nov 2026.
Officialitch.io (Focaccai)
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); keyboard and mouse or gamepad, best on a PC. Progress is saved in the browser. Optional support payments are accepted.
Not publicly available: itch.io rating, Gross revenue.
Reviews & rankings
Not yet reviewed by our editors.
Not currently ranked.
Sources
| Source | Type | Published | Accessed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Torchborn by DiZurix itch.io | Store page | Oct 20, 2026 | Nov 3, 2026 |
| Rate Torchborn for AI Browser Game Jam 5 itch.io (AI Browser Game Jam 5, hosted by Focaccai) | Official site | Not confirmed | Nov 3, 2026 |
| AI Browser Game Jam 5 itch.io (Focaccai) | Official site | Not confirmed | Nov 3, 2026 |
| Torchborn: Sound, five languages, a new look, a better fight itch.io (DiZurix) | Devlog | Oct 28, 2026 | Nov 3, 2026 |
