UP! with a stranger
Two plasticine blobs tied by a string, climbing as high as they can. Don't let the string break.
Official site upwithastranger.com, verified Nov 3, 2026. Entry URL submitted by the entrant in the official Vibe Jam 2026 games data under the X handle ilyxxxa; the game page names @ilyxxxa as its creator in its metadata, and the developer's portfolio ilyamalyanov.com links the same handle. The portfolio does not list 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 siteBrowserReleasedFree
Runs in a desktop or mobile browser. No download.
Browser (no download) · Mobile · Official link verified Nov 3, 2026.
About UP! with a stranger
A two-player co-op climbing game in the browser. You and a partner are two plasticine blobs, one purple and one brown, tied together by a string, and you climb from a backyard towards space; the one rule is that the string must not break. You can be matched with a random stranger online, invite a friend with a room code, or play with a bot, and the best heights go on daily and all-time leaderboards. The entrant, Ilya Malyanov, says it is a love letter to childhood games, describing it as what you would get if Purple & Brown, It Takes Two and Flappy Bird had a kid, and that coming from an art-director background the aim was to make AI-built work feel charming rather than machine-made. 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 submission lists Claude Code as the tool and calls the game “99% vibe coded” and the entrant's first shipped game. It finished 27th of 945 entries. Free, on desktop and on phones held upright.
How it was built
VerifiedIn the official Vibe Jam 2026 submission the entrant lists Claude Code as the tool, answers Yes to the AI-written field and writes that the game is “99% vibe coded”. No devlog describes how Claude Code was used or which model ran it, and 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 named as the tool. Online play runs through a PartyKit server, with random matchmaking, friend rooms and a bot partner.
- Engine / framework
- Three.js
- Languages
- Not disclosed
- Team size
- Not disclosed
- Development time
- Not disclosed
- Development cost
- Not disclosed
- AI-written code
- Not disclosed
“First game I've ever shipped! 99% vibe coded! Dumb by design!”Verification notes: Tool (Claude Code), engine, genre, pitch, inspiration and the multiplayer and mobile flags from the entrant's answers in the official Vibe Jam 2026 games data (submitted 30 Apr 2026 UTC; final rank 27 of 945 entries, no award); rule 3 on the jam page requires at least 90% AI-written code. The “99% vibe coded” line is the entrant's own wording, not a measured share, so it is not recorded as an AI code share. Developer name: the game page's metadata names @ilyxxxa as creator, and the portfolio ilyamalyanov.com (titled “Ilya Malyanov | Portfolio”) links twitter.com/ilyxxxa; the X profile @ilyxxxa (display name Ilya Malyanov, bio “homo art directus vibe coderus solo entrepreneurialis”) links back to ilyamalyanov.com. Team size and location are not stated. Matchmaking, friend rooms, the bot partner and the leaderboards are from the game's own interface. The page and its main script were checked for calls to AI services and none were found. The jam page's widget counter showed 958 plays for upwithastranger.com on 3 Nov 2026 (observed; sessions, not players or downloads, so not recorded as a metric). The release date is not stated; the jam submission is dated 30 Apr 2026 (UTC).
Development history
Entered in the Cursor Vibe Jam 2026 (submission date in the official games data, UTC); the jam required at least 90% AI-written code. Final rank 27 of 945 entries, no award.
Game performance
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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
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Not currently ranked.
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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 |
| UP! with a stranger - the first co-op game for strangers (game page) Ilya Malyanov | Official site | Not confirmed | Nov 3, 2026 |
| Ilya Malyanov | Portfolio Ilya Malyanov | Official site | Not confirmed | Nov 3, 2026 |
| Ilya Malyanov (@ilyxxxa) — X profile X | Social post | Not confirmed | Nov 3, 2026 |
| Official game page (language check) Ilya Malyanov | Official site | Not confirmed | Nov 3, 2026 |
