Monday-morning unread messages
GameInbox ZeroOpen →Mia's tips
- On a phone, hold it upright and drag the paddle with your finger; on a computer, use the mouse or arrow keys. When you're down to the last four, relax: the ball chases them on its own.
- Claude Opus 5.5 made this version inside Claude Code.
Round 1: one sentence
Make me a breakout game as a single HTML file I can open in my browser and play.
Round 2: spell out 4 things
It works, but it looks exactly like every other breakout game. Change it into what I actually want: 1. Gameplay: the bricks are "Monday-morning unread messages": emails, group chat messages, meeting invites, calendar reminders, each with a small icon and a short line of text. Breaking a brick clears that message. When a level is cleared, pop up "Inbox Zero!". 2. Style: bright cream background, thick black outlines, neon-green accents, like hand-drawn stickers. No dark neon look. 3. Feel: when the ball hits a brick, the screen shakes a little and the brick breaks into a few paper bits that fly off; when the paddle catches the ball, it squashes and springs back; every hit has a crisp sound, and the pitch goes up with each hit in a combo. 4. It has to be playable on a phone held upright, dragging the paddle with a finger. Still a single HTML file.
To make your own, use this template and fill in the blanks with your idea:
Make me a ____ game as a single HTML file I can open in my browser and play. 1. Gameplay: (swap the ordinary parts for your idea: what are the bricks / enemies / power-ups, what happens when you hit one, what pops up when you win) 2. Style: (background color, outlines, what art style it looks like; also say what you DON'T want) 3. Feel: (does the screen shake on a hit, what flies off, are there sounds, does a combo feel better and better) 4. Where you play: (keyboard or mouse on a computer? finger drag on a phone held upright?) Still a single HTML file.
Mia's tips
- Number 3, the feel, is the one everybody forgets. A little shake, flying paper bits, a paddle that squashes and springs back, a combo sound that climbs: with or without those, it's two different games.
Round 3: found a bug? Say it like this
Played a bunch of rounds, it's really fun! Just two problems: 1. When there are only three or four unread messages left, the ball bounces around empty space and takes forever to hit anything. It gets boring (I counted: the last 4 took almost 20 seconds). I want the ending to be faster and more satisfying. 2. On a computer, the game is a narrow strip down the middle with big blank areas on both sides, and the text is small. On a computer I want it to fill the screen sideways; on a phone held upright, keep it exactly as it is.
Mia's tips
- When I report a bug, I only say three things: what I did, what I saw, and what I wanted. No need to guess which line of code is broken. That's its job.
