Build a game like Candy Crush Saga with Claude Code

A match-3 puzzle game: grid of pieces to swap, matches of 3 or more clear and cascade, special pieces for 4 and 5 matches and more.

WeekendA working first version in a day or two

The Claude Code prompt

Build an original browser game in the same genre as Candy Crush Saga: a match-3 puzzle game. Use your own name, characters, art, sound and levels. Only the general mechanics should feel familiar; do not copy Candy Crush Saga's name, characters, art, music or level layouts.

Version one should have:
- Grid of pieces to swap
- Matches of 3 or more clear and cascade
- Special pieces for 4 and 5 matches
- Levels with move limits and goals
- Lives and star ratings

The hard part: Cascades and level design. Write the board logic as pure functions and test it.

How to build it:
1. Read this folder first. If it is empty, set up a browser game with Vite, TypeScript and Phaser (or Three.js if it is 3D). Write a short PLAN.md with the game loop, entities, controls and what you are leaving out of version one.
2. Get the core loop playable before anything else: grid of pieces to swap. Use simple shapes or free placeholder art until it feels good.
3. Add the rest of the mechanics one at a time, keep game rules in pure functions you can unit test, and make it work with both keyboard and touch.
4. Add a start screen, game over, score and a saved best score in localStorage, plus sound effects you generate or that are free to use.
5. Run it, play it, tune the difficulty, fix what breaks, and finish with a summary and how to deploy it as a static site.

Paste it into Claude Code in an empty folder. It plans first, so read PLAN.md and steer before it starts building.

Version one

  • Grid of pieces to swap
  • Matches of 3 or more clear and cascade
  • Special pieces for 4 and 5 matches
  • Levels with move limits and goals
  • Lives and star ratings

The hard part

Cascades and level design. Write the board logic as pure functions and test it.

Make it yours: original name, characters, art and levels. Familiar mechanics are fine; Candy Crush Saga's assets are not.

More to build

More in Games · Every build idea