Claude Arcade

Retro pixel games for your terminal — something to play in a split pane while Claude Code chews on a prompt. Python 3 stdlib only; nothing to install.

Twelve games ship in the arcade: Invaders, Dino, Race, Bounce, Flappy (flap through gaps), Blocks (falling-block stacker), Commando (run-and-gun side-scroller), Brawler (one-on-one fighter), Tennis (rally the AI to 11), Hopper (endless-runner platformer — stomp walkers, grab coins), Klimber (climb the zigzag girders, dodge rolling barrels), and Snake.

Play

Via npm (needs python3 on your PATH, which macOS and Linux have):

npx claude-games-arcade        # one-off
npm install -g claude-games-arcade && claude-arcade

Or from a clone of this repo:

./play              # arcade menu (or your default game, if set)
./play invaders   # or: dino, race, bounce, flappy, blocks, commando,
                  # brawler, tennis, hopper, klimber, snake
./play list         # print games + best scores
./play default dino # set a default game; `none` clears, no arg shows
./play menu         # force the menu even with a default set

Optional, to play a clone from anywhere:

echo 'export PATH="$PATH:'"$PWD"'"' >> ~/.zshrc

Controls

| Key | Action | |-----|--------| | arrows / WASD | move (down = duck in Dino) | | Space / Up | shoot / jump | | p | pause | | q | quit to menu | | r | restart after game over |

Blocks: Up rotates, Down soft-drops, Space hard-drops. Commando: Space shoots, Down crouches under fire. Brawler: Space punches, Down blocks. Flappy: Space/Up flaps. Tennis: Up/Down moves your paddle. Hopper: Space/Up jumps — land on walkers to stomp them. Klimber: arrows climb ladders and walk platforms, Space jumps over barrels. Snake: arrows steer.

Difficulty ramps the longer you survive — the longer Claude's task runs, the harder your run gets. High scores persist in scores.json.

"Claude is done" banner

Register the Stop hook so games flash * CLAUDE IS DONE * when Claude Code finishes a turn. In Claude Code run /hooks, choose Stop, and add a command hook pointing at:

<this repo>/hooks/claude-done.sh

Or add it to ~/.claude/settings.json yourself:

{
  "hooks": {
    "Stop": [
      {"hooks": [{"type": "command",
                  "command": "/FULL/PATH/TO/claude-games/hooks/claude-done.sh"}]}
    ]
  }
}

Games poll ~/.claude-games-signal once a second; the banner flashes for about 5 seconds and your run keeps going.

Development

python3 -m pytest

MIT (c) 2026 Romit Soley