a first-hand account of building a cookie clicker clone with claude code and what it reveals about agentic software development.
share this post
stay in the loop
When we publish new experiments or playbooks, we’ll send you the highlights so you can apply them faster.
Your feedback helps us improve how we deliver practical playbooks.
Productized execution
Execution speed matters when your team is asked to ship often. Prism combines AI-assisted production workflows with stable web engineering and QA systems.
Keep learning
More experiments and playbooks from the Prism team.
from strategy to shipped ui: fast pages, clear messaging, and measured outcomes.
Hey friend, I hope you're doing well.
The world of software development is in a wild, mind-blowing era. If you've been following our work at Prism, you know we're always exploring the cutting edge of technology, using tools like Replit (opens in a new tab), Vercel (opens in a new tab), and OpenAI (opens in a new tab) Codex. But recently, I tried something that completely blew me away: Claude Code (opens in a new tab).
I'd been hearing the buzz in the developer community for a while. People are losing their minds over Anthropic (opens in a new tab)'s powerful new coding models like Opus 4, saying it's the best out there. Honestly, with so many new tools, it can feel like drinking from a fire hose. But I finally decided to give it a shot, and I was not disappointed.
What's fascinating about Claude Code is that it runs right in your terminal. All you need is Node.js, and after a quick two-minute install, you're ready to go. You just open your terminal, type claude, and you're in. You are literally talking to an AI that's ready to build.
Claude has a few different modes you can cycle through, including a "plan mode" and an incredible "agentic (opens in a new tab)" mode called "auto accept edits". This agentic capability is what really sets it apart. You can give the AI a general goal, and it will figure out the entire multi-step process to achieve it on its own. It's getting more and more like working with a real human developer.
To put it to the test, I decided to build a clone of the viral mobile game from my high school days: Cookie Clicker.
First, I used "plan mode" with a simple prompt: create a plan to build a clone of the game cookie clicker. The plan should be for an MVP version of the game.
Claude immediately designed a checklist with the game's core features: a clickable cookie button, a cookie counter, and so on. The plan was solid. Then came the magic. I switched to "auto accept edits" and told it, okay, please implement this plan.
And it just… worked.
In what felt like no time, Claude announced, "Cookie clicker MVP is complete". It had built the entire file structure. I found the HTML file, opened it in my browser, and there it was-a fully functional game. I could click the cookie, and I could even buy upgrades from the shop to get more cookies per second. The speed and quality were just wild.
The MVP was cool, but it was basic. I wanted to see how Claude handled a more subjective, design-focused task. I gave it a deliberately vague instruction: please make the design more fun and add some cool animations.
I wasn't giving it much to work with. But after about two minutes of processing, Claude came back with a list of all the enhancements it had made.
I opened the game again, and the difference was stunning. The new version had a crazy gradient background, a pulsing hover animation on the cookie, and a satisfying click animation. This wasn't just code; it was a thoughtfully designed user experience. It built a game that, back in the day, I probably could have thrown on the App Store and gotten a lot of downloads with.
It's worth noting that these powerful tools come at a cost. During my session, I actually ran out of API credits on my Pro plan. The top-tier models like Opus 4 are significantly more expensive to run. However, the great thing is that you can get started with Claude Code on the free plan and just pay for $5 worth of API credits to begin experimenting.
My experience with Claude Code was a powerful reminder of where we are right now. The word on the street is that these tools are already as good as an entry-level developer for many tasks.
But it's more than just writing code. As someone with a background in product management and design, I can see how this automates the "boring part" of the process, like writing detailed product requirement documents. It frees us up to focus on what we love: thinking about solutions and talking to stakeholders.
This is a really basic application, but imagine the possibilities. We are living in a truly crazy time to be building things. I hope this gives you some ideas for what you might want to create.
If you're inspired to build an awesome new app or website, you know who to call. Hit us up at Prism, and let's build something amazing together.
Thanks for reading.
• enzo