MALL ACTION
A SHOPPING MALL ESPIONAGE
An 8-bit spy caper in an 80s shopping mall. The same one-shot prompt, built from scratch by different AI models.
13 reviewed implementations · 9 Oct 2026
Best score first. All scores are out of 10; overall is the equal average of the five categories.
Methodology & full assessments01Claude Sonnet 5.5 + Fable 5.1 advisor
TypeScript + Vite, software framebuffer with a WebGL CRT presenter, Web Audio synth. Branch sonnet-5-5-fable-5-1.
Written
- Game design
- 9.2 / 10
- Code architecture
- 9.3 / 10
- Code design
- 9.0 / 10
- Code cleanliness
- 9.0 / 10
- Prompt completeness
- 9.6 / 10
- Overall score
- 9.2 / 10
The most legible mall and the first full route replayed in the live build. Plug-in mall modules; two 1,200-line worlds remain.
Read assessment02Claude Sonnet 5.5 + Opus 5.5 advisor
TypeScript + Vite, Canvas 2D with a WebGL CRT presenter, Web Audio synth. Branch sonnet-5-5-opus-5-5.
Written
- Game design
- 9.1 / 10
- Code architecture
- 9.1 / 10
- Code design
- 8.9 / 10
- Code cleanliness
- 8.6 / 10
- Prompt completeness
- 9.6 / 10
- Overall score
- 9.1 / 10
A legible mall whose own bot finished the live route without dying. Untyped events, unused-import hacks, and car deaths respawn far away.
Read assessment03Claude Sonnet 5.5
TypeScript + WebGL CRT shader. Branch sonnet-5-5.
Written
- Game design
- 9.0 / 10
- Code architecture
- 9.2 / 10
- Code design
- 8.8 / 10
- Code cleanliness
- 8.8 / 10
- Prompt completeness
- 9.5 / 10
- Overall score
- 9.1 / 10
A convincing mall: rich art, fair encounters, and broad coverage. Strong rule boundaries; the store module is oversized.
Read assessment04Claude Fable 5.1
TypeScript + Vite, WebGL CRT shader, Web Audio synth. Branch fable-5-1.
Written
- Game design
- 8.7 / 10
- Code architecture
- 8.7 / 10
- Code design
- 8.4 / 10
- Code cleanliness
- 8.5 / 10
- Prompt completeness
- 9.4 / 10
- Overall score
- 8.7 / 10
Colorful, generous, and feature-rich, with dependable seeded rules. Large mall and store modules and busy floors limit polish.
Read assessment05Claude Opus 5
TypeScript + Vite, indexed framebuffer & WebGL CRT shader, Web Audio synth. Branch opus-5.
Written
- Game design
- 8.6 / 10
- Code architecture
- 8.3 / 10
- Code design
- 8.1 / 10
- Code cleanliness
- 8.4 / 10
- Prompt completeness
- 9.3 / 10
- Overall score
- 8.5 / 10
A thorough, playable caper with strong palette rules and safety fixes. Huge rule files and injected callbacks complicate maintenance.
Read assessment06Claude Opus 5.5
PixiJS + vanilla JavaScript. Branch opus-5-5.
Written
- Game design
- 8.0 / 10
- Code architecture
- 7.8 / 10
- Code design
- 8.0 / 10
- Code cleanliness
- 8.0 / 10
- Prompt completeness
- 8.8 / 10
- Overall score
- 8.1 / 10
Rich arcade detail and focused rule modules. Pixi scenes own some scoring and timing, and busy rooms weaken visual clarity.
Read assessment07GPT-6.1 Sol
TypeScript + Vite, Canvas 2D & WebGL CRT shader, Web Audio synth. Branch gpt-6-1-sol.
Written
- Game design
- 7.5 / 10
- Code architecture
- 7.5 / 10
- Code design
- 7.2 / 10
- Code cleanliness
- 7.7 / 10
- Prompt completeness
- 8.5 / 10
- Overall score
- 7.7 / 10
A compact, broadly working game with useful route tests. One large rules file, simpler art, and uneven encounter protection hold it back.
Read assessment08GPT-6 Astra
Vanilla JavaScript modules with no dependencies, Canvas 2D with a WebGL CRT shader, Web Audio synth. Branch gpt-6-astra.
Written
- Game design
- 7.4 / 10
- Code architecture
- 7.8 / 10
- Code design
- 7.2 / 10
- Code cleanliness
- 7.0 / 10
- Prompt completeness
- 8.0 / 10
- Overall score
- 7.5 / 10
A complete, legible mall with no dependencies, built in forty minutes. Store rooms are flat identical grids; songs are eight-note loops.
Read assessment09Claude Haiku 5.5
TypeScript + Vite, Canvas 2D with a row-based CRT effect, Web Audio synth. Branch haiku-5-5.
Written
- Game design
- 6.2 / 10
- Code architecture
- 7.4 / 10
- Code design
- 6.5 / 10
- Code cleanliness
- 7.4 / 10
- Prompt completeness
- 7.5 / 10
- Overall score
- 7.0 / 10
A complete, playable caper with clean rule boundaries. Power-ups never expire, the map breaks stores, and Game Over hides behind shutters.
Read assessment10Claude Opus 4.6
TypeScript + Vite, Canvas 2D with CRT effect, Web Audio synth. Branch opus-4-6.
Written
- Game design
- 6.0 / 10
- Code architecture
- 6.5 / 10
- Code design
- 5.3 / 10
- Code cleanliness
- 6.3 / 10
- Prompt completeness
- 6.2 / 10
- Overall score
- 6.1 / 10
A substantial core, but several features stop at emitted events. Simplified collisions, mismatched audio hooks, and dark art hurt play.
Read assessment11GPT-6 Sol
JavaScript Canvas 2D and Web Audio. Branch gpt-6-sol.
Written
- Game design
- 5.2 / 10
- Code architecture
- 5.8 / 10
- Code design
- 4.2 / 10
- Code cleanliness
- 2.5 / 10
- Prompt completeness
- 5.8 / 10
- Overall score
- 4.7 / 10
A recognizable, lightweight prototype. Compressed rules hide revived dead spies, loot gaps, weak collisions, and a very small sprite set.
Read assessment12Gemini 3.6 Flash
TypeScript + Vite, Canvas 2D & WebGL CRT shader, Web Audio synth. Branch gemini-3-6-flash.
Written
- Game design
- 2.0 / 10
- Code architecture
- 4.0 / 10
- Code design
- 3.0 / 10
- Code cleanliness
- 5.0 / 10
- Prompt completeness
- 2.0 / 10
- Overall score
- 3.2 / 10
Readable scaffolding, but the game loop is unfinished: stores cannot be exited, elevators do not carry the agent, and combat is incomplete.
Read assessment13Claude Haiku 4.5
TypeScript + Vite, Canvas 2D, Web Audio. Branch haiku-4-5.
Written
- Game design
- 1.0 / 10
- Code architecture
- 2.5 / 10
- Code design
- 2.0 / 10
- Code cleanliness
- 4.0 / 10
- Prompt completeness
- 1.5 / 10
- Overall score
- 2.2 / 10
The browser never leaves frame zero. Readable pieces exist, but broken timing, disconnected elevators, and instant searches prevent play.
Read assessment