Video · The replay
Watch the full session
The whole workshop, start to finish. If you missed it, or want to redo a step at your own pace, this is the place to start.
Watch the replayWomen Who Build · Live Workshop
Build a Playable Learning Game with Claude Code
In one hour, you'll build Deadline Run: a 60-second 2D platformer where a character races across an office, dodging obstacles and a ticking countdown, that teaches phishing awareness along the way. Real sprite animation, a real level, and a real learning moment built right in.
You do not need to know how to code. Everything you need — the game, the art, the instructions Claude Code follows — is already built and waiting in the download below.
Watch
The full workshop
Ninety minutes, start to finish. Opening an unfamiliar project, understanding it with Claude Code, changing it on purpose, and publishing it. Follow along with the starter project below, at your own pace.
Want to build your own idea next?
The workshop above was on rails: the project, the artwork and the choices were handed to you. The Game Lab Academy starts from a blank folder and your own idea, over four Tuesday evenings. Ten seats.
Start here
Get the starter project
One zip file has everything: the game, the artwork, and the instructions Claude Code needs to work with you.
Download the starter project (13 MB)Extract the zip onto your Desktop — you’ll get a folder called claude_project_2d_game. That’s the folder you’ll point Claude Code at. No need to make a folder first.
Trouble downloading?
- Google Drive copy: Download from Google Drive
- Email me and I'll send it directly: rachel@emdesigns.ai
Work laptop blocking the download? Try it on a personal device, or use a different network — corporate filters sometimes block zip files.
Get ready
Before Sunday
About 15 minutes total, most of it waiting for an install to finish. Do this a day or two ahead so there's time to fix anything that hiccups.
Required
Install Claude Code
The desktop app is the easiest option if you've never used a terminal — it's just a regular application, nothing to type. The terminal version works identically for every prompt in the workshop, so use whichever you're comfortable with.
Install this
Visual Studio Code
This is where we'll all be working on the day, so everyone is looking at the same screen. It's a free download. If you'd rather use the Claude Code desktop app, that works too — the prompts are identical.
Sign up for this
A free Netlify account
This is how you'll publish your game at the end and walk away with a link you can send someone. Sign in before Sunday — publishing while signed out can leave your game private, which defeats the point.
That's it. No Node, no npm, nothing else to install.
Computer can't find Claude Code after installing it? Watch the troubleshooting video, or email me at rachel@emdesigns.ai.
The game
What you'll build
- 1 Spot the phish. Before the clock starts, you inspect a document mockup — an inbox, in the default scenario — and click the three things that are wrong.
- 2 Race the 60-second clock. Once the briefing ends, you have 60 seconds to run across the office, sprite animation and all, before the deadline hits.
- 3 Power up and survive. Grab a coffee power-up for a speed boost, swing cables across the fatal electrical pits, and dodge or stomp four office enemies along the way.
- 4 Reach Kate before 5:00. That's the win condition — and a second scenario, a HIPAA document-redaction version of the same game, ships in the same project so you can switch topics with one line.
Rachel's framework
How the hour works
Every Claude Code project, this one included, moves through the same four stages — EMMA.
E
Explore
You open the project and let Claude Code read it, so you both understand what's already there.
M
Model
You run the game and play it once, to see how it works before you touch anything.
M
Modify
You make it visibly yours — new copy, a new document, a different scenario — and Claude Code makes the change.
A
Actualize
You publish it and get a shareable link, so what you built is real and sendable, not just open on your laptop.
Take it with you
Workshop materials
Everything here is also inside the starter zip — these are the same files on their own, so you can skim the prompts on your phone or come back to them after Sunday.
Play · 60 seconds
Play the finished game
Deadline Run, the game you’ll build. It’s 4:59 — spot what’s wrong in Bob’s inbox, then run for Kate before the clock hits five.
Play it nowZip · Start here
The starter project
The game, the artwork, six playable characters, and the instructions Claude Code reads automatically when you open the folder.
Download the zipGuide · Follow along
Participant guide
The whole hour in writing, step by step, every prompt copy-paste ready. Use it to follow along, catch up, or skip ahead.
Download the guidePrompts · Quick card
Prompt card
The prompts from the session on one page. Handy to keep open next to Claude Code while you work.
Download the cardArt · Six characters
Character lineup
The six characters you can play as. Pick one, tell Claude Code the filename underneath them, and you’re someone else.
See the cast
Prompt · Make your own
Background prompt
A fill-in-the-blanks image prompt for generating your own game background — your office, a hospital, a spaceship — plus the two rules that make it actually work in the game.
Get the promptGuide · After Sunday
Keep building
Where to take the game once the hour is over — bigger changes, your own scenario, and what to ask Claude next.
Download the guideReference · Answers
FAQ
The questions that come up most — what to do if something breaks, whether it works in an LMS, and how to share what you made.
Read the FAQFree · Publish
Netlify Drop
Where you’ll publish at the end of the hour. Drag your project folder onto the page and you get a real link you can send to anyone.
Open Netlify DropWant new templates and tips?
Everything here is free, no email needed. Leave your email only if you'd like new prompts, templates, and starter projects from me down the road.
No spam. Unsubscribe any time.
Questions
FAQ
Do I need to know how to code?
No. You describe what you want in plain English and Claude Code makes the change. You never have to read or write code yourself.
Can I use my own document instead of the phishing email?
Yes — and it's the most satisfying thing to try after the workshop. The learning moment is just an image plus a list of clickable regions. Screenshot a real document, drop it in, and tell Claude what the important spots are; it wires up the rest.
Will this work in an LMS?
The game is a self-contained web page, the same shape as a lot of LMS-friendly content. Packaging it as SCORM is a next-step project rather than a workshop task — ask Claude Code about it when you're ready.
Can I share my game with someone?
Yes — that's the Actualize stage. You can drag the folder onto Netlify Drop and get a public URL in about a minute, no account required.
What if I break it?
Tell Claude Code "the game won't load, find the error and fix it." That's the entire recovery procedure — it has full context on what it just changed and can put it back.
What’s next
Go six weeks deeper
Today you built on a project that was already set up for you. The Game Lab Academy is where you learn how it actually works and turn it into your own: six live Tuesday evenings, and a playable eLearning game you publish by the end.
Cohort · Starts Sep 22
Game Lab Academy
Six weeks, Tuesdays 7:00 to 8:30 PM ET. Ten seats in the founding cohort. You leave with a playable eLearning game at a URL you can send someone.
See the full outlineSee you Sunday
Register for the live session and get the calendar invite, room link, and any last-minute updates.
Register for the workshopWant one of these built for your team? See consulting options.