Retro Space Shooter

What I built

A browser-based retro space shooter built with JavaScript and pixel art assets. Ship, shoot, survive — classic arcade mechanics, shipped end-to-end using AI-assisted development tools.

Why it matters

This project was about proving a workflow: can a non-engineer ship a functioning game from scratch using Claude and Cursor? The answer is yes — with the right prompting, fast iteration, and willingness to debug. The game is the output; the process is the point.

How it works

1. 1Canvas-based rendering loop with requestAnimationFrame for smooth 60fps gameplay
2. 2Sprite sheets and pixel art assets sourced from open-licensed itch.io packs
3. 3Enemy waves with increasing difficulty, power-ups, and a multi-phase boss battle
4. 4Score tracking with local high score persistence via localStorage
5. 5Deployed as a static site on Vercel with a GitHub Actions CI pipeline

How it was built

1. 1Set up the project in Cursor with a clean repo structure
2. 2Found free pixel art assets from itch.io
3. 3Drafted the spec and game loop logic with Claude
4. 4Built the MVP: movement, shooting, enemies, and scoring
5. 5Debugged the boss battle — collision detection and phase transitions
6. 6Shipped with GitHub Actions and deployed to Vercel

Stack and tools

What I'd improve next

• →Add online leaderboard with edge function backend
• →Mobile touch controls for phone play
• →Sound effects and background music with Web Audio API
• →More enemy types and a second boss battle phase