Arcana, Gas & Waterworks Inc.

Arcana, Gas & Waterworks Inc. was made by a single developer responsibly using Claude Code in my IDE (Nova by Panic) to write Lua source code and help me navigate the process of building and releasing a game on Steam. I designed and refined the gameplay myself with help from friends playing offering input. I wrote all of the dialog, messages, text, and more. I created the sequence of Operations, designed each puzzle, added funny names to each resource and consumer, and coordinated all of the narrative unlocks that happen throughout the gameplay. I designed all of the interfaces using Photoshop and Illustrator. All music was licensed from REAL INDIE MUSICIANS, who did NOT use generative AI in any way, and who are credited in the game. They worked hard on some tracks just for the game, and their human contributions should not be devalued. I recorded the narrative audio clips and modified them using traditional sound design techniques (modulation, pitch, etc.) in Logic Pro. I worked on the release version of the game from January 2026 until October 2026. Most of that time was spent refining gameplay interfaces and systems while filling in all of the many narrative elements and game assets. I have tried in the past to build full games, but this is the first time I've ever been able to get all the way. If I hadn't had a tool to help me get through the difficult nuts and bolts of the process and build I'm sure I never would have gotten here. My hope is to keep on creating unique and quirky games, and I hope others do, too. I'd love to see the diversity and range in games that we see in novels (and increasingly in movies and video). -- Shawn (a real human)