I copied Inselkampf to start. Here's what I've added since.
Inselnova started as a copy of Inselkampf and has gone its own direction. A handful of additions came in: a bazaar, coins, council affairs, the Black Tide, a church with gods and a new resource called lumen, and a guildhall. Each one came from a real problem in the early or mid game. Here's the story behind each, and the rules that have crystallised along the way.
The audience came back 20 years older. The chaos is different now.
I built Inselnova because I wanted to build something. The audience that showed up is mostly returning Inselkampf players in their 40s. The early game feels slower for them than the original ever did. Here's what's pushing the next features in a different direction.
The player who asked to rename their island solved my virality problem
I had three ideas for getting players to invite friends. All three were wrong. A player's throwaway question gave me the right one — and it applies to alliance flags too.
How I Ship a Browser Strategy Game With Slash Commands and 12 Scripts
I replaced Trello with a custom tracker wired into my game's production database. Players report bugs from inside the game. AI skills in my editor wrap deterministic Node scripts for branching, committing, and deploying. If CI fails, the AI fixes it and retries. Here's how the whole release cycle connects.
What 150,000 Lines of AI-Generated TypeScript Actually Looks Like
Inselnova has 179,101 lines of TypeScript across 1,015 files and 1,272 commits. I didn't write most of it. Here's what that actually means, why it works at scale, and what the senior dev who quit at 150K lines got wrong.
How I Built a Dev Log Pipeline with AI in One Sitting
Sat down in Claude Cowork, dumped six weeks of raw notes about building a browser strategy game, and came out with 5 blog posts, a tone system, SEO integration, cover image generation, and a reusable skill. Here's how the pipeline works.
Blind Coding: My AI Workflow for Building a Game from My Phone
Built Inselnova's core gameplay loop on a road trip using Claude Code on mobile. Tests first, skill files for context, AGENTS.md as a living spec, plan mode to prevent scope creep. Three weeks in, one bad release.
Why Every Feature in Inselnova Connects to Something Else
Rebuilt a 25-year-old strategy game with a simple rule: nothing gets added unless it connects to something else. The gameplay loop that emerged extended the first session from 2-3 minutes to 10-20 minutes.
From 0 to 8 Daily Players: Finding Early Adopters for a Niche Browser Game
Found 8 daily active players by messaging old Inselkampf fans on Reddit directly, then refined onboarding with achievements and psychology tricks. 330 site visitors, 41 signups, 8 completing the first achievement set.
I replaced Google Analytics, Sentry, and Intercom with AI in a few hours
Built custom analytics, error tracking, and re-engagement tools instead of paying for SaaS. Total monthly cost under $20. Each one took a few hours with AI. Here's how and whether you should try it.
I built a multiplayer browser strategy game in two weeks
30 years coding, built a multiplayer island strategy game in two weeks using Claude Code, Codex, and ChatGPT. Started blind on my phone during a road trip. Sharing the workflow, the mistakes, and what I'd do differently.
