Đế chế ve chai – Junkyard Empire

Playable browser game demo: https://bravo06.itch.io/dechevechai. Concept, game design, story and art direction by me. Code written with Claude. Cutscene art generated with Higgsfield. Music composed with Suno.

I loved games long before I studied graphic design, and I wanted to make them. Right after finishing design school I applied to game studios, hoping to help ship a title, any title. Nobody hired me, so I went into advertising instead. The idea never left.

I later shipped a few small mobile games with Buildbox, a no-code tool, handling concept, gameplay and art direction on each. But a game of this scope was out of reach that way. Learning the tool while building would have cost far more time, effort and health.

In 2022 I wrote a design document for a game about scrap collectors in Saigon, then left it in a drive folder. This year I opened it again to test one question: Can I vibe code a playable game by directing AI?

Nine versions later the demo is live. All code was written with Claude, mixing the Sonnet 5.5 and Opus 5.5 models. No game engine was used.

Each of the five districts has its own rule: a crowded market, a dark sewer on a flashlight battery, a guarded construction site, a canal you work by boat. Once you know a district you can buy its yard and hire collectors, and the game shifts from picking up cans to running a business.

A young boy with a backpack and a hat walking down a colorful street with a small white dog beside him, surrounded by trash and bottles.

Core game

You walk the streets, pick up scrap, avoid traffic and dangers, and sell at the junkyard before the day ends. A day lasts 80 seconds, 27 seconds for the night. Money goes to medicine first, then to better vehicles, from a sack on your back to a electric motorbike with a trailer.

Art direction

I chose pixel art because of where I started. I grew up on Mario, Contra and Jackal, games of the cartridge video game era, and they ‘haulted’ my mind of what a game looks like. The world is top-down, 16-bit in style: narrow Saigon tube houses, hand-painted signs, tangled power lines. In-game sprites and tiles are drawn entirely in code. For cutscenes I built character sheets first, then generated each panel against them to keep the cast consistent.

Story

It is a casual sim, but I wanted it to have soul in it. The player is a 13-year-old orphan raised by an old scrap collector who has fallen ill. The people you hire come with a short interview, and some carry a story that unfolds as comic panels after a few days on the job. A laid-off programmer writes a routing app for the crew and increase income. A fashion designer turns cans into a runway dress.

A pixel art illustration of a solemn man holding a baby wrapped in a blanket while standing under an umbrella in the rain.
A young boy holding the hand of an elderly man lying on a bed in a dimly lit, rustic room. The boy looks concerned and tearful, while the man appears to be asleep. In the background, there is a cart and bags, suggesting a humble living environment.
A young boy wearing a hat and a denim jacket, holding a sack in front of a backdrop of garbage and debris in an urban setting.
A young boy wearing a hat and casual clothing interacts with a small white dog in a narrow, sunlit alley lined with bicycles and potted plants.
A festive street scene depicting a couple celebrating at a wedding reception, with guests clapping and enjoying food at tables adorned with red tablecloths. A decorated arch with the words 'Vu Quy' can be seen, along with colorful balloons, creating a joyful atmosphere.
A lively dinner scene featuring a group of seven people gathered around a table filled with food and drinks, set in a rustic outdoor area with string lights and marked by a backdrop of discarded items.
An animated scene depicting a rural market area at sunset, with children and adults engaged in work. A boy is lifting a bag next to a woman in a conical hat, while another boy stands on a pile of sacks with a dog. Bicycles and motorcycles are parked nearby, and there are stacks of materials in the background.
A pixel art scene depicting a young boy and an older man standing on a hillside, looking at a sunset over a cityscape. Next to them is a small, colorful pickup truck with a dog sitting in the back, surrounded by bags.
A cheerful cartoon character stands in a cluttered outdoor area, holding a smartphone displaying a colorful map. The character wears glasses, a t-shirt with text, and bright patterned shorts, with bags of recyclables and cardboard boxes in the background.
A digital illustration of a fashion show featuring two characters. One model wears an elaborate dress made of recycled cans and colorful materials, while a second character in a white outfit bows nearby. An audience is seen applauding in silhouette against a bright runway backdrop.
An elderly man and a young boy stand outside a rustic shed, surrounded by bags and crates of recyclable materials, as the sun sets in the background.
A scene depicting an elderly woman handing keys to a young boy in a rustic setting filled with bags of recyclables and a scale.
An older man and a young boy stand in front of a recycling center at sunset, surrounded by piles of trash and a cart for collecting recyclables.
A character design featuring a young boy in a bucket hat, denim jacket, T-shirt, and shorts, shown from the front, side, and back, with a close-up of his face.
Side view and front view of a female character wearing a traditional conical hat, an orange shirt, gray pants, and sandals. The character is depicted in a pixel art style.
A pixel art character design featuring a young boy with curly hair and glasses, wearing a graphic t-shirt and colorful shorts, shown in multiple poses.
Pixel art illustration of a light-colored puppy viewed from multiple angles including front, side, and back.
An illustration of a colorful scooter with a green, blue, and yellow body, loaded with wooden items, next to a trailer filled with packages.
A vintage motorcycle with a sidecar, loaded with bags and stacks of papers. The bike has a blue and white color scheme and shows signs of rust.
A side and rear view of a vintage bicycle with a wooden crate secured on the back, filled with colorful cans.
A cartoon-style illustration of a wooden boat with a slanted roof, featuring various stacked cargo boxes and barrels. The boat has a ramp, tire bumpers, and a hanging scale, depicting a trading or market scene.
Two cartoon-style boats: one wooden with a slanted roof and cargo stacked, the other red with an anchor symbol and large eyes, both resting on barrels.
An illustration of two handmade containers: a flat rectangular one with water bottles attached and a small rectangular box with a few water bottles on its side, accompanied by a bamboo stick.
An isometric illustration of a rustic wooden boat from multiple angles, featuring a weathered metal roof, stacked crates, barrels, and hanging laundry.
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