One experiment. Three AIs.
One file each.

A small experiment to see how far AI coding has come. Gemini and Claude answer the tower-defense prompt directly; Codex takes the single-file constraint as a genre riff and pivots into an Age-of-War lane battle. Below: every build, side by side. Pick one.

Built & deployed at towergridlock.com. Each version is a single self-contained .html file: vanilla HTML, CSS, and JavaScript — no frameworks, no remote assets, no dependencies, no build step. Codex embeds generated art.
2025 · Gemini

The 2025 Gemini build

Built with Google Gemini · ~12 months ago

The original take: 25 hand-tuned waves, four tower types with three upgrade tiers, six enemy archetypes including healers, and a path that rotates every five waves. Score is saved locally; difficulty levels are wired through.

Lines 3,299 File 178 KB Waves 25
Play 2025 build →
2026 · Claude Code

The 2026 Claude Code build

Built with Claude Code ·

The new take: grid-based placement, four tower archetypes with a chain-lightning Spark, an aerial enemy and a final boss across 15 waves, particle bursts, a chargeable Strike ultimate, and a procedural Web-Audio score. Same constraint — one HTML file.

Lines ~1,650 Waves 15 Built in one chat session
Play 2026 build →
2026 · Codex
AGE WAR

The 2026 Codex wildcard

Built with Codex ·

The pivot: an Age-of-War style side-scroller with four eras, generated unit sprites, evolving base art, turret upgrades, enemy pressure waves, and era-specific special attacks. Still one file, still no dependencies.

Lines 1,908 Eras 4 Genre lane war
Play Codex build →