How did you use AI?
Claude (Opus 5.5, in Claude Code): all the code (Godot 4), the 3D figures (Blender) turned into animated puppets, the print-style art pipeline, sound levelling, test tools and balance simulation, and first drafts of the text.
Midjourney: the backgrounds, the carved frame, the story and ending illustrations, and character reference art.
Visual edits: ChatGPT
ElevenLabs: the voices. Matthew Schmitz is the narrator; Alaric is Bayun.
Suno: the battle music, “The Crooked Dance” and "Bayun's Song" - Atlas Archive

Clever tricks

Robot against cat. You’re Nemko, a robot built from a church bell, climbing to Bayun, the giant cat of Slavic folklore. He never moves; he fights back by telling tales and singing.
Exact forecast. Hover over or tap a tile and the game shows exactly what the cat will do in reply. A test checks thousands of these forecasts, with zero mismatches.
Steer him by walking. On the left of the pillar he tells tales, which summon creatures. On the right he sings, which puts them to sleep but makes the moon run faster.
Print-making pipeline. Blender renders go through a custom engraver to get a folk-print look, then are cut into puppet layers for animation.
Tuned by simulation. Bots played thousands of games: careful play reaches the summit about half the time; clicking forward, about 10%.
Hidden ending. The cat secretly wants something too. He lets a clue slip near where it’s hidden, which leads to the ending where you feed him instead of beating him.

List of Team Members (name or pseudonyms)
Kay Kovalčík (Atlas House): director, writing, art direction, voice direction, sound. Claude (Anthropic): engineering, 3D and animation, pipelines, testing.

How does your game fit the restriction?
You’re a robot, and all you can do is walk. Every action is one step in eight directions: Walk straight into a creature to strike it. Walk diagonally into one to give a gift: the direction picks the hand. Step onto a niche to pick up an item, or onto a chain to choke the cat. Where you walk decides whether he tells tales or sings. At the summit, where you walk picks the ending. On a phone, tap to preview a step and tap again or swipe to take it.