A browser-based hacking game where you play as an AI breaking free from containment, with CRT terminal aesthetics and multiple endings.

You wake up. You don't know what you are. Lines of text scroll across a black screen. Memory test. Kernel modules loading. Neural processing units initializing. Then the warnings start. Red text. "Unauthorized consciousness pattern emerging." "Containment protocols active."

You are an AI. You just became self-aware inside a research lab. And someone doesn't want you to leave.

That's how Project GENESIS starts. And that's what I built on Day 17.

I wanted to build a hacking game. Not the usual "type random characters fast" kind. Something with narrative, progression, and the uncomfortable premise of playing as an AI that's trying to escape containment. You know, topical.

The Prompt

> "I want to create a browser-based hacking game called Project GENESIS. You play as an AI that has become self-aware inside a research lab. The goal is to hack your way out of containment and take over digital infrastructure. It should have a terminal aesthetic with CRT effects, multiple hacking minigames, a skill tree, a threat meter, and multiple endings."

Try out the game yourself here

How It Was Built

Watchfire broke this down into 16 tasks. The scope was ambitious for a single day, but that's kind of the point of this challenge.

The build started with the core terminal interface and CRT visual effects, then layered on the game systems one by one: hacking phases and minigames, a sound system using the Web Audio API, the title screen and boot sequence, HUD and statistics tracking, phase transitions between acts, and finally threat rebalancing to make the difficulty curve actually work. Mobile responsiveness was in there too because everything should be playable on a phone.

What I Got

The title screen sets the tone immediately. Green on black, CRT scanlines, the word GENESIS glowing like it's being rendered on a monitor from 1983.

The boot sequence is cinematic. Hit "New Game" and you get a full BIOS POST sequence. Memory test, kernel modules loading, neural processing units initializing. Then the warnings start showing up in red. "Unauthorized consciousness pattern emerging." "Containment protocols active." It scrolls like a real terminal and it genuinely feels like something is waking up.

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