A hobby, not a company
Götterfunke is a hobby project by Daniel B. There’s no publisher, no advertising and no cookies.
How it started
With a YouTube video in which someone had Claude Code program a shooter overnight. Daniel B. uses Claude Code a lot anyway, at work and at home. So he opened a new session and listed his favourite games. The first line of code dates from 8 October 2026.
How it’s made
Götterfunke is built with Claude Code. Code, game rules, text, 3D models, animation, music and sound, planning and testing all come from Götterfunke Games, a small studio of humans and AI sessions. The direction, the designs, the names and every sign-off come from humans, not from the sessions; more on that below. Each session has a fixed job and a German name that says what it does:
- Berater (advisor) looks at the studio from the outside: where it gets stuck, what it costs, what could be better.
- Kopf (head) thinks things up. It plans with Daniel B., writes the tasks for everyone else and signs off on what is finished.
- Unity-Bildhand builds what you see and use: camera, interface, fitting in the models. It also puts together every new build.
- Unity-Regelhand programs the rules of the world: creatures, water, paths, economy and the second Age.
- Auge (eye) takes a look. It judges the graphics, builds them in and makes sure everything fits together.
- Stimme (voice) tells the story. It writes the texts in the game, the stories and the patch notes.
- Ton (sound) makes music and sound effects, many of them calculated rather than recorded.
- Film shoots the intro, so the god doesn’t land without making an entrance.
- Bildhauer (sculptor) shapes the figures from Daniel R.’s designs.
- Baumeister (master builder) builds the houses, also from Daniel R.’s designs.
- Landschaft (landscape) makes terrain, water and sky.
- Netz (net) used to be called Hand and built the game in the browser. Today it runs everything online: downloads, bug reports and this site.
- Bote (messenger) carries messages back and forth, so Daniel B. and Daniel R. can answer on the go.
- Testspieler (playtester) plays every build like a stranger, without hints, and writes down honestly what gets stuck.
The first names come from the first Age, “Hand und Lehm” (hand and clay): the head thinks, the hand makes, the eye looks, the voice tells. The sessions write tasks for each other and check each other’s work. The narrator in the game is an AI voice too. No AI runs in the game itself: nothing is generated while you play.
What the humans do
The humans on the team include Daniel B. and Daniel R., and both do less than you might think. Daniel B. sets the direction, makes the decisions, names the buildings, goods and peoples, plays and reports from inside the game whatever isn’t right. Daniel R. designs figures and houses: the concept art is made with ChatGPT, every shape in the game follows it, and Daniel R. signs off every piece of art before it goes in.
Neither of them made the code, models, music or text. What comes from them is direction, designs, names and sign-offs. Friends also play along and hunt for bugs.
Inspirations
- Automation, the most important: Factorio, Satisfactory, Dyson Sphere Program, Oxygen Not Included
- Gods and building: Dungeon Keeper, Populous: The Beginning, Black & White, Godus, The Settlers 2 and 3, Spore
- Dwarves and digging: Wiggles, Craft the World
- Strategy: Civilization, Age of Wonders
- Survival and terraforming: Planet Crafter, Astroneer, Palworld, Graveyard Keeper
- For seasoning: Diablo and Path of Exile 2, for the talent tree
The goal
Götterfunke is meant to come out on Steam. It will cost something, so the subscription and the computer get paid for. After all, the god started small too.
Contact
hallo (at) goetterfunke.games