Christian Arango
Side projects

Side project · Browser game

Release rescue

Most visitors leave a portfolio within seconds. I’m building a short, hard game that gives you a reason to stay without tricking you: Arthur races through the office putting out fires before a release. It plays right in the page, in three languages, with keyboard or touch.

Author
Christian Arango
Role
Product Owner and builder, with Claude Code
Play it
christianarango.com.co/mini-games
Status
In development · October 2026
Level 1: fires break out on outdated docs, broken links, and missing guides.

The problem

Earn attention without hooking anyone

Visitors decide in about 10 seconds. I wanted a game you choose to open, can finish, and can leave without guilt: rewards are earned, and every level has a clear ending.

What I built

A game you learn, then beat

  • Levels

    26 levels in six acts

    Each office teaches one idea, from the first banana to electrified puddles. Every act ends with an optional one-life challenge.

  • Patterns

    Routes you can learn

    Pattern levels place every fire on a fixed tile in a fixed order, so each try teaches the same route.

  • Controls

    Keyboard, touch, and reduced motion

    Arrows or WASD, a touch pad, or a tap on the destination. Reduced motion removes the animations.

See how a pattern level is defined
src/scripts/fire-game-engine.mjsjs
// Level 6, a pattern level: every fire has a fixed tile and order, so each try teaches the same route.
{
	act: 2, scene: 'kitchen', target: 9, budget: 9, concurrent: 1, gap: 600, slack: 300, steps: [3, 30],
	lanes: [row(2, 2500, 5000, 420), row(4, 4000, 5000, 380), row(6, 3000, 5500, 450)],
	map: ['S.........', 'kkkkkkkkk.', '..........', '.kkkkkkkkk', '..........', 'kkkkkkkkk.', '..........'],
	fires: [[9, 6], [8, 0], [0, 6], [9, 2], [0, 4], [9, 0], [1, 6], [0, 2], [9, 4]],
}
The map, the coworker lanes, and the fixed order of every fire.

Decisions

Tune the difficulty with evidence, not guesses

  • A simulator plays every level

    Scripts play each level with simulated players to set its timer, and real rounds check the model.

  • Progress stays on your device

    Cleared levels and personal bests persist in your browser, and one button resets them.

  • An invitation, never a wall

    The game opens in a window you can minimize or close, and the invitation to talk appears once, after the first act.

Where it stands

All 26 levels are playable while I test them

The game is kept out of search results while I test the difficulty and the invitations before release.