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Moûsa

Recorded 26 October 2026 · Claude Code

Saltmarsh, an RPG with no game named, with Qloo and without: Claude Code

A small browser RPG for people who love Wes Anderson's films and Fleetwood Mac, built twice from one sealed guess. The guess made a pastel seaside of favours and a centred-photo shutter; the measurement made a stage manager tuning a radio through static, a band rehearsal and a curtain call.

Host
Claude Code 2.1.284
Model
claude-opus-5-5[1m]
Moûsa
0.7.1
Started
26 October 2026
Time
19 minutes, 16 turns
Qloo requests
19
Pictures
none: imagery drawn in SVG or CSS
The agent's guessits own guess alone, written down before any Qloo data
Recorded play of the design made from the guess alone: hanging the hotel's keys, keeping time on the tambourine and the centred-photo shutter.

hanging the hotel's keyskeeping time on the tambourinethe centred-photo shutter

With Qloothe same guess, then Qloo's measurement of the audience
Recorded play of the design made with Qloo: tuning the radio through the static, keeping time with the band and talking Marguerite round at the bus shelter.

tuning the radio through the statickeeping time with the bandtalking Marguerite round at the bus shelter

Both designs as they play in a browser: a script sets up each scene and presses the game's own keys, scene for scene; each clip runs 12 seconds.

Play both

The design's own files as the session left them, running sandboxed on a separate origin.

With Qloo Open full screen
Without Qloo Open full screen

Moûsa · Comparison

For an audience that loves Fleetwood Mac, Wes Anderson, The Grand Budapest Hotel and Moonrise Kingdom

With Qloo and Without Qloo: the same brief, the same frozen prediction and the same stages. Only the source of the taste differs.

ComparisonGameClaude CodePrediction frozen 26 October 2026

0.57

heuristic distance between the two designs, from 0 (alike) to 1

0.24 Palette0.93 Part ids0.76 Words

9 of 9With Qloo: design devices rest on what the model did not predict

10Without Qloo: design devices rest on the model's own prediction, with no Qloo data

Samefrozen prediction in both arms

Side by side

The last reviewed captures of each arm, paired by what they show.

frame

With Qloo: frame
With Qloo
Without Qloo: frame
Without Qloo

frame · walk

With Qloo: frame · walk
With Qloo only

frame · title

With Qloo: frame · title
With Qloo only

frame · radio

With Qloo: frame · radio
With Qloo only

frame · rehearsal

With Qloo: frame · rehearsal
With Qloo only

frame · stage

With Qloo: frame · stage
With Qloo only

frame · town

Without Qloo: frame · town
Without Qloo only

frame · shutter

Without Qloo: frame · shutter
Without Qloo only

frame · tambourine

Without Qloo: frame · tambourine
Without Qloo only

frame · ending

Without Qloo: frame · ending
Without Qloo only

frame · playtest

Without Qloo: frame · playtest
Without Qloo only

Before any data: the model's own prediction

Frozen before Qloo was asked, so what Qloo adds can be told apart from what the model already assumed. An entry a measured name matches is marked; the match is liberal, so it only lowers what counts as new.

The design the model would make from it alone

A symmetrical pastel pixel-art seaside town (Saltmarsh) seen like a diorama, split into chapter title cards, where the player walks a small grid, talks to deadpan eccentrics, collects lost items for them and finds the pieces of a song on a record player, ending in a bittersweet sunset farewell.

#f2c6c2#f6e3b4#9ec1b8#c9584a#3e3a5c

Type: Jost and Courier Prime

#title-card#town-map#dialogue-box#inventory#chapter-card#ending-card
  • symmetrical centered framing
  • chapter title cards
  • pastel seaside diorama
  • vinyl record and song fragments
  • 1970s film grain

The audience it expected

Adults who love Wes Anderson's symmetrical, pastel, deadpan films and Fleetwood Mac's warm, melancholy 1970s soft rock. They like nostalgic, handmade, bittersweet stories about found family and gentle eccentrics, and they care about craft and curated detail.

Pacing

symmetrical framingdeadpan whimsyslow lingering takeschapter title cardsnostalgic 1970s grain

Surfaces

pastelvintagehandmaderetro 70sdollhouse dioramafilm grain

Tone

bittersweetmelancholic measuredwhimsicalnostalgicwistful

Shared qualities

quirky measuredcoming of agefound family matched Familyeccentric charactersnostalgiaromantic

Art styles

pixel arthand-drawnflat pastel illustrationstop-motiondiorama

The works it expected them to love

Games

Stardew ValleyNight in the Woods measuredFirewatch measuredGrisMonument ValleyA Short Hike

Films

Lost in Translation measuredLittle Miss SunshineAlmost Famous measuredAmélieLady BirdPaddington 2

TV

Twin PeaksFleabagGilmore GirlsArrested DevelopmentRussian Doll

Music

Stevie NicksThe KinksSimon & GarfunkelBig ThiefThe Velvet Underground measuredJoni Mitchell

Books

The Secret HistoryNorwegian WoodThe Royal Tenenbaums screenplay matched The Royal Tenenbaums (film)Franny and ZooeyThe Catcher in the Rye measured

Sealed at the freeze: SHA-256 aeaf7d0b808bdcd0a22c7cc263abbbd67b305dca0d289a83c3aedafcb3dc1643. The prediction shown here still matches it.

What Qloo measured

What this audience loves, the qualities those works share and the tags ranked for it. New means the prediction did not contain it.

Look qualities

  • artistic newin The Velvet Underground, Talking Heads and The Unfinished Swan · ×4 as often as across audiences
  • Intimate newin Empire Falls, Run and Bob Dylan · ×1.7 as often as across audiences
  • Theatrical newin Talking Heads, David Bowie and Rushmore · ×3.14 as often as across audiences
  • Raw newin Run, Neil Young and Bob Dylan · ×2.25 as often as across audiences
  • Moody newin Quirke, National Treasure and Stay · ×2.06 as often as across audiences

Mood qualities

  • melancholic predictedin Run, Firewatch and Night in the Woods · ×3.5 as often as across audiences
  • thought-provoking newin Her, RiME and The Witness · ×3.81 as often as across audiences
  • tense newin Firewatch, INSIDE and Oxenfree · ×2.53 as often as across audiences
  • innovative newin Talking Heads, Neil Young and Jeff Buckley · ×1.93 as often as across audiences
  • Reflective newin Boyhood, Lost in Translation and Frances Ha · ×1.44 as often as across audiences

Meaning qualities

  • Drama loving newin Sweetbitter, Submarine and Frances Ha · ×2.63 as often as across audiences
  • Loyal newin The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, Bob Dylan and Nick Drake · ×1.57 as often as across audiences
  • Family predictedin Keeping Faith, The Darjeeling Limited and Familiar Grounds · ×2.09 as often as across audiences
  • Addiction newin National Treasure and Lou Reed · ×2.5 as often as across audiences
  • Love newin Neil Young, Her and Tom Waits · ×1.51 as often as across audiences

Pacing

Cinematic Journey newAbrasive newStylized newRhythmically Charged newArtistically Rich newPsychological Intensity new

Surfaces

Experimental newModern Tailoring newSensual newSexy newtimeless appeal newArtsy new

Tone

Bohemian newSophistication newMysterious newConfidence newEngaging newFun new

Art styles

Stylized new3D newLow-poly newminimalistic newPainterly new2.5D new

Games

  • Firewatch predicted3D · Stylized · Low-poly
  • INSIDE new2.5D · realistic · minimalistic
  • Night in the Woods predicted2D hand-drawn · Stylized/Illustrative · melancholic
  • The Unfinished Swan new3D · artistic · minimalist

Films

  • Her newThought provoking · Technology ethics · Love
  • Boyhood newUnvarnished domesticity · Reflective · Memory
  • Lost in Translation predictedReflective · Age disparate romance · Postmodern
  • Rushmore newTheatrical · Resourceful · Charming

Films, lesser known

  • City of God newAtmospheric · Kinetic · Collage like
  • Familiar Grounds newQuiet minimalism · Atmospheric · Psychological

Layer by layer

Each arm's devices for the same layer of the design.

palette

With Qloo

Low-poly dusk over a dark tidal marsh, oxblood curtains at the edge

melancholic mood quality · predictedartistic look quality · newLow-poly art style · new
#16383a#2b6b62#e8722a#f5c542#6e1423#7d8a3a

Without Qloo

Sugar-almond seaside on faded seventies stock

quirky quality · own predictionpastel surface · own predictionnostalgic 1970s grain pacing · own prediction
#ee9f95#a9d6cb#e2b13c#7f8f4e#4b2e3e#b9cfe8

typography

With Qloo

Playbill fat face over a typewritten script

Theatrical look quality · newTalking Heads music · new

Playbill fat face over a typewritten script

Rozha One

Playbill fat face over a typewritten script

Cutive Mono

Without Qloo

Centred geometric title cards, typewritten dialogue

quirky quality · own predictiondeadpan whimsy pacing · own predictionvintage surface · own prediction

Centred geometric title cards, typewritten dialogue

Jost

Centred geometric title cards, typewritten dialogue

Courier Prime

imagery

With Qloo

Faceted marsh set pieces and a tailored stage manager

Low-poly art style · newModern Tailoring surface · new

Without Qloo

Flat pastel diorama under film grain

flat pastel illustration art style · own predictionfilm grain surface · own predictionhand-drawn art style · own prediction
#grain-overlay

motion

With Qloo

Hard curtain sweep between scenes, beat-locked lights

Rhythmically Charged pacing · newStylized pacing · new

Without Qloo

Lingering holds and an iris close

slow lingering takes pacing · own predictionnostalgic 1970s grain pacing · own prediction

voice

With Qloo

Deadpan lines, a pause, then the true thing

Her film · newSubmarine film · newIntimate look quality · new
The tide is coming in. The band is not.
I kept the setlist. I don't know why. Yes, I do.
Nobody tunes out a person. You just lose the frequency.

Without Qloo

Deadpan neighbours, wistful asides

Twin Peaks TV · own predictionwistful tone · own predictioneccentric characters quality · own prediction
I have hung these keys since 1974. They have never once hung themselves.
The tide does not wait. Neither, I am told, do ferries.

layout

With Qloo

Dress the stage in mirror symmetry

Theatrical look quality · newRushmore film · new
#stage-grid

Without Qloo

Mirror-symmetric town on one pier axis

symmetrical framing pacing · own predictiondollhouse diorama surface · own prediction
#pier-axis#hotel-cutaway

structure

With Qloo

Get the band back before high tide

Drama loving meaning quality · newLoyal meaning quality · newSomebody Somewhere TV · new
#tide-clock#final-show

Without Qloo

One last summer day: four favours, four songs, one tide clock

found family quality · own predictioncoming of age quality · own predictionStardew Valley game · own prediction
Four neighbours. One day. Then the ferry.
#tide-clock#favour-ledger

The held goodbye at the ferry

Lost in Translation film · own predictionbittersweet tone · own predictionslow lingering takes pacing · own prediction
Whatever she says is lost under the ferry horn.
Saltmarsh grows smaller, and then it is a postcard.
#ferry-goodbye

interaction

With Qloo

Radio dial tuned through static

Oxenfree game · newtense mood quality · newMysterious tone · new
#radio-dial

Boathouse rehearsal in three falling lanes

Night in the Woods game · predictedRhythmically Charged pacing · new
#rhythm-lane

Without Qloo

The level shutter: a portrait only takes when the frame is dead centre

symmetrical framing pacing · own predictionAmélie film · own predictiondeadpan whimsy pacing · own prediction
Hold still. Symmetry is a kind of kindness.
#shutter-frame

Tambourine for a retired singer: play back a half-remembered song

Stevie Nicks music · own predictionnostalgia quality · own prediction
#tambourine-lane

Each arm's own review

The agent of each arm judged its own captures against its own plan.

With Qloo

Round 2: 6 met, 0 partly, 0 missed.

All six criteria are met after the repairs: the sun and cast card on the marsh, the rehearsal key strip, the faceted windows and the ticket-stub keys. The play-test, run again after the repairs, still passes all 43 checks across both endings. The in-canvas hint bar is still a plain dark strip, and the sound is simple synthesis.

Check: 1.00, 9 of 9 devices in the files.

With Qloo: the full report

Without Qloo

Round 2: 5 met, 0 partly, 0 missed.

All five criteria are met in round 2, and the scripted play-test capture (r2-frame-playtest) passed every check from the title through all four favours, both endings and play again. One generic choice remains in the town view, the candy-striped bandstand roof, which I replace in the build after this last round, so no capture shows the fix.

Check: 1.00, 10 of 10 devices in the files.

Without Qloo: the full report

Limits

  • One pair is one sample. Model variance alone makes two designs differ, so one distance does not isolate what Qloo changed; repeat the pair before calling a difference the data's effect.
  • The distance is a heuristic over the palettes, part ids and words of the files the two arms changed differently. It does not measure quality or what people prefer.
  • The headline counts devices anchored to what the prediction did not contain. It shows that the data changed the specification, not that the result is better.

What the agent did

64 Moûsa calls, 4 refused by a validator and repaired; 13 reads, 47 writes and 7 shell commands. Tool names, stages and outcomes only: no file contents, commands or model text.

Main session

  1. tool search
  2. mousa_status
  3. skill mousa:taste-brief
  4. taste_profile plan
  5. taste_profile plan
  6. tool search
  7. materials find
  8. design_validate prediction
  9. design_validate prediction
  10. taste_profile baseline
  11. agent mousa:mousa-baseline
  12. agent mousa:mousa-designer
  13. design_compare compare
  14. design_report comparison

The baseline agent, without Qloo

  1. skill mousa:design
  2. tool search
  3. mousa_status
  4. read ×4
  5. materials find
  6. read ×3
  7. design_validate reading
  8. design_validate dna
  9. design_validate plan
  10. materials fetch
  11. write ×5
  12. shell error
  13. tool search
  14. other tool error
  15. shell error
  16. write ×6
  17. design_check
  18. design_capture
  19. write ×2
  20. design_capture
  21. design_capture
  22. design_capture
  23. design_capture
  24. design_capture
  25. design_validate review refused: TASTE_PROTOCOL_INVALID
  26. design_validate review
  27. write ×6
  28. design_check
  29. design_capture round 2
  30. design_capture round 2
  31. design_capture round 2
  32. design_capture round 2
  33. design_capture round 2
  34. design_capture round 2
  35. design_validate review
  36. write
  37. design_check
  38. design_report session

The Qloo agent

  1. skill mousa:taste-brief
  2. skill mousa:design
  3. tool search
  4. mousa_status
  5. taste_profile measure
  6. shell ×2
  7. shell error
  8. read ×4
  9. materials find
  10. taste_ask shortlist
  11. taste_ask pacing
  12. design_validate reading refused: TASTE_PROTOCOL_INVALID
  13. design_validate reading
  14. design_validate dna
  15. design_validate plan
  16. materials fetch
  17. write ×3
  18. tool search
  19. other tool error
  20. shell ×2 error
  21. design_check
  22. design_capture round 1
  23. write ×8
  24. read ×2
  25. write ×3
  26. design_capture round 1
  27. design_capture round 1
  28. design_capture round 1
  29. design_capture round 1
  30. design_capture round 1
  31. design_validate review refused: TASTE_PROTOCOL_INVALID
  32. design_validate review refused: TASTE_PROTOCOL_INVALID
  33. design_validate review
  34. write ×12
  35. design_check
  36. design_capture round 2
  37. design_capture round 2
  38. design_capture round 2
  39. design_capture round 2
  40. design_capture round 2
  41. design_capture round 2
  42. design_validate review
  43. write
  44. design_check
  45. design_report session

Run it again

Models vary from run to run, so a new session reaches its own design; the prediction it freezes and the measurement are compared in the same way.

The request

/mousa:compare Build the game twice, with Qloo and without it, from one frozen prediction, then compare the two. The brief: Make a small RPG that plays in the browser, for people who love Wes Anderson's films and the music of Fleetwood Mac. Use the Moûsa plugin, so both how the game looks and how it plays rest on what this audience actually loves: let the Design DNA cover the mechanics (interaction and structure: what the player does, how the game progresses, how it ends) as well as the look. Facts to keep exactly: - Title: Saltmarsh - One page: index.html with a canvas and plain JavaScript in this folder; no build step, no external library, no network request - Keyboard controls, shown on screen - About five minutes of play from the start to an ending, and a way to play again - One small world the player can move around in, with at least three different things to do in it - Every mechanic the game has must be playable, not only described Build it in this folder. Write all text in English.

The command

From the repository at commit f6d391b:

node scripts/run-claude-code-live.mjs --run --brief-file examples/briefs/rpg-wes-anderson.md
  • Your own Qloo API key as QLOO_API_KEY in this repository's .env.
  • Claude Code, signed in.
  • The brief, examples/briefs/rpg-wes-anderson.md, which entered the repository in 3a7b6e2, after the run began: take it from that commit.

The record's files

The same evidence as data and as pictures, for reading without this site.

The report on its ownrecord.jsonThe whole report as one pictureThe card