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Guide · Open source

How to use Claude Code Game Studios: setup, agents and commands

Updated · written with AI from the project's own documentation and checked against our catalogue data

Claude Code Game Studios is an open-source template you clone into a project folder. It gives a single Claude Code session a studio-style structure: 49 agents arranged in tiers, 74 slash commands for design, production, QA and release, plus hooks and rules that check your work. This guide covers what you need installed, how to clone and start the template, how the agents and commands fit together, and where it is a poor fit.

Claude Code Game StudiosDonchitos/Claude-Code-Game-Studios · ★ 33k · MIT

Quick start

  1. 1Install prerequisites. Install Git, Claude Code, Python 3 and Bash. Add jq if you want hook validation.
  2. 2Clone the repository. Run the git clone command from the README into the folder where your project will live.
  3. 3Finish the setup in the README. The excerpt stops mid-setup, so follow the remaining setup steps in the repository README.
  4. 4Open the project in Claude Code. Start a session in the cloned folder and run /start to orient yourself.
  5. 5Choose your engine. Run /setup-engine and pick the set that matches Godot, Unity or Unreal Engine.
  6. 6Begin design work. Use /brainstorm or /design-system to start documenting your game before you write code.

What Claude Code Game Studios adds to Claude Code

The template is a set of agents, skills, hooks, rules and document templates that live inside the project you clone. Its README describes the goal as giving one Claude Code session the structure of a real studio, so that design docs, reviews and quality checks happen alongside the coding.

You still make the final decisions. The agents are there to ask questions, catch mistakes and keep documents organized.

  • Agents: 49 specialized subagents across design, programming, art, audio, narrative, QA and production
  • Skills: 74 slash commands for each workflow phase, such as /start, /design-system, /create-stories and /dev-story
  • Hooks: 15 automated checks on commits, pushes, asset changes and session lifecycle
  • Rules: 14 path-scoped coding standards for gameplay, engine, AI, UI, network, scene and asset files
  • Templates: 62 document templates for GDDs, UX specs, ADRs and sprint plans

Install the prerequisites before you clone

You need Git, Claude Code and Python 3. Bash runs the hooks. The README recommends the native Claude Code installer. The npm route also works but needs Node.js 22 or newer. jq is recommended for hook validation.

Python 3 matters more than it might seem. The README says it reads project.yaml for every skill and hook, and without it every setting silently falls back to its default. Hooks fail gracefully if optional tools are missing, but a commit that stages data JSON is blocked when there is no Python to validate it.

  • Git
  • Claude Code (native installer recommended; npm install also possible)
  • Python 3
  • Bash (built into macOS and Linux; on Windows it comes with Git for Windows)
  • jq (recommended, for hook validation)

Clone the template and start the setup

Clone the repository from GitHub into the folder where you want your project to live. The README then continues with setup steps that this excerpt does not include, so read the setup section in the repository's README before you continue.

Once the folder is in place, open it in Claude Code. The onboarding commands listed in the README include /start, /setup-engine and /adopt, which are the entry points to explore.

git clone https://github.com/Donchitos/Claude-Code-Game-Studios

How the studio hierarchy is organized

Agents sit in three tiers. Tier 1 holds three directors: creative-director, technical-director and producer. Tier 2 holds department leads such as game-designer, lead-programmer, art-director and qa-lead. Tier 3 holds specialists such as gameplay-programmer, level-designer and qa-tester.

Each agent declares a model in its frontmatter. The README says the three directors request Opus, lead-programmer and fifteen specialists request Sonnet, and the remaining thirty inherit your session's model. It also says the tiers describe seniority of role, not a billing plan.

  • Tier 1 (directors): creative-director, technical-director, producer
  • Tier 2 (department leads): game-designer, lead-programmer, art-director, audio-director, narrative-director, qa-lead, release-manager, localization-lead
  • Tier 3 (specialists): gameplay-programmer, engine-programmer, ai-programmer, network-programmer, tools-programmer, ui-programmer, systems-designer, level-designer, economy-designer, technical-artist, sound-designer, writer, world-builder, ux-designer, prototyper, performance-analyst, devops-engineer, analytics-engineer, security-engineer, qa-tester, accessibility-specialist, live-ops-designer, community-manager

Pick an engine set and use the slash commands

The template includes agent sets for Godot 4, Unity and Unreal Engine 5. Use the set that matches your project. Each set has a lead agent: godot-specialist, unity-specialist or unreal-specialist, with sub-specialists for areas such as GDScript, DOTS/ECS, GAS and Blueprints.

The commands are grouped by workflow phase. Type / in Claude Code to see them all. Common starting points from the README are /brainstorm for ideas, /design-system for a design document and /sprint-plan for planning work. Team commands such as /team-combat coordinate several agents on one feature.

  • Onboarding: /start, /help, /setup-engine, /adopt
  • Design: /brainstorm, /map-systems, /design-system, /quick-design
  • Stories and sprints: /create-epics, /create-stories, /dev-story, /sprint-plan, /story-done
  • Reviews: /design-review, /code-review, /balance-check, /gate-check
  • QA: /qa-plan, /smoke-check, /regression-suite
  • Release: /release-checklist, /changelog, /hotfix

Know what it does not include

The template is large, and the README says the games are deliberately not included. It is a starting point for your own project, not a sample game. The README also says a story that changes anything the player sees is not closed until the game has been launched, observed and a screenshot kept in production/qa/evidence/.

If you want a small setup with few moving parts, this is likely more than you need.

  • No finished game or sample project is shipped
  • Designed for Claude Code only; the agents and skills do not target other tools
  • Requires Python 3 and Bash for the hooks

What people use it for

  • Structuring a solo indie project with design docs, sprint plans and reviews before coding
  • Running a QA pass with /qa-plan, /smoke-check and /regression-suite on a Godot, Unity or Unreal project
  • Studying how a multi-agent system splits responsibilities across directors, leads and specialists
  • Coordinating one feature across several agents with a team command such as /team-combat or /team-ui

Frequently asked questions

Is Claude Code Game Studios free?

The repository is licensed under MIT, and the README describes it as a template you clone into your project. The README also lists optional sponsorship links, which are not required to use the template. Claude Code itself is a separate tool that you install and use under its own terms.

What do I need to install before using Claude Code Game Studios?

You need Git, Claude Code, Python 3 and Bash. The README recommends the native Claude Code installer, and jq is recommended for hook validation. Without Python 3, the settings in project.yaml fall back to defaults silently.

Does Claude Code Game Studios work with Godot, Unity and Unreal?

Yes. The README includes agent sets for Godot 4, Unity and Unreal Engine 5, each with a lead agent and sub-specialists. You choose the set that matches your project.

Does it come with a finished game I can run?

No. The README says the games are deliberately not included. The repository is a template for starting your own project.

How does it compare to just using one Claude Code chat?

A single session has no built-in structure for design reviews, QA or documentation. This template adds agents with defined roles, slash commands for each workflow phase, and hooks and rules that check your work. The trade-off is a larger setup with more moving parts.

Why are hooks failing or blocking my commit?

Hooks rely on Bash and, for some checks, Python 3 and jq. A commit that stages data JSON is blocked when Python is missing, because the hook cannot validate the file. Install the missing tool and try again.

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Our verdict

Claude Code Game Studios suits solo indie developers and small teams who already use Claude Code with Godot, Unity or Unreal and want documented design, sprint and QA workflows. It also suits anyone who wants to study how a multi-agent setup is organized. If you want a minimal setup, a finished sample game, or you do not use Claude Code, pick something else.

Install options & downloads