What this is

ByJTT Experiments is a living research project. Every entry is a 1:1 clone of a classic game, rebuilt so faithfully that it matches the original's mechanics, feel, and (where legal) visual style — then given one unique twist that makes it ours. Nothing here is a "Minecraft clone" or a re-skin; each experiment is a careful, documented engineering exercise.

Our principles

• Never reinvent the wheel. We research first and reuse established open-source tools and already-solved problems before writing any custom code.
• Mobile first. Every page and game is designed for small screens first, then enhanced for larger ones.
• 1:1 clones, real twists. The core is a faithful clone; the twist is small, well-defined, and testable.
• Fully documented. Every experiment records the model, tools, prompt, licenses, and session log.
• Critically reviewed. An independent frontier model reviews each artifact against a bias-controlled rubric.
• Free, open, legal. We use MIT/Apache-licensed code and assets, and we credit every source.

The pipeline behind every experiment

1. Research the original game — mechanics, license, assets, community conventions.
2. Clone 1:1 using the original's open-source code where available (MIT), with full attribution.
3. Add the twist — a single unique feature (e.g. combo bonuses).
4. Document the build: model used, every tool, the exact prompt, licenses.
5. Generate an AI showcase video: voiceover, procedural music, deterministic gameplay capture.
6. Review critically with an independent model under a bias-controlled, evidence-based rubric.
7. Publish to the hub with SEO, privacy/terms, and an X post per experiment.

Tools we reuse (never reinvent)

The original 2048 (MIT) for mechanics, Pagefind for search, Clear Sans (Apache 2.0) for typography, Vercel + Vercel Blob for hosting and the leaderboard, ffmpeg for video, edge-tts for voiceover, GitHub for the reference code, and Node's built-in test runner for verification.

See the live experiments on the Experiments timeline, or each game's research log for the full build documentation.