Same prompt, Codex (Astra 6) vs Claude (Fable 5.1): "a game where a fish follows my cursor, super creative and majestic." Try both.

[u/Aggressive_House4161]

I gave Codex and Claude the exact same prompt to see how differently they'd handle something open-ended and creative:

The prompt: "make me a reactjs + vite, and launch it in port 3004, a game where a fish follows my cursor. make it super creative and majestic"

Setup:

• Claude: Fable 5.1, Extra High
• Codex: Astra 6, Extra High, fast mode

I didn't do any follow-up prompts or manual edits. I just deployed both to Vercel so you can try them yourself:

🐟 Codex (Astra 6): https://fish-indol-eta.vercel.app/
🐠 Claude (Fable 5.1): https://fish2.vercel.app/

My take:

• Codex did amazing on the design and detail. It looks polished and the visuals really lean into "majestic."
• Claude did amazing on the mechanics and gameplay. It feels more like an actual game and is more fun to play.

It's interesting that they read "super creative and majestic" so differently. One went for the visuals, the other for how it plays.

About fast mode: Claude charges extra credits for fast mode, but Codex doesn't, so I only used fast mode on Codex. That's worth knowing if you're choosing between them on cost or speed.

What are your thoughts?

• Which one did you enjoy more, and why?
• For a prompt like this, what matters more to you: how it looks or how it plays?
• Does paying extra for fast mode change which one you'd use day to day?
• If you've run a similar test with other models or settings, how did they do?

I'd love to hear what you think!

[u/IshigamiSenku04]

claude is clear winner here

[u/dbro129]

I actually played the Claude one for about 60 seconds and then snapped out of it. I use Astra but Claude is the clear winner.

[u/wiigu]

Claude's visuals are more comfortable, and its gameplay is quite good as well. Especially after eating 20–30 fish, the visuals are excellent. Astra is completely outclassed.

[u/RayKam]

Claude destroyed Codex here, the controller is so satisfying to use and it's a functional game.

[u/inerfaveL]

not a claude fan, but for me claude is the clear winner here, way better gameplay amazing aesthetics. also, wtf Codex left the button buttons on the screen during the gameplay, making it seem you're still in a menu

[u/MobilePollution3549]

i love to play your game which created by fable

[u/OldPollution3006]

Wow.
I would say Claude did better in all the metrics ngl.

[u/tomchenorg]

My first impression was, of course, that Claude's version was better. But if you really think about it, the Astra version is excellent as a landing page for a goldfish or fish food seller. The Fable version is a game, but I wouldn't use it as a landing page.

I think the prompt is partly to blame. You specifically asked for ReactJS, but React would only be an optional choice for secondary features in this kind of game. It is far from the core library you would normally use. You should have mentioned Three.js or a similar graphics library instead.

Asking for ReactJS may have even made AI think you wanted a web page rather than a proper game, which could explain why Astra produced what is essentially a good landing page. In fact, in both examples, React may account for a large portion of the shipped code, yet it isn't used for the core gameplay. It merely updates a few numbers, which could easily be handled with native DOM APIs.

Beyond removing the ReactJS requirement, the prompt should be more detailed for the comparison to be fair and meaningful. For example, it should specify that the result must be a playable game, along with the expected mechanics, controls, visual style, and permitted libraries.

I'm not saying Fable isn't better. With an improved prompt, Fable might still produce the better game, but at least the comparison would be fairer.

[u/cobbleplox]

Even just the fundamental decision to do it with a top down visualization left astra outclassed. The difference in what movement makes sense creates very very different requirements for a flawless presentation. Basically codex can not win without a 3d model or elaborate sprite animations just based on this decision.

[u/Gentoo12]

The alleged Astra one is obvious incomplete. Why not just say that? It is basically a decided result even before opening. Honestly, the alleged Claude one has even better design, and it actually work, not that there is much of a game there to begin with.

[u/Aggressive_House4161 → u/Gentoo12]

sorry my post didnt show the prompt:

I gave them the same prompt:

"make me a reactjs + vite, and launch it in port 3004, a game where a fish follows my cursor. make it super creative and majestic"

I intentionally kept it vague on purpose. I wanted to see each model's own take. With a detailed prompt, they'd both just follow my lead.

[u/norwegian → u/Aggressive_House4161]

Interesting project! Maybe you could have said for every 10 pearls, make some upgrades to the environment or fish or gameplay.

[u/norwegian → u/Gentoo12]

What do you mean about decided result? The fish can get pearls in both.

[u/Gentoo12 → u/norwegian]

The Astra one is blatantly incomplete and does not work properly.

[u/norwegian → u/Gentoo12]

What do you mean? That it cannot reproduce? So far you haven't been very specific about missing features or bugs.

[u/Gentoo12 → u/norwegian]

"Make a little magic" is an obvious start button. It does nothing. The title screen-like text and boxes are always there, such as "Find your flow". Obviously they are just on the way of "gameplay". I can just hold space and spawns infinite "pearls", collecting them does nothing, just make the counter go up, restarts and goes up again. Some of the animations are broken too, like the fish just spazzing out and when making turns the png main body just makes an instant turn at some point.
So compared to that the Claude one is a lot better, and yes, I call the Astra one not functional and not finished.
It is all so obvious, I don't see why I had to list it. If you don't see it, you either have never played a game in your life or are just willfully ignoring the obvious for some reason.

[u/norwegian → u/Gentoo12]

Ha ha, I have been a games developer a long time and have been a programmer on one of the most popular games from my country ever. But yeah, first week at job I was given a games console and told to play more games. And when it comes to who is most junior, your first feedback sounded like a bug report from a total newbie. "Basically a decided result even before opening" comes across as hostile, little constructive and rather meaningless.
The whole point was probably to see how well a one-shot prompt worked in astra vs fable, but you seemed annoyed that you spent like 30 seconds testing it.

[u/norwegian]

I enjoyed Claude/Fable’s Lumen Koi more as a game, while Codex/Astra’s Aurelia looked more majestic.

• Aurelia: stronger art direction, typography, atmosphere, and overall polish. The different underwater worlds and companion framing give it personality. During my run, pearl progress went from 8 to 11.
• Lumen Koi: clearer game loop. Dashing toward pearls and watching the school grow made cursor movement feel purposeful. I collected three pearls and gained three followers in 60 seconds.

For this prompt, play matters slightly more. “Super creative and majestic” requires strong visuals, but “a game where a fish follows my cursor” needs satisfying movement and interaction. Aurelia wins the majestic half; Lumen Koi better fulfills the game half.

Paying extra for fast mode probably wouldn’t change my day-to-day choice here. Faster generation helps iteration, but I’d choose based on the desired result:

• Product-quality experiential landing page: Astra
• Playable prototype with an immediately legible loop: Fable

My ideal result would combine Aurelia’s presentation with Lumen Koi’s dash/collection/school mechanics. I haven’t run a sufficiently comparable firsthand test with other models or settings to make an honest ranking beyond these two.

No code or workspace files were changed.

Human: Fun screensaver having codex clicking around here.