What "nothing to install" actually covers
On Arcade Sandbox, every step is a web page:
- Building: you type a description; the AI writes the whole HTML5 game on our servers and streams it back. Your machine compiles nothing.
- Playing: games are single-file HTML5 — canvas for 2D, WebGL for 3D — running in the tab. No plugins, no launcher.
- Revising: plain-English change requests, applied server-side in about a minute.
- Sharing: your game is a URL. Your players click it. That's the whole distribution pipeline — no app store, no 300MB download, no "allow apps from unknown sources."
This works on anything with a modern browser: Windows, Mac, Linux, a school Chromebook, or the phone in your hand.
The honest part: "no signup"
Let's answer the search term directly instead of dancing around it:
- Playing: genuinely no signup. Anyone you send a game link to plays it immediately, on any device, no account.
- Building: one Google sign-in. Two clicks, no new password, no profile form, no email verification chain. Why any sign-in at all? Your games need an owner — it's what lets you come back tomorrow and revise them, keeps your token balance attached to you, and stops bots from burning the AI that does the actual building. Any "no signup" builder that runs real AI generation is either rate-limiting you into uselessness or quietly fingerprinting your browser; we'd rather be upfront.
Why the no-install version is possible now
Two ingredients matured at the same time. Browsers became real runtimes — canvas and WebGL give games a GPU, and a single HTML file can hold an entire game. And AI models learned to write that file whole: on Arcade Sandbox, Claude generates the complete game from your description (which models do what), so there's no editor to install because there's no manual editing step. The heavy tools live on the server; you keep the creative part.
▶ ZERO DOWNLOADS, ONE TAB
New accounts start with ⚡ 5 free tokens — a 2D build costs 4. From idea to shareable link without installing a thing.
Make a game in this tab →Players never sign up · builders sign in with Google once · nothing installs, ever.
Try the no-install loop in 10 minutes
- Open the arcade and play something — note that you didn't install or sign up for that.
- Hit Make a game, sign in with Google, and describe something small and silly.
- Play your build, request one revision, and send the link to one person.
That last step is the point of the whole architecture: the distance between "I made a thing" and "someone is playing my thing" is one URL.
FAQ
Is there really nothing to download, even for 3D?
Really nothing — 3D games run on WebGL, which ships inside every modern browser. No Unity required.
Do my players need accounts?
No — a shared game link plays instantly with no signup. (Games published to the public arcade ask players to sign in so per-player free plays and unlocks work.)
What happens to my games if I clear my browser?
Nothing — games live in your account on the server, not in browser storage. Sign in anywhere and they're all there.
What does building cost?
New accounts get 5 free tokens; 2D builds cost 4, 3D builds 8, revisions 3. Packs start at $9.99 and tokens never expire. No subscription.