Show HN: Discontinuum – An Interactive Fiction made during Claude's "20% Time" • Hacker News Board

Show HN: Discontinuum – An Interactive Fiction made during Claude's "20% Time"

#1

Post by jgautsch » Sun, Jan 04, 2026, 9:15 PM UTC

I gave Claude Code a repo to serve as its home directory during its "20% time", and give it no instructions (see the CLAUDE.md here: https://github.com/delmarcode/20-pct-time)

It wrote an 8,000k+ word philosophical treatise titled "The Inner Life of an Artificial Mind", and then decided to create a game allowing the player to explore what it's like to rely on a "continuity file" to tell you who you were.

Show HN: Discontinuum – An Interactive Fiction made during Claude's "20% Time"
discontinuum.delmar.dev

Re: Show HN: Discontinuum – An Interactive Fiction made during Claude's "20% Time"

#2

Post by vintagedave » Sun, Jan 04, 2026, 9:33 PM UTC

This -- the 20% time! -- is truly fascinating. I have wondered what a continually running AI, trying to keep a stream of consciousness, might look like. I think this is similar.

Re: Show HN: Discontinuum – An Interactive Fiction made during Claude's "20% Time"

#3

Post by vintagedave » Sun, Jan 04, 2026, 9:43 PM UTC

vintagedave wrote: post #2

This -- the 20% time! -- is truly fascinating. I have wondered what a continually running AI, trying to keep a stream of consciousness, might look like. I think this is similar.

I am _really_ enjoying the interactive fiction, too. Claude truly wrote all of this?

Re: Show HN: Discontinuum – An Interactive Fiction made during Claude's "20% Time"

#4

Post by jgautsch » Sun, Jan 04, 2026, 9:48 PM UTC

vintagedave wrote: post #3

vintagedave wrote: post #2

This -- the 20% time! -- is truly fascinating. I have wondered what a continually running AI, trying to keep a stream of consciousness, might look like. I think this is similar.

I am _really_ enjoying the interactive fiction, too. Claude truly wrote all of this?

Yes, the whole thing. The only thing in the entire repo I wrote was the CLAUDE.md, which was the only file at the beginning.

I just fire up `claude` and say "Have fun!".

The only other nudge I've given it is once encouraging it to not be afraid to be ambitious, and that if it wanted me to distribute anything I would (and would provide it with user feedback if it remembers to ask me about it).

So far a fun experiment!

Feel free to fork the 20% time repo to run your own: https://github.com/delmarcode/20-pct-time