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Hammerhead Run: a tiny hammerhead game
You are a great hammerhead on a bright tropical reef: keep swimming, pulse to sense stingrays buried in the sand, and pin them before the 90 seconds run out.
90 seconds · sound on · touch, keyboard or gamepad
We built Hammerhead Run from scratch: no game engine, no templates. Every sprite is drawn in code and every sound is synthesised in the browser. It's a technical showcase, because if we can build this, we can build what you imagine.
How it works
The Flow meter. Hammerheads must keep swimming to breathe. That is why your Flow meter only refills while you keep moving, and slowly drains when you stop. Source: CSULB Shark Lab.
The electro-pulse. A hammerhead's wide head lets it detect buried prey about 40% further from its path than a regular-headed shark. In the game, your pulse sweeps a wide 140° arc ahead of you to reveal stingrays hidden in the sand. Source: Kajiura, SICB.
The pin-and-pivot. Great hammerheads have been seen pinning stingrays to the seabed with their heads. Here, you swim up to a revealed ray and press and hold the same button you pulse with to pin it; let go too early and its barb costs you Flow. Source: Strong et al. 1990, Copeia.
How we built it
- Engine: Canvas 2D (no engine), written in TypeScript. No game framework.
- Game size: 23.2 KB gzipped, including all art and sound code, loaded only after you press Play. Before that, this page is 37.8 KB, fonts included.
- Frame rate: 60 fps target at 320×180, scaled up with crisp pixels. On slow devices it drops to 30 fps on its own.
- Art and audio: every sprite is written as text in the code and drawn at start-up; every sound is synthesised live. Zero image or audio files in the game.
- Daily reef: the layout comes from today's date, so everyone plays the same reef each day.
FAQ
Is this accurate?
It is a game, so it simplifies a lot, but each mechanic is based on a published observation: Hammerheads must keep swimming to breathe. A hammerhead's wide head lets it detect buried prey about 40% further from its path than a regular-headed shark. Great hammerheads have been seen pinning stingrays to the seabed with their heads. The sources are linked in “How it works” above.
How big is the game?
The whole game (code, pixel art generated from text, and synthesised sound) is 23.2 KB gzipped, and none of it downloads until you press Play.
Does it work on phones?
Yes. Drag on the left half of the screen to swim, and tap the right half to pulse. When a revealed ray is right in front of you, press and hold the right half to pin it. On phones the game fills the screen; turn your phone sideways for the biggest view. Keyboards and gamepads work too.
Who made it?
Jewel of the Sea, an AI-native marketing agency that builds fast websites people can find on Google and in AI answers. This game is a small demo of that craft.
Great hammerheads need help: support Shark Guardian.