Small E: From WALL-E to a little browser game
WALL-E is my favourite movie of all time. I love that little robot, but I keep thinking about the humans who let machines do everything for them. With AI doing more of our work, that part feels familiar. I hope we don’t end up like them.
I used Codex to build Small E, a browser game where you drive a little robot around an abandoned planet, compact rubbish and search for a plant.
A planet you can drive around
I shared a video reference for the dust, rust and abandoned streets. I wanted a round planet large enough that you couldn’t see it all at once. You can follow the road around it and end up where you started. I built the world with Three.js and React Three Fiber, with gravity pointing towards the planet’s centre.
I added ruined versions of Chennai Central, Mumbai Central and the Taj Mahal as familiar places to find among the rubble. For the robot, I adapted a shared 3D model with a working belly hatch, moving claws and fold-out solar panels. I kept asking for more eye and hand movement, then added a cockroach that crawls around its head and shoulders.
Making the cleanup feel real
The first version made collecting too fiddly. I could be beside a pile and still struggle to pick anything up. I changed it to scoop nearby pieces in batches and highlight what the robot could reach. Inside its belly, you can watch the hatch open and the press squeeze the rubbish into a cube. Small E holds the cube in its claws, and you follow a trail to a yard where you can stack it.
I wanted a reason to keep clearing. One plant sits beneath layers of rubble in one of six mounds. Finding it ends the mission, with a score based on what you compacted, how much of your collected rubbish you used and how many days you took. Along the way, you need to find sunlight and unfold the solar panels to recharge. I added nearby prompts and a trail to sunlight after I kept getting stuck in the shade.
Giving Small E a voice
I supplied a robot audio file and “Warm Horizons,” a music track made with Suno. I cut the robot audio into sixteen short reactions for things like collecting, laughing and running low on power. I also asked for occasional reactions while roaming, so Small E would make sounds without waiting for me to press a button. The music dips when it speaks.
For the mechanical sounds, I used WebAudio synthesis: motor tones that change with speed, track rattles, hydraulic presses and impacts. I added a soft buzz for low battery and a rising chime when charging finishes. Music and sound effects have separate switches, so you can keep the robot’s chatter and turn the music off.
Thanks to Juliestrator for the robot model, shared under CC BY 4.0, and Poly Haven for the environment materials and lighting. I generated the cover illustration with GPT Image using the game’s robot as a reference.