Race three models to build a Counter-Strike clone

InstantDB had Codex, Opus, and Gemini each try to build a multiplayer shooter.

What They Did

Each model (Codex Max 5.1, Opus 4.5, Gemini 3 Pro) ran in its provider's CLI on a top-tier plan with default settings. They got about seven consecutive prompts. The first four built a local three.js shooter: map, enemies, gun, sounds. The last three made it multiplayer with Instant presence and topics, then added a database-backed map list. The humans mostly pasted errors back.

How It Went

All three ended with a working multiplayer 3D shooter and no hand-written code. Opus won the frontend, Gemini the backend, and Codex landed in between. Opus got stuck on React useEffect bugs until the engineers read its code.

Worth Knowing

Gemini had fewer errors, possibly because it ran the build step repeatedly. Expect to paste errors back, and expect to read code yourself when an agent gets stuck.