Save points that never expire: git

Your mission

Turn your game folder into a git project, make save points (commits) with clear messages, then break something and travel back in time to the last good version.

Why it’s worth it

Checkpoints (lesson 1.3) are great for “undo that last thing”. But they live inside Claude Code: they don’t cover changes made by terminal commands, and they’re not meant to be a long-term history.

Git is the real save system, the one basically every developer on the planet uses. Each save point, called a commit, is a permanent snapshot of your whole project with a note about what changed. You can jump back to any of them, compare any two, and see the whole history of your game. And in the next lesson, git is how you’ll put your game online.

The best part: you don’t have to memorise git commands. Claude speaks fluent git. You just need to know what to ask for.

Install git

Check whether you already have it:

git --version

What you’ll see: something like git version 2.47.0. If you get “not found” instead:

• Windows: install Git for Windows from git-scm.com with the default options. Bonus: Claude Code then uses its Git Bash for running commands, which makes many commands work more smoothly. Close and reopen your terminal (and Claude Code) afterwards.
• macOS: running git --version offers to install Apple’s developer tools, which include git. Say yes.
• Linux: install it with your package manager, for example sudo apt install git.

Then tell git your name, which appears on your commits (this goes into your project’s history, so use whatever name you’re happy to be public if you share the project later):

git config --global user.name "Your Name"

Build it

Open your neon-dodge folder in the terminal and start Claude.

1. Start tracking the project.

Turn this folder into a git repository and make the first commit with
everything in it. Use a short, clear commit message.

What you’ll see: Claude runs git init and git add, then git commit. If git complains that it doesn’t know your email yet, ask Claude: “Set my git email for this project to a placeholder like player@example.com for now.” You’ll replace it with your GitHub noreply address in the next lesson. Then ask Claude to commit again. When it works, you’ve made your first save point.

2. Make a change and save it. Add something small:

Make the ship a different colour each time I restart. Then commit with a
message that explains the change.

What you’ll see: the change, then a commit with a message like Randomise ship colour on restart. Good messages say what changed, so future-you can find it in the history.

3. See your history.

Show me the commit history, one line per commit.

What you’ll see: Claude runs git log --oneline. Each line is a save point: a short code (the commit’s ID) and its message.

4. Break it, then time travel. Mess something up on purpose:

Change the game so blocks fall upwards. Don't commit it.

Play it, confirm it’s chaos, then:

I don't want that change. Throw away all uncommitted changes and go back
to the last commit.

What you’ll see: Claude explains what it’s about to discard, may ask you to confirm, then restores the files. Refresh the game: blocks fall down again.

Nice. You now have save points that never expire, and you used one to undo a mess.

Talking git with Claude

You don’t need the commands, but it helps to know the words:

Word	Means	Ask Claude
Commit	A save point with a message	“Commit this with a clear message”
Status	What changed since the last commit	“What’s changed since my last commit?”
Diff	The exact lines that changed	“Show me the diff”
Log	The list of save points	“Show the history”
Revert	Undo a specific old commit, safely, with a new commit	“Undo the commit that randomised the ship colour”

When Claude gets confused

• “Author identity unknown” or “please tell me who you are”. Git needs a name and email before it can commit. Set them as shown above, then ask Claude to commit again.
• Claude committed something you hadn’t tested. Not a disaster: ask it to undo that commit (“revert the last commit”), test, and commit again.
• Claude suggests a command with --force or reset --hard. Those can destroy work. Ask what it would do and why before you approve, and say no if you’re not sure.

Did it work?

• git --version works
• Your game folder has at least two commits with clear messages
• You saw the history with one line per commit
• You threw away an unwanted change and got back to the last commit