Play mini-games inside VS Code while your AI agent thinks, your build runs, or your deployment ships.
No context switching. No alt-tab. Just a quick game, right in your editor.
8 games included — Snake, 2048, Minesweeper, Dino Runner, Flappy Bird, Tetris, Caro, and Doodle Jump.
Games
| Game | Controls | Type | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐍 | Snake | Arrow keys / WASD · Space to pause | Action |
| 🧩 | 2048 | Arrow keys · Swipe on touch | Puzzle |
| 💣 | Minesweeper | Left click · Right click to flag · Middle click to chord | Strategy |
| 🏃 | Dino Runner | Space / ↑ to jump · ↓ to duck | Action |
| 🐦 | Flappy Bird | Space / Click to flap | Action |
| ⬛ | Tetris | Arrow keys to move · ↑ to rotate · Space to hard drop | Puzzle |
| ⭕ | Caro | Click to place · 3 AI difficulty levels | Strategy |
| 🟩 | Doodle Jump | ← → / A D to move · ↑ / W to shoot (hold ← → to angle) · Space to start | Action |
Features
- Activity Bar sidebar — launch any game in one click; personal best scores shown as inline badges on each game card
- Personal Best tracking — high scores saved locally across sessions, displayed as compact golden badges (🏆) right on each game
- Auto-pause — games pause automatically when you switch back to your code; the Minesweeper timer freezes too
- Progressive difficulty — Snake, Dino, Flappy Bird, 2048, Tetris, and Doodle Jump get harder the longer you play
- AI opponent — Caro features a Minimax AI with 3 difficulty levels (Easy, Medium, Hard)
- Session timer — status bar shows how long you've been playing; optional reminder after N minutes
- Dark theme — designed to match VS Code's dark aesthetic with neon glow effects
How to open
- Click the 🎮 icon in the Activity Bar (left sidebar)
- Or press
Ctrl+Shift+P→ type Waiting Games
Commands
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
Waiting Games: Open Game Hub |
Browse all games |
Waiting Games: Play Snake |
Launch Snake |
Waiting Games: Play 2048 |
Launch 2048 |
Waiting Games: Play Minesweeper |
Launch Minesweeper |
Waiting Games: Play Dino Runner |
Launch Dino Runner |
Waiting Games: Play Flappy Bird |
Launch Flappy Bird |
Waiting Games: Play Tetris |
Launch Tetris |
Waiting Games: Play Caro |
Launch Caro |
Waiting Games: Play Doodle Jump |
Launch Doodle Jump |
Waiting Games: Show Leaderboard |
View your high scores |
Settings
| Setting | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
waitingGames.sessionWarningMinutes |
15 |
Minutes before a "get back to work" reminder. Set to 0 to disable. |
Why Waiting Games?
Modern development involves a lot of waiting — AI code generation, CI pipelines, hot-reload builds, cloud deploys. Waiting Games fills those gaps with lightweight arcade, puzzle, and strategy games that live entirely inside VS Code. No browser required, no distractions, just a fun mini-game break that keeps you in flow.
Requirements
- VS Code 1.85+
License
MIT