Category: Blog

Gaming is roughly a $200B market in 2025. It is growing at a 15% CAGR. 3.6B people, i.e., approximately half the world’s population, played video games in 2025. This large industry is undergoing a rapid transformation with Generative AI. Everything from who can make games to how quickly ideas come to life to the capabilities of games is changing. Let me summarize this reconfiguration in 6 concise points.

1. Prototyping time has shrunk from weeks to hours.
2. Content is not scarce anymore, and infinite variations are readily producible.
3. NPCs and worlds are coming more alive.
4. UGC is becoming a more powerful distribution engine.
5. Small teams are becoming more capable.
6. Ecosystem is starting to formalize around ethics and disclosure.

Curious to know more? Read on.

1. Prototyping time has shrunk from weeks to hours.

With generative AI, the “blank canvas” cost has shrunk tremendously. An idea can be turned into a playable prototype within minutes with the right tools. Ideaboards and moodboards can be converted into first-draft audio and visual assets for the game world. The first playtest does NOT require the players to imagine everything.

This faster iteration loop will allow more ideas to see the light of day. And with even slightly increased survival of ideas, we’ll see more innovation.

Generative AI is already transforming production pipelines everywhere, from indie studios to AAA internal tools.

2. Content is not scarce anymore, and infinite variations are readily producible.

There is a huge content economy around games. Sprites, textures, NPC “barks” and dialogue drafts, 3D meshes and objects, are all created manually using different software. For many studios, this content economy itself is what makes their games popular and significant. The scale of how many assets you can produce is a strong advantage.

AI is changing this. With AI tools like Unity Muse, Ghostwriter, and Cube 3D, “how many assets” is not the most significant advantage. Taste, curation, and playability are becoming the primary advantages.

3. NPCs and worlds are coming more alive. 

For those who’ve played GTA, remember when you used to walk into a thug on the street, and he would say something rude to you. And then you’d die before completing the mission and walk into the thug again, and he will repeat the same thing. And again. And again.

This was due to dialogue trees, fixed routines, and scripted events. AI is all set to change all that. The missions can look, feel, and sound different. There can be different NPCs for other players, and those NPCs can say different things as part of the conversation. One of the most notable examples of this is the development of autonomous game characters and conversational NPCs by NVIDIA ACE. The possibilities are literally endless.

4. UGC is becoming a more powerful distribution engine

This is the second part of our thesis on which we are building Pikoo. We’re not alone, though. Even Roblox and Epic Games are experimenting with this. The fundamental thesis is that Generative AI expands the scope of who can make games. When everyone can make games, everyone will want a place to distribute their games, and thus, there will be a need for platforms to host games for everyone. Furthermore, no one wants to install new games, just as no one downloads every video.

Even for games competing for downloads, discovery, and remix culture have become as essential as the “game launch” due to the UGC explosion.

All in all, after the internet, digital cameras, and smartphones, the world is set for its 4th UGC boom.

5. Small teams are becoming more capable.

Since AI reduces the cost and time needed for every step of the game’s creation process, research, assets creation, UI variations, QA support, live-ops, etc, not to sound cliché, but it is 10x-ing the capabilities of individuals. And that’s resulting in headcount declines everywhere.

Small teams, and even individuals, are now capable of producing excellent outcomes. We’re seeing ambition being rewarded.

6. The ecosystem is beginning to formalize around ethics and disclosure.

This could have been my concluding paragraph, but I want to keep it as an essential point for anyone interested in the gaming industry. There was a time when using AI or disclosing its use was optional. While the use of AI remains optional, its disclosure is becoming mandatory. This disclosure should be understood not as a gatekeeping mechanism but as an acknowledgment of the new AI tools and the advancements they bring.

We must be vigilant about the common concerns like intellectual property protection, labor displacement, consent, and the “AI slop. Trust collapse between developers and players will be a terrible outcome for everyone, and we must avoid that.

Conclusion

Steam games that disclosed the use of AI earned $660+ million this year. This indicates that, while the culture is still debating, the adoption of generative artificial intelligence is occurring at scale in the gaming industry. Text to game AI is happening. The gaming industry is bound to be disrupted. 2026 is set to be the year when AI adoption will spring new titles, studios, and even platforms.

AI, when used right, is bound to unleash infinite creativity. Gaming is the absolute best medium to see how creative fellow humans can be. We, at Pikoo, are excited about what is coming next.

What should be the role of AI or Generative AI in our lives? If the AI were another person, how would it relate to us? And how should we deal with it?

Understanding the roles that we want our AI products to play can shape our UI and even the business models around it.

So far, I’ve been able to think of 4 roles:

1. The people-pleaser
2. The project partner
3. The freelancer
4. The guide

Let’s expand each one of them and see what they can shape into.

The people-pleaser:

This is the most visible role we see AI products playing today. The relationship between humans and AI is akin to trying to please someone who never says yes. Whatever the human says, the AI is trying to do its best to agree with it, comply with it, and deliver on it. No cross-questioning, challenge, criticism, or even a nudge for the human to put in extra effort. Barring the hard-coded filters and guardrails, the AI does not care about the request’s correctness or the computational cost of satisfying it, or about the effort the user puts in.

This creates the problem of echo chambers. Finding and latching onto data that reinforces an individual’s beliefs becomes even easier. An individual’s ego gets bloated without checks.

The project partner:

The relationship between the human and the AI in this scenario will be more like that of class project partners. The tasks are supposed to be divided beforehand. Both the AI and the human are allowed to build on top of each other’s work. Both put in proportionate effort toward the same goal. This is where AI should be able to reward your efforts or thoughtfulness of requests.

It expects you to pull your weight toward a shared goal you decide with the AI. Agentic workflows have an excellent opportunity to become strong partners for humans rather than merely executors of tasks. A thoughtful project partner like AI can be a valuable asset for individuals, especially for knowledge transfer.

The freelancer:

For those who’ve never hired a freelancer, let me outline the typical process. You find an individual with a technical specialty. You give them a brief about the project or expectations. If they are any good, they do not immediately jump into execution mode; instead, they ask follow-up questions to clarify the project scope. They clearly understand your requirements, define the must-haves and nice-to-haves, and, once the scope of work is fully defined, propose a timeline and a price quotation.

AI can establish consensus on the initial creation step, gather feedback, and continue building on the suggestions. If an AI acts like a freelancer, there to assist us responsibly, we will likely also try to be more sophisticated in our requests. This will be difficult for companies to do because generative outputs are somewhat unpredictable. However, this is the one we should aim for.

The guide:

The current state of AI can also serve as a helpful guide. Instead of directly responding to a user’s request, it can probe deeper, ask for context, and even question the need for the thing the user is trying to create. This would require AI to be trained from a completely different standpoint, where the process is more important than the outcome. This kind of AI may not have clear financial value on day zero, but it can be instrumental in improving human quality of life.

Most AI today is built to please. The next wave will be built to collaborate, scope, and guide. The idea of anything other than a people-pleaser is uncomfortable to us because we view AI as a non-living tool created by humans. We at Pikoo believe the better answer lies somewhere between freelancer, partner, and guide behaviours—different behaviours for different use cases.

For our AI game creator, we’re heavily leaning on freelancer behaviour. Scope out the problem and get as much clarity on the idea stage as possible to avoid wasted effort in execution. We are experimenting with partner behaviour with our game jam tool, where we decide on a mutual target of creating a game, and we bring more to the table as the user brings in their ideas. The guide behaviour is being tested in our game design document creator tool, where the user’s initial assumptions will be challenged by real-world information and ideas as they create their game design document step by step.

We’re excited about all these experiments and look forward to how the users respond to them. We’ll keep you posted as things pan out. But we’re certain that the future of AI is NOT just more output. It is actually better, more intentional, and context-aware relationships.

How to get started on Game design is a straightforward question. The answer to this question has not changed over the past decades, but circumstances have changed. In 2026, your game design journey should be guided by AI in many ways.

Game design is no longer about learning tools first

For the past 20 years, beginners had to choose between two routes.

The technical advice was:

“Learn Unity/Unreal/Blender/C#/shaders… then you can design games”

OR

The non-technical advice was:

“Start with a pen-paper prototype.”

If I had a gun to my head, I would tell kids to start with a pen-and-paper prototype always. My mechanical device design advisor used to chide me for opening SolidWorks before starting with pencil sketches of the solution I was trying to make. I am well-trained to build the pen-and-paper prototype first.

However, in 2026, the world has changed slightly. Both routes are archaic. I would claim that these are harmful.

The technical route traps creators in a learning tools loop, where each tool has limited applicability and is constantly evolving. This leaves them feeling stuck and incompetent throughout the process, making game design feel intimidating rather than exciting.

The non-technical, paper-and-pencil, or board game route gets them stuck on another problem. You need players in the same room, or multiple players at the same time, to test your ideas. Or you’re testing for something completely different from what you actually want to make. If the new designer is unable to find people to test their paper prototype, they may feel stuck and unsuccessful, despite no fault of their own. Even if they see people to playtest, feedback from people wanting to test a video game while they are testing a paper-and-pen match is, at worst, disheartening and, at best, confusing.

In 2026, the best approach is NOT either of these; it is to build a playable prototype of your game using the right AI game generator. It still requires you to deeply think about the game you want to create and the experience you want your players to have, but you’re not stuck on creating something different altogether or learning one specific tool.

What learning game design with an AI game creation tool is better?

You can start from day 1.

Using AI to bring your ideas to life lets you get started quickly. Instead of trying to figure out the setups, installations, or other boilerplate, you can directly start with ideas, mechanics, and intent.

You don’t find yourself stuck in the “Blank Project” problem.

The blank page is extremely scary. Even the smartest of writers, directors, and game designers find themselves confused about “Where and how to start” all the time. This problem is even worse for beginners in any skill. The cognitive load is overwhelming.

The solution is to get the creator going with just a word or sentence. An AI game creator can collaborate with you to develop your game design and a playable prototype. And all of this can happen in minutes. A complete beginner can see and feel their idea come to life immediately!

This will help a creator feel the fun of creation. At Pikoo, we call it the joy of designing games!

Iteration speed helps you learn fast!

There is an excellent book on creativity, “Art and Fear” by David Bayles. In this book, they discuss an experiment they conducted in a pottery class. The class was divided into two groups. Individuals in group 1 were told to create the best pot possible over the weeks. Individuals in group 2 were told to make as many pots as possible over the week, trying to come up with slightly different or better designs every iteration. At the end of the period, the best models were consistently created by people from group 2. The ones who focused on doing more iterations instead of trying to make one pot perfect.

This parable applies to virtually every creative endeavour—writing, composing, and game design.

The traditional flow looks like:

Idea → Weeks of setup → Partial prototype → Burnout

With AI, and especially with the right AI tools like Pikoo, the flow can look like:

Idea → Playable Game → Share → Playtests and Feedback → Repeat

Even if you get through the loop twice, you end up learning more about game design than somebody stuck at the idea or setup stage.

This will teach you about the real game design loop,i.e.

Make → Play → Break → Repeat.

Don’t get me wrong. Your ideas will be roasted a lot! But you’ll be roasted fast. And you’ll learn things like why mechanics fail, why players quit, why players get bored, what balance is, why it’s necessary, and so on!

Pikoo brings the creation and players all on your platform. If they follow you, they can play the next game you create and provide feedback.

Remixing is the first step of learning, NOT starting from scratch.

No one learns music by inventing instruments for melodies. They learn by practicing existing ones, making slight tweaks, and gaining confidence over time. This is also the best way to approach game design.

Don’t start by writing engines. Start by modifying existing small games. Experiment in a safe environment where testing does NOT translate into weeks and thousands of dollars lost. It should be easy.

At Pikoo, we’re making it possible by allowing you to modify existing and popular templates. When you get good, you can start contributing to templates for the next generation of newcomers to build on.

Design is best learned with feedback.

Traditional learning pushes you into long periods of isolation, whereas learning with AI will allow you to get to playable prototypes in hours or days. You can then receive feedback over an evening or a few days, then move quickly to the next iteration.

Pikoo enables this by allowing you to share your games on the platform and by allowing other users, including creators and players, to provide feedback. This feedback can be a booster in your learning journey.

With these arguments, I rest my case. I strongly urge new designers to include AI in their game design process. The narrative in game design and game development communities online may send mixed signals. As a technologist, I can confidently say that technology permeates everything. Humans are wired that way. 2026 is the time to start leaning into AI for learning game design. If you’re in, try Pikoo.ai, and if not, I’d love to hear from you.

Assuming that you’ve tried the capabilities of Pikoo and got yourself a Tic-Tac-Toe or a snake game made, now you want to make a serious game.

Generally, you can arrive at wanting to make a game from two directions:

1. You want to make a game about something. And will interestingly represent that idea or concept.
2. You want to develop new and interesting mechanics.

If you are from case 1, i.e., you want to make a game about something, then you should do some exercise in your head or on paper and figure out a little bit more about your game idea. You should break it down into the world and mechanics.

Then Pikoo’s AI is great at generating mechanics.

How to break your big game idea into small executable pieces?

We wrote a specific blog about this. You can check it out here. But if you’re too lazy to read that one… let me summarize it here. Typically, you’d start by asking these five questions, then ask, “How can I represent it?”

1. Who is my hero? – How can I represent it?
2. What do they want? – How can I represent it?
3. What’s stopping them? – How can I represent it?
4. How do they overcome this? – How can I represent it?
5. What did they get? – How can I represent it?

This question, and the subsequent question “How can I represent it?” will give you details about your world and its mechanics. Let us show you by using an example of a meditation game that we made using this technique:

Questions	Answers	How can I represent it?
Who is my hero?	My mind	A leaf
What do they want?	To meditate or relax	To get to a circle
What’s stopping them?	The constant hustle-bustle of thoughts and my own constant overthinking	No action will drag the leave away. Swift actions will drag the leaf away.
How do they overcome this?	By practicing	If I tap gently at a slow speed, which pushes me to take a breath in between, I bring the leaf closer to the circle.
What did they get?	Some reward. A bit quiet.	I win when the leaf gets to a circle.

Now, in this exercise, you will see that column 2 is giving you the details of your world, but column 3 is giving you the mechanics you want to create.

If you want to be difficult about it, add another layer of abstraction and call them simple objects. However, reaching a basic level of abstraction will allow you to interact with AI more easily. The abstractions can be removed once you have the correct mechanics in place.

So, now that you have the mechanics, you should write this as a text prompt into Pikoo’s AI game creator.

The AI game creator will demonstrate its understanding of your prompt and provide details about what you’re trying to build. The representations will be made with simple text icons.

If you’re not happy with the idea and understanding, it is best to go into details at this step only. You can also choose to start a new chat altogether if the suggestions are not getting to where you want them to be.

Once you’re convinced with the basic mechanics represented by the AI-game-creator, you just say Yes or “looks good” and it will create your game.

How best to utilize AI-game-creator?

A few things to keep in mind:

1. KISS: Keep it simple, silly!
2. Consider that it is generating a 30-300 seconds level and NOT a full blown 30 minutes game. This will allow you to experiment more.
3. The abstractions can be removed and turned into specific story characters and more by changing the assets.
4. Be patient and precise with your answers.
5. At any point, if you feel tired of questions that the AI-game-creator may ask you, you can simply tell it to stop asking questions and take creative freedom and it will give you a representation of your idea with some reasonable assumptions.
6. Avoid complex mechanics in your first 10 games. Try to set a good repertoire with with the AI-game-creator

Once you have your basic mechanics ready, you can further add more layers of your story and world on top of it to make it yours.

More details on that, in the coming blogs!

In this blog, we will cover how you can use ChatGPT to Create Games. We demonstrate how this can work. Furthermore, we will discuss how to create games on Pikoo. We will compare the options to determine which is better for each purpose. 

Making games with ChatGPT:

ChatGPT is getting better and better at its job. And its role is essentially everything. Search. Write. Plan. Generate Images. Generate code. And even generate games. 

We tried to make games with ChatGPT so that you don’t have to. 

Prompt:

Make a snake game. 

ChatGPT:

Here’s a complete, clean Snake Game you can run instantly in the browser.
It’s pure HTML + CSS + JavaScript, works on desktop & mobile, and is easy to extend (levels, skins, sounds).

🐍 Snake Game (Classic)

Controls

• Desktop: Arrow Keys
• Mobile: Swipe

Rules

• Eat food → snake grows
• Hit the wall or yourself → game over

Things to note here: 

1. ChatGPT generates a game code file with a single prompt. No clarifications were asked. No checking on the details on your idea. Nothing. Just eager to please ChatBot spitting out the first possible thing that comes to mind. 
2. It gave you the code but NOT the ability to run it. So you still need something like VS Code to create the correct index.html file. 
3. In the spirit of keeping it as standard as a non-coder would, I went ahead and posted the code on the W3Schools website to see how the game works. 
4. The game did NOT work. 

I went back to the GPT and told them the game is NOT working. And this time again. It gave me a new piece of code. However, it worked this time. There are still many more problems with the game, but I cannot customize things. 

Making a game on Pikoo 

Trying the same prompt on Pikoo.

Prompt: 

Make a snake game.

Pikoo: 

Awesome choice! The classic Snake game is a fun project to work on. Let’s break it down:

YOUR GAME DESIGN

What you’ll make: A simple Snake game where you control a snake to collect food and grow longer without crashing into itself or the walls.

The Setup:

You control: A snake

Goal: Eat as much food as possible to grow your snake

Watch out for: Crashing into walls or yourself ends the game

Controls: Arrow keys to change direction (Up, Down, Left, Right)

Tech choice: Vanilla JS with Canvas

Why: It keeps everything simple and perfect for 2D games like Snake!

HERE’S YOUR GAME!

Legend:

[S] = Snake Head

[F] = Food

Controls: Use arrow keys to move your snake and eat the food.

Goal: Eat the food to grow longer, but don’t crash into yourself or the walls!

Does this look right? Just say ‘yes’ or ‘looks good’, and I’ll build it! Or tell me what to change.

Prompt: 

Looks good. 

And we got the game. 

Things to note here: 

1. Pikoo did NOT jump into making the game. It came back asking for more information. Stated the 

• Goal
• What to watch out for
• Controls
• Tech choice 
• Explanation for tech choice 
• Game visualized with simple design

This helps understand what we’re trying to accomplish and then get a fair bit of details on the outcome before it happens. At this stage, I have not had to do any extra efforts to understand my game and I can change the game’s layout and details in it. 

However, since I liked what I saw here, I went ahead and told it “Looks good” 

2. The game is created, deployed and playable right in my chat window or in a new tab. No need for a code editor program on my computer. No need to go on another website like w3schools to go and test it out. 

3. It works in the first go and it has somewhat better graphic choices.

Furthermore, I told Pikoo that this looks boring and suggested making it prettier. And look what it did:

Here are some of the key differences between ChatGPT and Pikoo. If you’re interested in general things or doing research or looking to solve a specific query, go for ChatGPT. But if you’re trying to build a game… Pikoo is the right place for you. Pikoo will continue to understand your requirements and keep improving your game. We’re upgrading Pikoo to be the ultimate AI game creator. Stay updated. Try it soon.

We live in a world where coding, making, and even distributing games is becoming increasingly easy. Making indie games has never been easier. There is extensive education about them. Given that we’re a platform for vibe-coding games, it makes sense that we provide helpful information for people who are curious about or interested in making their own games.

Note before you go further:

While the title of this blog says “The 5 Elements That Make A Successful Indie Game,” it is NOT really about Indie games. Pikoo is a game-creation app that lets anyone make games. They may not distribute it to the general public and instead want to make something for their friends, family, students, colleagues, or another cause. But the thing is, the rules for making a good indie game are largely similar to those for making a game your friends would want to play.

In fact, if I were to title the blog, I would have titled it “What are the 5 things elements that would make my friends play my game,” but there is something about SEO and whatnots that we have to keep the title this way. Let’s go.

1. Strong Hook:
2. Tight gameplay loop:
3. Great story:
4. Clean Identity:
5. Community and Shareability:
6. Bonus: Completeness!

1. Strong hook:

There is a concept of the right balance between novelty and familiarity. You cannot be too absurd or novel to get attention. But also don’t want to be too familiar. You want to be within the appropriate range. A generally good hack for getting to something juicy is thinking in terms of X but Y. Say, GTA but set in Egypt. Call of Duty, but in 2D top-down. And so on. If you’re making for a particular audience, say, people who like to do Crocheting, then you can make something as simple and classic asthe  classic snake game, but for crocheting. Trust me, your crocheting friends will absolutely love it!

2. Tight gameplay and a solid core loop are essential. A core loop is typically:

x is the situation; the player does y; y results in victory; the player can then do y + z; and x + a is the situation. This circular loop is what repeats in almost every game. You need a clear and robust core loop for your players to engage with your game.

The overall gameplay is markedly different. Big triple-A games are bought by patient players who are willing to spend some time getting to know the game and setting it up. On several occasions, it is because players have invested significant money and resources to play the games in the first place. But most indie games do NOT have that luxury. Indie games have to have a very tight gameplay loop. This does NOT necessarily mean that you’re flashing lights and making casino sounds every 2 seconds but you do need to figure out a reward structure for your players to want to play further.

Let me show you, with the help of a diagram that Will Wright used in his masterclass for game design. Shh. Don’t tell anyone I’m using it.

This diagram shows the success and failure loops. You want your participants to experience some successes and some failures at approximately 10 seconds. From their accomplishments, they should gain additional capabilities, increasing the challenge for the next minute. From the failures, they should learn something about what to do and what not to do in the game to get further. Then, similar loops should be planted at 1-minute, 10-minute, and subsequent intervals.

Try to think tiny loops for if you’re making games for your friends and family. To set some context, I made a game on a topic that my dad is pretty interested in, and he got bored of a game after trying it for 50 seconds because he failed. And he sort of passed on the game. That’s how ruthless your friends and family can be. Side note: do not judge my dad.

3. Great Story:

If you ever read the book “A theory of Game Design” you’ll understand that story of a game is very dear to a player. A game is a simulation. The player should want to live the simulation that you’re creating. The simulation can be a fantasy RPG or something as simple as simulations of real-life situations in the lives of care workers. It can even be a story of the hike you went on. It just needs to have a story that your friends would want to experience once and preferably again and again.

4. Clean Identity:

This is where you should find a bit of your own voice. This can take the form of sounds, images, artistic styles, or commentaries. Anything. But you want to add something to your game that your audience will be able to identify as yours. This increases the recall value of your game. Speaking in terms of making the game for your friends… think internal jokes and memes. Think the drawings you made. Or poems you wrote. Or even the science project you created. All of these are great grounds of identity. For indie games, it is typically the art styles. But when the world opens to everyone… I feel like there will be numerous ways that people will find to add identity. I feel optimistically clueless on this one.

5. Community and sharability:

This is absolutely important but I want you to still think of it a little later in your game design and game development journey. This is the part of your game that makes it relatable and brings that feeling of “I want to show this to my friends. This can be for any reason. Let’s say you made a game for kids to be able to complete a quiz, the kids may simply want to show their score to their friends and parents. For your friends, if you made a game that brings your memories to life, then a friend may want to show it to other friends or even their partners or kids. You want to include at least a little something that will allow your players to bring in more players.

For indie games, the community component typically aims to generate buzz around the game before its release. It also helps creators to do early beta releases and get a lot of feedback to iterate. These are also great reasons to include community and shareability.

6. Bonus: Completeness!

Dear you, a shitty complete and shared game is significantly better than a master plan lying around in some dead folder. Send the game you made to your friends. Hear their feedback. Try to make the same game better OR make a new one.

Pikoo.ai is here to help you make your games! Check it out!

So you love playing games. You enjoy customizing your characters. You’ve probably heard about this thing called vibe-coding, and you are annoyed about why no one has made an AI for you to make a game with just an idea. Despair no more.

Pikoo.ai is the place where you can transform your game ideas into complete concepts with the all-new game concept tool.

Why Most AI Vibe-Coding Tools Fall Short for Games

The problem with most AI vibe coding tools is that they are made for vibe-coding websites, and then they are just marketed to indie-game developers so that their product can have more reach and audience. Pikoo is made exclusively for the game designers. When you write a prompt for a game, our game concept tool is NOT too eager to please. It is actually sincere. This is why it responds to your prompt with clarification questions. We understand that prompt engineering is another skill, and we do not want to run into the same issues as other game creation platforms, which require coding or generic, vibe-based platforms that can handle fundamental game creation.

Why Detailing Game Concepts Actually Matters

Let me take a sidebar to tell you why detailing out game concepts is super helpful:

1. It helps you gain clarity: The bizarre world or idea in your head gets on paper when you answer questions for the person( or AI) who is going to develop your game.
2. It limits the scope: Dear child, newbie, oldie, we ALL underestimate the scope. Elon Musk is still guilty of underestimating the scope of work required to complete something, and he is the CEO of a 2 trillion dollar company!! Defining the scope multiple times is efficient and helpful.
3. It helps you iterate fast: Even though, at the press of a button, you can make a game with Pikoo AI. Getting the clarity of what you’re asking it to make is absolutely brilliant because if it is getting it wrong, then you don’t have to play the whole game to find out, you can find out from the images. Also, iterating on a visually unappealing design is less painful.
4. Collaborating gets easier: Talking to people about a pen-and-paper prototype is easier. Their changes feel more organic, as they also come in the form of pen-and-paper suggestions.

And there are a few more reasons for why you should make a rough concept but I don’t want to bore you to leaving. Let’s turn an idea into a concept with Pikoo.

Turning a Simple Idea into a Game Concept

Let me lead by example. When you tell Pikoo something as simple as:

My prompt:

Make me a shooting game.

It responds with:

System:

Cool! Shooting games are super fun! Let’s dive in and get the basics down.

• Gameplay Style: Are we talking about something like “Space Invaders” where you shoot enemies from the bottom, or more like a “top-down” shooter where you see from above and shoot in different directions?

• Winning the Game: How do you win? Is it by destroying all enemies, reaching a certain score, or lasting a certain amount of time?

• Game View: Are you thinking of having a side-view (like a classic arcade) or a top-down view?

• Controls: How would you like the player to control the character? Arrow keys, WASD, or mouse?

• Game Objects: Will there be enemies, obstacles, or power-ups to collect?

Let me know, and then we can visualize it with some ASCII art before getting to the code!

Refining the Concept with Clear Choices

Notice that it asks clarifying questions that will help you build the game further. Gain more clarity on what YOU would like to make. I want to now tell it that I want to make a side-scrolling game where I have to reach the end of the stage. Let’s say I want the computer to send 20 enemies at a uniform interval time. I prefer arrow keys. I want to have 1 key that I have to jump and collect.

My prompt:

Make it side scrolling. Win by reaching a end of the stage with a key. The key is supposed to come somewhere along the way and I must jump to collect it. Let’s keep it a side view. Arrow keys for control and space or click for shooting. The only extra object is the key that I jump to collect.

System:

Got it! Here’s a quick sketch of your side-scrolling shooting game with keys to collect:

YOUR GAME DESIGN

What you’ll make: A side-scrolling shooting game where you collect a key to unlock the end stage while avoiding or shooting enemies.

The Setup:

You control: A player that can move sideways and jump

Goal: Collect a key to win by reaching the end of the stage

Watch out for: Enemies

Controls: Arrow keys to move, Space or click to shoot, Arrow up to jump

Tech choice: Phaser 3 Why: “Phaser is perfect for side-scrolling games with jumping and shooting!”

HERE’S YOUR GAME!

Legend: [P] = You (Player) [E] = Enemy [Key] = Key to collect [ ] = End of stage

Controls: Arrow keys to move, Space or click to shoot, Arrow up to jump Goal: Collect the key and reach the end of the stage to win!

Does this look right? Just say “yes” or “looks good,” and I’ll start building the code! Or let me know if you’d like any changes. 😊

The Point of the Concept Generator

This looks cool. And this is the point of CONCEPT GENERATOR. This is NOT a fully playable game. This is the concept. When the AI returned specific questions, it ensured you were aware of different possibilities while keeping the number of decisions to a minimum. Furthermore, it created an ASCII art to help you understand the game.

From Concept Today to Game Tomorrow

Once you understand this concept, if you’re happy, simply say “Yes” or “looks good” to the AI game generator, and it will create a game. You don’t have to have a ready game to show your friends, team, or anyone to get them excited about an idea. Even well-written concepts and basic ASCII visual representations of your games can get you a lot of information to plan or collect feedback.

I went ahead and pressed yes on my game. The game that came out was… none of your business. Focus on the game concept today. Turn them into the game tomorrow. Or maybe today only. You do you. Bye!

“Kids don’t just play games; they can make them.” How is this even a topic of discussion? Kids make games all the time. Have you seen a preschooler or a young child around? I am not talking about toys or games. I am talking about anything. Any household object that you may intentionally or unintentionally leave behind, not even in the hands of the kid, but around the kid. Come back 10 minutes later, and unless the kid has found a way to injure themselves with it, they would have found a way to play with it.

And if you have the patience to be an audience, go and ask them what game they are playing. Boy, are you in for a ride! They’ll tell you the most amazing backstory for the evil piece of cardboard and how the wooden bowl has come from the farthest end of the universe to protect the land of erasers and spoons. And how only they know how the bowl needs to dance and shoot caps of bottles to strike the cardboard villain, so that it has to go back to its cave.

And, if you let them play this out, and you’re still interested and present as the audience of their games, you’ll see that the evil cardboard villain has gone and made friends with the plastic bottles. This alliance is now too powerful for the kid to defend alone.

And if you’re still patient and present my friend, before you even know it, you’re a player of the game. You’re suddenly responsible for training and leading the eraser army. Your moves are being tracked by the kid and as you do things wrong, your team loses the game and you have to start again. And again. And again. Until one of the three things happen… you get it right. Your patient runs out. Or the kid gets hungry(or sleepy).

With this superlong prelude, I request you not to imagine the state of my living room but get the point. Kids don’t just play games. They literally make them.

From Imagination to Video Games

As we grow up, the games start to change. Maybe when my teammate suggested this topic, he meant that kids don’t just play video games, they can make them. Ah! That makes more sense. We can talk about Pikoo on that topic. Well, let’s break this one down into parts:

1. Do kids play games?
2. Can kids make games?
3. Do kids play video games?
4. Can kids make video games?
5. How can kids make video games?

In a slightly ironic twist, of these 5 parts, I have already explained parts 1 and 2. And with a $300 billion industry based on video games whose primary consumers are children, part 3 requires little to no justification. Let’s turn our attention to parts 4 and 5. Can kids make video games? If so, how can children make video games?

Can Kids Make Video Games?

Well, kids can make video games. In fact, Scratch– the programming language that came from MIT used making video games as one of the ways to excite kids about and teach programming to millions of kids. There are other examples of global products, such as Roblox and Minecraft, where kids can create games. However, there is a subtle difference between “kids” and “kids who love programming.” All these platforms require programming skills. If children learn programming, they can create games. At Pikoo, we’re building a platform where kids can create games without programming knowledge. Any idea can be just written down and turned into a fully playable video game.

Pikoo is a platform for kids to vibe-code games. They can simply come up with an idea, write it down and tell Pikoo.ai to turn it into a fully playable game. Pikoo’s text to game AI will make a game for them. But it doesn’t just stop there. They can further chat with Pikoo’s AI Game Creator to edit the game to their satisfaction. It is no longer an isolating activity. Since your game is instantly playable, you can share it with your friends and family. You can get feedback from them. You can even collaborate with them to make your game better. The brave ones can go one step further and apply for Pikoo’s template creators program, where you can push your game in the form of a template to allow anyone to re-use your game as a starting point or a skinnable object.

To answer the simple question: How can kids make video games? Just go to pikoo.ai.

How are stories and games related?

Most uninitiated minds would see these two as completely different spaces. The interesting and ironic thing is that they’re extremely related. In fact, an argument can be made that stories are just documented games. Stories have a fixed beginning, middle, and end for every reader or listener. And games are nothing but stories whose beginnings, middles, and ends can differ for different people. Players’ actions in the games can change these.

That’s how we see games. Did you know that historically, games and play predate stories? That’s because there is a literal biological need for play. Anyway, I digress; you can consult Brian Boyd’s book “On the Origin of Stories” (solid alliteration there:) if you want to go deeper into this. For now, we use only documented games.

So what? Who makes stories from games or games from stories?

Short answer… everyone! For the slightly long answer, let me tell you the story of an Italian plumber. The plumber falls in love with a princess, but a dangerous villain abducts the princess. Now, the plumber needs to go through a long, perilous journey to save the princess. Do you know which story this is? It is the story of Mario.

Suppose stories are merely documented games. You need a clear idea, world, or story to make a good game.

But how do I make good storytelling games?

No fear, kind Lear. Ask yourself these questions:

1. Who is my hero?
2. What do they want?
3. What’s stopping them?
4. How do they overcome this?
5. What did they get?

Once you have the answers for these questions… ask “How can I represent it? For each question.

1. Who is my hero? – How can I represent it?
2. What do they want? – How can I represent it?
3. What’s stopping them? – How can I represent it?
4. How do they overcome this? – How can I represent it?
5. What did they get? – How can I represent it?

You’d always want to go all in on the details from day 1. But that’s kind of a bad idea. Start small.

Let’s try to make a game with AI to tell the story of wild brains and how we can calm them.

Questions	Answers	How can I represent it?
Who is my hero?	My mind	A leaf
What do they want?	To meditate or relax	To get to a circle
What’s stopping them?	The constant hustle-bustle of thoughts and my own constant overthinking	No action will drag the leave away. Swift actions will drag the leaf away.
How do they overcome this?	By practicing	If I tap gently at a slow speed, which pushes me to take a breath in between, I bring the leaf closer to the circle.
What did they get?	Some reward. A bit quiet.	I win when the leaf gets to a circle.

As soon as we have the answers for all of it, we can make a game on Pikoo. You make the prompt more articulate, but including the details of your representation in the prompt box will yield a fully playable game.

A leaf is trying to get to a circle.

No action will drag the leave away. Swift actions will pull the leaf away.

If I tap gently at a slow speed, which pushes me to take a breath in between, I bring the leaf closer to the circle.

I win when the leaf gets to a circle.

This is literally the prompt that I entered to get me the game:

We have done this using a single example. You can try more such things yourself on Pikoo.ai

A few things to keep in mind:

1. Start with simple ideas and stories
2. Simplify the representations as well
3. Keep the prompt focused on the representation component, as it may become confusing to combine the story and the representation.
4. It will take more than a few attempts to start getting it right.

This is an effortless way to make your storytelling games with Pikoo.ai

Even the most proficient, prompt engineers take some time learning how to vibe code things. AI as a technology is relatively new so that you may feel some frustration at the beginning, but once you get the hang of it, you’ll start to see exponential growth. I’d encourage you to try to make at least 10 straightforward games before deciding whether you can make what you can. If you still struggle, please feel free to tell us more about it on our Instagram, TikTok, Reddit, Twitter, or any other social media.

We look forward to playing the games you make and experiencing the stories you tell!

Play is a fun way of simulated learning for most animals. Monkeys hang on branches and jump over each other to practice hanging in the jungle while avoiding predators. Lions fight among themselves as they play to learn how to catch prey. The same is true for humans. We love playing as well. We also started with some sports. As our worlds became more complex, we required more sophisticated simulations, such as chess, and our knowledge base grew sufficiently complex that we needed even more sophisticated simulations.

Today, video games are mostly mental puzzles or very complex simulations of high-order fantasies.

By reverse-engineering many natural processes, we also reverse-engineered the concept of using games for simulation or learning. Since then, educational and simulation video games have continued to grow, making the learning process more engaging.

The only problem with developing educational games was that game development was previously complex. Now we’re set to solve this problem. To develop an educational game earlier, you needed a teacher, a programmer, and a designer. Now, however,r with Generative AI and vibe coding, the process of game creation can be shrunk to minutes. An individual teacher can create a game simply by entering a sufficiently detailed text prompt. She can create simulations to explain a concept or pose a problem for students to solve.

The process of making the core elements of the game with an AI game generator is pretty simple:

Write down the primary content of the game. Think of a rough mechanics that simulates the game. Write down both these things combined. Answer a few simple questions from the Pikoo.ai agent and voila! Your game is completely ready. You can play it. Test it out for yourself. And further make changes to it. The game is already live as soon as you make it, and you just need to share its link for your students to play it.

Case Study 1: The math class

Irina, a teacher from a Boston school, wanted to conduct a simple simulation of quadratic equations. For the mathematically challenged audience, a quadratic equation is typically y = ax^2 + bx + c, where a is not zero. The graph of this equation is a parabola, or bowl-shaped. Now, Irina did not just want to create a simulation with a few equations and result graphs; she wanted the students to be able to modify the numbers in an equation and see how that changes the graphs. Furthermore, she sought to create a game in which students could test their ability to predict an equation or a rough graph by understanding the patterns that equations and numbers follow. She achieved this by creating a Quadratic Math Game. This is the prompt and conversation she utilized:

Irina’s prompt:

Develop a simple graph-based simulation game for quadratic equations.

System:

Hi! That idea is excellent – a graph game for quadratics sounds both fun and highly effective in learning math.

First, I want to understand the game like a friend, then I’ll sketch it with text art, and only when you say “yes, I’ll build the full playable file.

Let’s start simple with just one question:

Do you imagine this more like:

A) “Guess the graph.”

You see a graph of a parabola, and you have to choose or type the correct equation (like y = x² + 2x + 1)

B) “Build the graph.”

You get sliders or keys to change a, b, c in y = ax² + bx + c, and try to match a target parabola (position, shape, etc)

C) Something else? (Tell me in your own words, like: “I move a point and see the curve change” or “I shoot the correct graph,” etc.)

Just pick A, B, or describe your own idea.

Irina’s prompt:

B

And the rest is history. With a straightforward prompt and a couple of responses, Irina was able to obtain the desired game. She projected the game on her classroom board and allowed every student to try for a graph. This made for an enjoyable activity for kids and a fulfilling experience for Irina. We are proud to have been able to help.

Case Study 2: Learning Game for Careworkers in the UK

Amaka, a care worker in the UK, understands that caring for older people is demanding and requires skills. She developed a simulation-based quiz game through which care workers can practice real-life scenarios and improve their skills. Her colleagues are receiving the game well, and she is already developing additional simulations based on the feedback.