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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.

Christmas is right around the corner. While you’re lazing around in the cozy beds, sipping hot chocolate, eating cookies, and planning gifts, there is something fun that you can do for yourself and your family. Pikoo can help you get into the Christmas spirit by creating Christmas-specific games.

Let us show you how we created a simple, engaging game for everyone in the family to play with an AI game generator. The rules are simple. There are a few buttons and a large, colorful image of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Of all the buttons, only one lights up the nose of Rudolph and makes him say nice things, and the rest are just mildly snarky remarks. You can press any button until you find the right button. Another way to play it is to pass the mobile phone around the family, and whoever has it presses a button. If they get it right, they take a shot (of hot chocolate); if not, broccoli?

Steps to create games from text

So to make this game, I entered the prompt:

Initial prompt:

Design a game in which you must find the correct button to illuminate Rudolph the reindeer’s nose. When the nose lights up, Rudolph says nice things. When it’s the wrong button, it’s slightly snarky.

System’s response:

Hi! That’s a super cute idea, I love it. Let’s make Rudolph’s nose light up!

First, let’s figure out the basics together.

For now, imagine something like this:

You see Rudolph on the screen

There are several buttons (or colored circles)

Only ONE of them is the “magic” button

When you click the correct one, his red nose lights up, and he may smile, or a message appears, such as “You found it!”

Let me ask you just one thing to start:

Do you want it to look more like:

A – A simple screen with Rudolph and some regular buttons with text (like “Button 1, Button 2, Button 3…”)

or

B –  Some colorful shapes or icons (like stars or circles) that you can click to try and find the right one?

Just answer “A” or “B” (or describe your own idea), and then I’ll show you an ASCII preview of how the game will look!

My response 1:

Make it very colorful and bright.

System’s response:

Nice! Colorful and bright Rudolph button game coming up 😄

Let me ask just one simple thing so I get it right:

Do you imagine the buttons as:

A – Colorful circles (like red, blue, green, yellow dots)
B – Fun shapes (stars, hearts, snowflakes, etc.)

You can just say “A” or “B” (or mix them, like “colorful circles and one star”).

While you think, here’s a quick preview of what I’m imagining:

YOUR GAME DESIGN

What you’ll make:

A bright, colorful screen with Rudolph in the middle, lots of colorful buttons around, and you have to click to find the one that lights up his nose.

• The Setup: You control: Your mouse (clicking buttons)
• Goal: Find the correct button that makes Rudolph’s nose glow bright red
• Watch out for: Nothing dangerous, but many wrong buttons that just do nothing or say “Try again!”
• Controls: Click with your mouse or tap on the screen (if on mobile)

HERE’S YOUR GAME!

Does this look right for you: Rudolph in the center, lots of bright, colorful clickable shapes around him, and one of them lights his nose?

If yes, just say:

“looks good” (and tell me A or B for circles vs shapes)

Then I’ll build the full playable game that you can just open and play.

My response 2:

Looks good.

AND THAT’S IT! That’s all it took to get me the game I wanted. 

I got this colorful game, which I can literally play with my grandma and my nephew– all on the same table.

You can now go to Pikoo and try making different Christmas games yourself. If you’re feeling lazy, here are some example prompts and game screenshots.

1. A simple game involving a Christmas tree and a collection of ornaments. You can hang the decorations on the tree. When you press complete, you can share or take a screenshot of the tree image.

2. Create a game in which you gently float Santa above the houses and land him on the Chimneys. When you land him on three chimneys, you win and receive a bright, merry Christmas greeting.

Have fun! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!!!

We interviewed 100+ users who love making games. These are NOT just professionals but also young individuals who make games on platforms like Roblox and Minecraft. These are curious and highly creative people who we don’t hear about regularly. While “What is wrong with Roblox” is a blog in and of itself, we will keep that for another time. Let’s keep this on why people want to make games:

1. To make a popular game
2. To make money
3. To get the joy of creation
4. To have fun with games
5. To express themselves and tell stories
6. To experiment with game ideas
7. To challenge themselves and gain mastery
8. To share games with friends
9. To learn the basics of game design
10. To socialize and develop collaboratively
11. To learn the basics of programming

Let’s go one by one:

1. To make a popular game:

This is the absolute and most common reason we heard from literally everyone. From the very young to the most experienced game developers. Everyone wants to make a game so that many people can play it. The definition of “a lot” varied from 10 people to 10 million people for different people, but the emotion was always about a lot. 

2. To make money:

The young kids want to make a career in games, the professionals wish to grow, and the indie developers want to make money by selling their games or copies thereof. 

3. To get the joy of creation:

Fame and money are the most common reasons that we want to do anything, but beyond that, creativity is an innate desire. The kids want to make games because they enjoy making games. They enjoy the sandbox nature of building. 

4. To have fun with games:

Everyone who makes games just loves games. They also typically love to play their games. 

5. To express themselves and tell stories:

We see games as a means of storytelling. And that’s one of the reasons why people make games. They want to make a game about helping older adults, about how their parents help them during camping, or just a cool homework assignment—games as a means of storytelling. 

6. To experiment with game ideas:

Kids love sandbox. Experiment with different ideas. Different projects. They want to know what a GTA set in Delhi would look like, or what Subway Surfers would be like if mom is chasing you with milk. Or what would games be if I have very little time to solve a puzzle to understand how to fly a plane.  

7. To challenge themselves and gain mastery:

The folks who are a bit more experimental, who have made even a 30-second game in the past using templates or simple languages like Scratch, just enjoy making games like a sport. And they want to do it more to gain mastery over it. 

8. To share games with friends:

This is a more personal version of popularity that the users seek. They want to make games that are specific to their friend group. Something akin to internal jokes. 

9. Learning the basics of game design:

Users in the 16-24 age bracket have a nuanced understanding of socials, storytelling, and game design as a discipline. For them, making games is another way to learn game design. Quite a few of them have previously watched videos on how to make games, or what game design is, and what level design is. They are always looking for tools and teammates to help test their ideas. 

10. Socialize and build collaboratively:

This set of users can be classified as curious nerds. They’re not alone in wanting to experiment with ideas, but they have groups of friends. These groups often take the form of Discord or WhatsApp/Instagram chats. They exchange memes, create them, play some games together, and literally experiment with strategies. They want to have something digital to do together. Some of them have a regular schedule of coming back from school, sitting together on Minecraft, and building their worlds. This group of users wants their ideas to come to life as they hang out on a group chat. 

11. Learn the basics of programming:

This was a fascinating observation. Quite a few students or potential users who wanted to get into game design actually had the notion that learning game design meant learning programming. When we dug deeper into their thought process, we found that this perception was a consequence of past trauma from trying to make games or attending coding courses in the name of game design. 

These are some of the insights we got from interviewing aspiring game designers. We’ll be putting them into a jobs-to-be-done framework and making some comparisons with existing products. We will see which product decisions this shapes up for us and how we define product requirements based on this. Till then, if anyone asks you why kids even want to make a game. You can point them here. 

Game creation is one of the most intimidating creative endeavors we have today.

The Evolution

Part of this stems from the relatively recent emergence of video games as a medium. They’ve literally only existed for 40–50 years. That’s nothing compared to writing, music, or visual art. And yet, in that short span of time, games have evolved at an unusually rapid pace, coupled with technological advances across many fields.

To make even a reasonably good game today, you need to navigate multiple digital disciplines at once. Graphic design. UI. Animation. Sound design. Programming. Game mechanics. Player psychology. Level design. Distribution. Each of these fields evolves independently, and an innovation in any of them can suddenly shift what’s possible and who gets to make it happen. The frequency of these advances is every few weeks.

The result is predictable.

The Change

Almost no one has enough skills to make great games entirely on their own. Very few people have sufficient clarity, confidence, or access to resources to conceptualize a game and assemble the right team to bring it to life. Game creation can feel inaccessible, even to people who deeply love games.

In that sense, game creation today looks a lot like video creation did in the early 2000s.

In the past, making a video required expensive equipment, specialized software, and technical expertise. Most people were consumers, and a select few were creators. The desire to create existed, but the barriers were too high. Over time, that changed because technology advanced and reduced the cost of experimentation.

This is a pattern we’ve seen repeatedly.

When the internet became mainstream in the early 90s, it democratized text. Publishing shifted from institutions to individuals with access to a computer. Digital cameras and tools like Photoshop did the same for images. Smartphones with high-quality cameras and enough storage did it for video. Each time, a new content format emerged alongside existing ones, slightly reshaped behavior, and participation occurred at unprecedented scales.

Games are next.

The Future 

Generative AI is the technological shift that enables this. While it entered the public imagination roughly four or five years ago, it’s only now reaching a point where real, practical use cases are coming together. The tools are becoming reliable enough, fast enough, and flexible enough to assist creation rather than just demonstrate novelty.

If history is any indication, the democratization of a content format is rarely about creation tools alone. It usually leads to the emergence of a new social platform built around that format. Facebook rode the wave of text and images. TikTok rode the wave of short-form video.

The stage is now set for the next shift centered around games.

Users from all walks of life create games with no constraints. Sharing them, remixing them, and treating games as everyday expressions of creativity.

That’s the direction this medium is heading. That’s what we’re building.