How to make a game with AI, even if you have never coded

Step 1: pick a game small enough to finish

This decides more than any tool. Choose one mechanic, one screen and one way to lose. A moon dodging asteroids, a memory grid, a snake you steer by swiping. If you can describe the game in a single sentence, it's the right size. If it needs a paragraph, trim it.

Step 2: choose a tool

For a first game, any of the big assistants will do. A chat assistant such as ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini can return a complete single-file game you open in your browser. A coding agent or AI editor (Claude Code, Codex, Cursor) works inside a project folder, which suits bigger games. Start with chat if you're a beginner, move to an agent when one file stops being enough. Our comparison goes through the options.

Step 3: write the first prompt

Name the controls, the scoring and what ends a run. Say how it should look in a few words, and say it must run in a browser with no libraries. Here's a template:

Make a one-button browser game. The player [does X] by [clicking, tapping or pressing space].
Score a point for [Y]. The run ends when [Z]. Speed up slowly over time.
Single HTML file, no external libraries, works with touch on a phone, restarts cleanly.
Dark background, neon colours, big readable score.

There are real examples in our prompt guide.

Step 4: play it, then describe what is wrong

The first draft usually runs but feels off: too fast, too easy, buttons too small. Don't edit code. Say what you saw: "the moon should slow down near the star", "the restart button is too small to tap". Each request is one round. Our own games each came from a single prompt and one build, then testing, which tells you how far a good first prompt gets you.

Step 5: test like a player

1. Play it on your phone, in portrait, with your thumb.
2. Lose on purpose and restart. Does everything reset?
3. Leave it for ten minutes. Is it still interesting?
4. Ask a friend to try without explaining anything.

Step 6: put it online for free

A single HTML file can be hosted free on a static host such as GitHub Pages, Netlify, Vercel or Cloudflare Pages: upload the file and you get a link. If you want more eyes on it, submit your game to our directory and we'll credit you.

The mistakes that waste weekends

• Starting too big. A game with levels, shops and multiplayer rarely survives a first prompt.
• Changing five things at once. You won't know which change broke it.
• Never testing on a phone. Half of all players will be on one.
• Skipping credits. If you used generated art or sound, note it. People will ask.