The ultimate guide to building games with AI

Prompt. Run. Play.
Score. Repeat.

This is every game I make. Steps 3 to 5 are a loop, and the loop is where the game gets good. Click a step to jump to it.

1. 1Write the promptShort. What it is, what I can do, how good.
2. 2Give it a targetA game, a screenshot, a recording.
3. 3Let it runHours, not minutes. Tell it when to stop.
4. 4Play the first minuteTitle screen, first room, controls.
5. 5Score it and revise“This is a 4. Get it to a 9.”
6. 6Save the winPackage what worked as a skill.
7. 7Ship itTrailer, page, Arcade.

↻ Repeat steps 3 to 5 until it is a 9 out of 10

1. 01

   Start short.

   Say what it is, what I can do in it and how good it has to be. My typical opening prompt is 44 words.

2. 02

   Name the bar.

   A game everyone knows, a screenshot, or a number. “9 out of 10” beats “make it good.”

3. 03

   Tell it how long to run.

   Three hours, until midnight, until it is a 9. Otherwise it stops when it has something that works.

4. 04

   Play the first minute.

   I judge the title screen, the first room and how the controls feel. That is what viewers see too.

5. 05

   Score it out loud.

   “This is a 4 out of 10. Get it to a 9.” Then two to four specific things that are wrong.

6. 06

   Lock what works.

   “The racers are done. Leave them.” Point the next round at one area, not the whole game.

7. 07

   Save the wins as skills.

   When something comes out great, I have the AI package how it did it, so the next game starts there.

One AI, one folder,
one file.

There is no game engine in this process and I do not write code. Here is everything on the desk.

Six parts.
Under a minute to write.

My opening prompts are short. Across 188 build chats the typical one is 44 words, and 131 of them were 60 words or fewer. I talk it out loud, the way I would brief a person. The detail comes later, in the revisions, once there is something to react to.

Six shapes. Every game is one of them.

Before I write anything, I know which of these I am writing. All six are real opening prompts.

01one-liner02one shot03clone04vision with a list05overnight run06upgrade pass

The one-liner

Use it for: A famous game the model already knows inside out.

When the reference is that specific, extra words only get in the way. This build came back so close to the real thing that I asked how it had done it.

Rebuild Lego Island 2: The Brickster's Revenge.

Opening prompt, the Lego Island 2 rebuild

A picture beats
a paragraph.

Words like “gorgeous” and “mind-blowing” set the mood. They do not set the bar. A reference does. These are the four kinds I use.

I want you to build a dungeon crawler that matches or exceeds this. Run on a loop until you have achieved that.

This is your target. I want a replica vertical slice level that is on par with the Elder Scrolls mobile game Blades (graphics, gameplay, etc.). Do not give me a result until it's a 9 out of 10 in closeness, especially graphically with this reference image.

Just the graphics alone are a 1 out of 10, and we need to get to a 9. This has zero wow factor. The area looks super empty and bare. There's constant flickering going on. I will say, the combat is great. I've attached an image from your current build for reference, as well as an image that I used to mock up the quality you should be hitting.

I want you to build me a game where I play as Michael Scott from the hit TV show The Office.

I can walk around the office, interact with core characters from the TV show, and have conversations. There are Easter eggs and inside jokes that longtime fans of the show will understand.

You should research the exact layout of the office, characters, etc. Get the layout exactly right. Get the characters right; the detail should be absolutely mind-blowing, and showcase the extreme capabilities of your model.

You need to really take your time:

1. First, get the layout and blueprints of Hogwarts.
2. Rebuild it room by room at scale with detail (loop for as long as it takes).

Once that's complete and looks good, we can move on to the surrounding areas.

Tell it when
it is allowed to stop.

Left alone, an AI stops as soon as it has something that runs. That first version is almost never the good one. The best builds come from long runs where it builds, looks at its own work, and goes again. You have to ask for that.

Build 1 of 13

Build 1 of 11

That is what a long run looks like from the outside. Press play, or drag the bar. Each frame is a real saved build, hours apart. Look at the first Hogwarts frame: a knight on a bare bridge, because the build started from my character skill. These are the phrases that get it to keep going.

Yes, incredible job. Now I want you to really focus on interiors, making them large and detailed. I want classic LEGO pieces that go along with the actual sets. I want it to be super iconic, super nostalgic, and super detailed.

Also, let's really up the quality and the detail on the racers. We're getting really damn close here. Incredible work so far.

I want you to run without asking questions. I'm heading to bed, and I want to wake up with an absolutely mind-blowing result.

I don't know how much clearer I can make this: do not stop until everything is a 9 out of 10. You keep stopping when you're not done.

I'm going to be gone for the morning. I want to come back to either a mind-blowing build at scale with everything done to a 9 out of 10, or to see you still diligently working.

What I look for,
and what I say.

I judge every build the way a viewer will: I open it and play the first minute. This is the same opening, first result and shipped. Drag the line.

First result: 2 / 10Shipped

First result: 2 / 10Shipped

These are the ten things that come up again and again, with the line that fixes each one.

Stop starting
from zero.

A skill is a folder the AI can pick up: instructions, a working game to start from, and notes on what went wrong last time. When a build finally comes out great, I have the AI package how it got there. The next game starts at that level instead of at a 2.

The quality that this voxel small town was built at is incredible. I have to give you applause.

The details, things like birds flying up from the ground when I walk near them, the flags in the wind, all of the interiors, the leaves falling from the sky, the whole atmosphere, are a 10/10.

We need to turn this into a skill so we can capture this level of quality.

How can we cut the usage massively and the time massively, and also still get a similar quality of result?

For example, if I wanted to build something in this style, but it's a medieval kingdom instead, I want the same level of quality, charm, etc., but I don't want to have to do the three-hour token burn.

Characters without the skill, and with it

On the left is what the AI builds when I just ask for great characters. On the right is what it builds when the prompt starts with “use our character skill.” Same AI. The only difference is the skill.

Without the skill

Bodies built from basic shapes in code. Stiff, blocky, and no amount of “make the models better” fixed it.

With the skill

Modelled bodies, faces, hair and clothes, with motion-captured movement. This is Night’s Watch, straight from the skill.

One skill, three games

Built with the skill

Night’s WatchA whole named cast from one base body: brothers, rangers, wildlings.

Built with the skill

Opus RingKnights and soldiers in armour, on the same skeleton and animation.

Built with the skill

Darth Maul: Sith ApprenticeWhere the skill came from. Both hands closed on the hilt.

The three skills I use

Stacking skills

The real payoff is combining them. Night’s Watch is the crawler kit plus the character kit, in a new setting, with missions listed out. Opus Ring started from both as well. Hogwarts: Legacy of Magic pulled its loot and inventory straight from the crawler kit.

I want you to use our dark crawler kit skill, as well as our character model skill that we created tonight.

I want you to create an incredible game, AAA quality, called Night's Watch. In the game, we are a member of the Night's Watch during Game of Thrones when Ser Alliser is Lord Commander.

There should be multiple missions:

1. It should start off with a sort of tutorial mission where we do an expedition beyond the Wall, fight some wildlings, and eventually fight a White Walker.
2. A level featuring the siege of Castle Black, with the White Walkers trying to siege the Wall.
3. A level where we go out beyond the Wall again with Jon Snow and those characters who go to capture a White Walker.

It doesn't have to be exactly that; those are just some ideas. I just want some variety and iconic stuff from the show.

We need to include the full inventory system, everything from the Grimhold builds. We also need to make sure the models look really good; I want to be absolutely mind-blown with this. It needs to have RPG elements, really good menu systems, UI, etc.

I want to build a new city with the same quality and detail as Port Solace, but with a beautiful, autumnal castle fantasy vibe. It should be super charming, quaint, and gorgeous, set in a high-fantasy, fairy-tale-style world.

We should include elements like:
• Whimsical wizard towers
• Castles
• Other high-fantasy, charming features

A file on my Desktop
is not finished.

The last stretch is getting it in front of people. The AI does most of this too.

1. 01

   Ask for a showcase mode.

   Every chapter selectable from the menu, every track unlocked, fast travel to anywhere. It makes filming possible and it makes the game better for players who just want to look around.

2. 02

   Run the sweep.

   One full pass for playability and bugs before the camera goes on. I use the pre-filming sweep prompt from the revision chapter.

3. 03

   Capture the trailer from the game itself.

   The AI drives its own camera to record real gameplay, then cuts it. My rule: never open on black. The first frame is the best shot.

4. 04

   Give it a page.

   Each game gets a landing page with real screenshots, an email signup, and a page to play in the browser or download the file.

5. 05

   Put it in the Arcade.

   One place for every finished game, newest first.

Please just add it so by default we can travel to any site of grace, so I can showcase this game easier.

I need two clips:

1. Intro clip (26.30 seconds): it's going to be the intro for my intro voiceover. It should have the music from the game as soft background music. It should be super compelling, cinematic, and keep people entertained and wanting to see the full video.
2. Outro clip (29.15 seconds): it should be super scenic, beautiful, and get people wanting to play the game.

Play all 19 games in the Arcade →

The AI needs
eyes on the game.

You do not need to understand this part to use it. You only need to ask for it. This is the scaffolding behind every bigger build, and it is why a three-hour run comes back better instead of just bigger.

Before you build anything else, set this project up so you can check your own work:

1. Split the source into small numbered parts with a build script that joins them into one HTML file and refuses to build if there is a syntax error.
2. Add a self-test I can run by adding ?test to the URL. It should print how many checks passed.
3. Set up a headless browser script that loads the game, moves the camera to named spots and saves screenshots. Look at those screenshots yourself after every change.
4. Put the build time on the title screen so I can tell if I am looking at an old copy.
5. Back the source up outside this folder on every build.

Never tell me something is fixed until you have looked at a screenshot of it.

Add a test that walks the game the way I do: start at the front door, hold forward, and go up every staircase and through every doorway without teleporting. If the player gets stuck anywhere, tell me where. Run it before you tell me a level is done.

Let's lock down the ElevenLabs stuff. I have 9,942 credits to burn. I want sound effects for spells, background music in game, and voices of students as you walk by saying the words you can see written above them. Sound effects and music are important, then voices. Only use these credits, no more.

GPT is working on making the castle feel better, more alive, and more realistic. I want you to focus on the mission structure and stories.

I want you to push yourself to the limits, like an actual AAA game studio, to design a mission structure that is genuinely fun and engaging. For example, right now when we go beyond the wall, it is just endless walking with nothing to do.

Eight mistakes
I paid for.

Most of what is in this guide came from a build that went badly. These are the ones that changed how I work.

Build your prompt
right here.

Two builders that assemble a prompt in the structure from this guide, then four templates to keep. Nothing you type here leaves your browser.

Four templates to keep

I want you to build [WHAT IT IS], in 3D, in a single HTML file. [ONE SENTENCE ON WHO IT IS FOR OR WHAT IT SHOULD FEEL LIKE.]

I should be able to:
• [VERB 1]
• [VERB 2]
• [VERB 3]

It should look and play like [REFERENCE GAME OR ATTACHED IMAGE]. [THE TWO THINGS THAT MATTER MOST] matter most.

Do not show me a result until it is a 9 out of 10. Loop for [HOW LONG] and do not stop early. When someone who loves [THE THING] sees this, they should not believe AI made it.

[WHAT IS WORKING] is great. Leave it exactly as it is.

Right now this is a [SCORE] out of 10. Get it to a 9.

What is holding it back:
1. [SPECIFIC THING I SAW]
2. [SPECIFIC THING I SAW]
3. [SPECIFIC THING I SAW]

[SCREENSHOT ATTACHED IF IT IS VISUAL.] Put the improvements where I will see them in the first minute. You have [TIME BOX].

This came out incredible. What made it a 10 for me: [THE SPECIFIC THINGS YOU LOVED].

Turn how you built this into a skill, so we can make more at this quality without redoing the work. Include the working engine as a starting point, the quality bar, and the mistakes to avoid. Then tell me how we could get a similar result in a fraction of the time and usage.

Use our [SKILL NAME] skill.

I want a new [KIND OF GAME] with the same quality and detail as [THE BUILD THE SKILL CAME FROM], but [NEW SETTING AND VIBE]. Fresh art and layout: do not reuse the old world.

It should include:
• [ELEMENT]
• [ELEMENT]
• [ELEMENT]

These four are the structure. The real prompts behind each game, the editable files and my skills are in the AI Creator Bundle, $9 one-time.

Asked
and answered.