This post is my submission for DEV Education Track: Build Apps with Google AI Studio.
What I Built
So I decided to play around with the Google AI studio and in the process I built a Card Matching Game with an AI opponent. The game logic involves a human player and an AI taking turns to flip two face-down cards to find matching pairs. I prompted Gemini to define behavior like card flipping, score tracking, and memory-based AI decision-making. I also added a fun feature where the card image theme changes after each game from animals to emojis to space objects.
Key prompts I used:
“Build a card matching game where the player competes against an AI opponent. Cards are displayed face-down in a grid with a black back design. When a player (human or AI) takes a turn, they can click (or select) two cards. Each selected card flips to reveal its image. If the two revealed cards match, they remain face-up and the player earns a point and continues their turn. If they do not match, the cards flip back face-down after a short delay and the turn passes to the next player. The AI should remember previous card positions to make smarter choices. At the end of the game, the player with the most matched pairs wins. After each game, the theme of the card images e.g animals, fruits, space, emojis should randomly change for the next match. use Imagen api to generate the visuals and at the end of the game, a pop up modal shows announcing the winner and a button to start a new game”
“The AI opponent in the card matching game should follow the same rules as the human player. On its turn, the AI should only flip two cards, one after the other. If the cards match, they stay face-up and the AI continues its turn. If they don't match, the cards should flip back face-down after a short delay and the turn passes to the human player. Do not reveal or flip all cards on the board at any point. The AI can remember previously revealed card positions to make smarter decisions but it should never bypass the flipping rules or expose the full board.”
Demo
Below are some screenshots from the app
- The initial loading screen
- The new game screen
- Opening moves
And here's the link to my applet where you can play the game for yourself
My Experience
I'm no stranger to working with AI tools so using Gemini in Google AI Studio felt intuitive. I was impressed by how responsive the model was to clear and structured prompts. I realized that prompt precision directly impacted how playable the game became especially in restricting the AI to just picking two cards at a time and stopping it from revealing the entire board all at once.
I also enjoyed customizing the game's design logic like flipping animations and dynamic themes purely through descriptive instructions. There were a few errors (what model doesn’t have them?) but Gemini was able to fix them with minimal intervention from me. This project highlighted how efficient AI can be at scaffolding interactive logic while significantly reducing iteration time.
All in all, it was a nice and well-spent 30 minutes of my time.
Top comments (6)
This is extremely impressive, seeing you spin something up like that in 30 minutes is wild honestly. ever feel like prompt precision kinda makes you think differently about how you design logic and flow?
It does
Crafting precise prompts makes you really think about how you want things to work
Love how you got Gemini to handle the AI's memory and switch up card themes each game. Was there a trick to making the AI feel fair but tough?
No trick
The AI remembers previous card positions and uses that for its next turn
Hey friend
Hey friend