How much does it cost to make a 2D game on your own with AI tools? Short answer: about $130–180 and 2–3 weeks for a small mobile game. Most of that money goes to an AI coding subscription, not to art.
Every number below comes from the AI game cost calculator. Its size anchors are real solo mobile games built with AI coding agents: a small one took about 2 weeks, a medium one about 4 and a large one about 6. Prices are as of October 5, 2026.
Cost and time by size (merge game)
Tool stack: Typical (Midjourney + Suno + ElevenLabs + Claude Max 5×), released on Android.
| Size | Time | Images | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small | 14–22 days | 86 | $128–181 |
| Medium | 26–43 days | 196 | $128–313 |
| Large | 38–62 days | 358 | $235–464 |
| Extra large | 81–131 days | 675 | $329–728 |
The medium range is wide because a project that runs past one month pays a second month of subscriptions. Finish in 26 days and you pay one month; take 43 days and you pay two.
Where the money goes
A small merge game with the Typical stack:
| Item | Cost | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Code (Claude Max 5×, 1 month) | $100 | ~66% |
| Store fee (Google Play, once) | $25 | ~17% |
| Art (Midjourney) | $10 | ~7% |
| Music (Suno) | $10 | ~7% |
| SFX (ElevenLabs) | $6 | ~4% |
86 images is cheaper than most people expect. Even generating three for every one you keep, it fits in Midjourney's basic plan. An AI coding agent, on the other hand, runs all day, so you need a plan with generous usage limits, and that is two-thirds of the bill.
The same coding on the API would be about 250 million tokens, roughly $163 on Claude Sonnet 5.5. For a solo developer coding every day, the subscription is cheaper.
How much genre changes it
Same small size, very different amounts of art and code:
| Genre (small) | Time | Images | Best value stack | Typical stack |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hyper-casual | 6–10 days | 47 | $46–65 | $128–181 |
| Merge | 14–22 days | 86 | $53–75 | $128–181 |
| RPG | 19–31 days | 119 | $59–107 | $128–313 |
An RPG has more characters and animation frames, so it needs about 38% more images than a merge game, and the longer schedule can add a month of subscriptions.
Best value, Typical and Top tier stacks
The calculator switches between three stacks with one click:
- Best value: Gemini (Nano Banana 2) images + free Pixabay music and SFX + Google AI Pro (Gemini CLI) for code. $53–75 for a small merge game
- Typical: Midjourney + Suno + ElevenLabs + Claude Max 5×. $128–181
- Top tier: Midjourney + AIVA Pro + ElevenLabs + Claude Max 20×. $235–332
Best value costs about 40% of Typical. Free audio takes time to pick, and coding quality differs between agents, so try them on your own project.
Costs people forget
- Store fees: Google Play $25 once, Apple $99 a year, Steam $100 per game. Web is free
- Servers: online play needs Photon, Firebase or a small server. The calculator uses $12 a month during development
- iOS too: about 3 extra days for builds and review
- Languages: about half a day per extra language
Running costs after launch and marketing are not included, and they are often the bigger number.
Other AI tools for games
Tools you can pick in the calculator:
- Art: Midjourney, Leonardo, Gemini, GPT Image, PixelLab (pixel art and animation), Scenario, Ludo.ai, God Mode AI, AutoSprite, Layer.ai
- Music and SFX: Suno, Stable Audio, Soundraw, AIVA, ElevenLabs, Pixabay / Kenney / Freesound (free)
- 3D models: Meshy, Tripo
- Code: Claude Pro and Max, Cursor, Windsurf, GitHub Copilot, Gemini, or the API directly
Get the prompts too
The calculator does more than price the project. Pick a genre, size, engine and platform and it writes a dev kickoff prompt, art prompts, music and SFX prompts and a trailer storyboard you can paste straight into Claude Code or Midjourney. It covers 33 genres and 21 engines, including Unity, Godot, Unreal and GameMaker.
Originally published on TokenSave.
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