Three years ago, building a Xiangqi (Chinese Chess) game required a team and months of development.
Today, I rebuilt it almost entirely by myself — with the help of GitHub Copilot.
You can try the game here: Cờ Tướng
This article is not about hype. It's about the real workflow changes, practical lessons, and how AI fundamentally changed how I build software.
The Old Way: 3 Months, 3 People
Previously, building a Xiangqi game required:
- 2 developers
- 1 designer
- ~3 months of work
Scope included
Core Screens
- Login page
- Register page
- Lobby
- Gameplay screen
- Table management system
Designer workload (~1 month)
The designer had to create:
- Board textures
- Piece designs
- UI layout system
- Lobby visuals
- Buttons, panels, effects
Game UI design is time-consuming because everything must feel immersive and consistent.
Development workload (~2 months)
The developers focused on:
1. UI implementation
Building pixel-perfect UI from design files.
2. Multiplayer system
- Room creation
- Joining tables
- Synchronizing moves
- Handling reconnects
3. AI engine
This was the hardest part.
We had to implement:
- Move generation
- Position evaluation
- Difficulty levels
- Avoid obvious blunders
4. State management & bug fixing
Handling all edge cases:
- illegal moves
- disconnections
- game ending logic
- synchronization errors
Even releasing a basic playable version took around 3 months.
The New Way: Just Me and GitHub Copilot
Recently, I decided to rebuild the game completely from scratch using GitHub Copilot.
No designer.
No second developer.
Just:
- Me
- Copilot
My role shifted from writing code → directing code.
My workflow became:
- Think of an idea
- Write a prompt
- Review Copilot's code
- Fix or refine with prompts
- Repeat
This dramatically reduced development time.
How I Actually Use Copilot
Copilot works best when treated like a junior developer that is extremely fast, but needs direction.
Not magic. Not perfect. But incredibly productive.
The key is how you prompt.
Lesson 1: Build UI One Component at a Time
Bad prompt:
Create a full lobby UI for my game
Result: messy, generic, unusable.
Good prompt:
Create a TableManagementPage with:
- wooden texture background
- table list with pagination
- each table has name, time limit, turn limit
- user can click to join a table
- use React and Css module
This produces much higher-quality results.
Why?
Because Copilot performs better when the scope is clear and focused.
Lesson 2: Let Copilot Use Your Existing Architecture
Once your frontend structure exists, backend becomes extremely fast.
Example prompt:
Create API endpoints for TableManagementPage
Copilot automatically generates:
- GET /api/tables
- POST /api/tables
- JOIN table endpoint
- validation logic
- models
Because it already understands your codebase.
You don't need to describe everything.
Context is enough.
Lesson 3: Designer Work Reduced by 90%
Before:
Designer needed ~1 month to create full UI.
Now:
I simply prompt:
Create a wooden texture Xiangqi board UI with traditional Chinese style
Then refine:
Make the board darker
Add hover highlight
Add move animation
Copilot generates usable UI instantly.
I only adjust small details.
Lesson 4: AI Handles Most Boilerplate
Copilot excels at writing:
- React components
- API endpoints
- state management
- validation logic
- repetitive UI code
This eliminates most of the tedious work.
I focus only on:
- architecture
- game logic
- final decisions
Lesson 5: Development Becomes Exponentially Faster
Old process:
- Think → Code → Debug → Repeat
New process:
- Think → Prompt → Review → Done
The difference is massive.
Tasks that took hours now take minutes.
Example: Creating Table Management System
My actual workflow:
Step 1: Prompt Copilot
Create TableManagementPage with pagination, wooden style, join button
Step 2: Copilot generates full React component
Step 3: Prompt backend
Create API for TableManagementPage
Step 4: Copilot generates endpoints
Step 5: Connect frontend & backend
Done.
Total time: less than 1 hour.
Previously: 1–2 days.
My New Role: From Developer → Director
I no longer spend most of my time typing code.
I spend most of my time:
- thinking
- designing architecture
- reviewing AI output
Copilot handles implementation.
This is a fundamental shift.
What Copilot Is NOT Good At
Copilot still struggles with:
- complex game algorithms
- architecture decisions
- long-term consistency
- optimizing AI engine logic
You still need engineering experience.
Copilot accelerates developers.
It does not replace them.
What Used to Take a Team, Now Takes One Developer
Before:
- 2 developers
- 1 designer
- 3 months
Now:
- 1 developer
- GitHub Copilot
- dramatically less time
This is not theoretical.
This is production reality.
Final Thoughts
GitHub Copilot completely changed how I build software.
It removes most repetitive work and allows me to focus on what matters.
The future of development is not AI replacing developers.
It's developers using AI to build faster than ever.
If you're not using AI in your workflow yet, you're already behind.
If you have questions or want to discuss building games with AI, feel free to comment.
You can try the game here:
https://cotuong.club/
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