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Posted on Oct 28 Originally published at quickmatch.si

How to Make a Video Game With AI (Step by Step)

#gamedev #beginners #ai #tutorial

Making a video game with AI is mostly about keeping it small and changing one thing at a time. Here's a beginner path that works with any tool, from picking an idea to sharing a finished game. Prices and plan details mentioned below come from each vendor's own pages, checked Oct 19, 2026.

Can AI make a whole video game?

A small one, yes. AI game makers like Rosebud can turn a text prompt into a playable browser game, and AI coding tools can write most of the code for a game in an engine like Godot or GDevelop. What AI doesn't do for you is decide what makes the game fun: you still pick the idea, test it, and fix what feels wrong. Bigger games also need your design, playtesting and cleanup of AI-made art and code.

Think of AI as a very fast assistant. It can write a jump, draw a character or compose a loop in seconds. It can't tell whether the jump feels good, whether the character fits your world, or whether the loop gets annoying after three minutes. That part is your job, and it's the fun part.

How hard is it?

Your first playable version can be quick if you keep the idea tiny. It gets harder as the game grows: AI tools can break things that already work when you ask for big changes, free plans run out of credits, and assets often need cleanup. Following the steps below (one small change at a time, playtest after each) is what keeps it manageable.

1. Pick a tiny idea

Think Pong or Flappy Bird, not an open-world RPG. Write one sentence: the goal, the controls, how you win and how you lose. For example: "Tap to flap a bird through gaps in pipes; you lose if you touch a pipe; your score is how many gaps you pass."

Good first-game ideas share three things: one main action (jump, shoot, match, dodge), one screen or a simple scrolling level, and a clear fail state. If you can't explain the game to a friend in ten seconds, cut it down. You can always make the sequel bigger.

2. Choose where it will live

Where you want players to find the game decides the tool:

A shareable browser link → a prompt-to-game builder like Rosebud. Its free plan gives 8,000 credits with no card; commercial rights start on 10x Dev ($30/mo).
Steam or mobile → an engine like GDevelop (free, open-source no-code engine with an AI agent and 40 free AI credits a month) or Godot with an AI coding tool like Cursor (free plan).
Roblox → Roblox Assistant, built into Roblox Studio. It writes scripts, inserts Creator Store assets and generates meshes.
A web app you control → a chat builder like Bolt.new or Lovable, which give you a normal web project.

Torn between the first two? Read Rosebud AI vs GDevelop. Coding in Godot? Compare Cursor vs Claude Code for game development. To choose a builder, see the best AI game maker for beginners, or find which AI is best for your video game.

3. Prompt one level, then one mechanic per prompt

Ask for the smallest playable version first. Then add or change one thing (jump height, an enemy, a score) and playtest after every change. Big "redo everything" prompts use up credits and break what already works.

A good first prompt names the genre, the controls and the goal: "A 2D side-scrolling platformer. Arrow keys to move, space to jump. Reach the flag on the right to win. Fall off the screen to lose. Use simple colored shapes." Then build up with prompts like:

"Add three coins to collect, and show the count in the top left."
"Add one enemy that walks back and forth on the middle platform. Touching it restarts the level."
"Make the jump a little higher and the fall a little faster."

When something breaks, describe exactly what happens and when: "after I collect a coin, the score shows 2 instead of 1". Paste any error messages in full. If you're using a coding tool, ask the AI to explain its change in one sentence, so you learn as you go.

Using a coding agent? Free agent skills make it better at specific engines: GodotPrompter for Godot, the official Phaser Agent Skills for browser games, and Unity's official Unity Skills.

4. Playtest and save versions

Play your game after every change, and every few changes, have someone else play it without any explanation. Watch where they get stuck. That's your next prompt.

Save working versions as you go. In Rosebud, remix your own game before a big rewrite; in GDevelop, save a copy of the project; in Godot or a code project, commit with Git. Then a bad AI change costs you one step, not the whole game.

5. Add art and sound

Placeholder shapes are fine at first. Once the game is fun, use AI asset tools:

2D art: PixelLab for pixel art (its terms let you own your creations on all plans), or Scenario for one consistent style (50 free credits a day; commercial license on paid plans).
3D models: Meshy (100 free credits a month, CC BY 4.0) or Tripo (200 free credits a month, non-commercial).
Music: Stable Audio, which allows commercial use on every plan, including Free.
Sound effects and voices: ElevenLabs (10k free credits a month; commercial license from $6/mo).

Pick one art style and stick to it: mixing styles is the fastest way to make a game look unfinished. See AI game asset generators, or keep it at $0 with the free AI game dev stack. For specific jobs, see the best AI pixel art generator for games, the best AI 3D model generator and the best AI tools for game audio.

6. Check the license before you share or sell

Free plans often restrict use. For example, Tripo's free plan is non-commercial only, and Meshy's free outputs are CC BY 4.0, so you must credit Meshy (both compared in Meshy vs Tripo). Rosebud grants commercial rights from its 10x Dev plan. Scenario's free output is for personal and evaluation use only, and ElevenLabs' free plan isn't licensed for commercial use.

Keep a simple list of every tool and plan you used and what it made. You'll need it for credits screens and store disclosures. Full table and Steam's AI disclosure rules: can you sell a game made with AI.

7. Share it

Publish a link, put it on itch.io (tag your AI use), or post it in a community that welcomes playtests. Write a short description: what the game is, how to play, and what you'd like feedback on. Then make the next one a little bigger.

A worked example

Here's how the steps above might look for a tiny game, start to finish:

Idea: "Dodge falling rocks by moving left and right; survive as long as you can; score is seconds survived."
Tool: Rosebud, because the goal is a link to share with friends.
First prompt: "A 2D game. The player is a square at the bottom of the screen that moves left and right with the arrow keys. Rocks fall from the top at random positions. If a rock hits the player, show Game Over and a Restart button. Show seconds survived as the score."
Next prompts, one at a time: make rocks fall faster every 10 seconds; add a high score; add a small screen shake on hit.
Art and sound: a pixel-art character and rock, a short music loop and three sound effects (move, hit, game over).
License check: sharing a free link is fine; if it gets popular and you want to sell it, upgrade to a plan with commercial rights and swap any prototype-only assets.
Share: post the link and ask friends for their best score.

The same steps work in GDevelop or Godot. The only difference is that you'll see and edit the events or code the AI makes, which takes a bit longer but teaches you more.

Common beginner mistakes

Starting too big. The number one reason first games don't get finished.
Prompting for "better". Say exactly what to change: "faster", "higher", "red", "two more enemies".
Making art first. Pretty assets on a game that isn't fun are wasted credits.
Not reading the license. Check each tool's terms before you put a price on the game.
Not finishing. A small finished game teaches more than a big unfinished one.

Where to go next

Ready for a bigger project? Learn an engine with AI help in best AI for Godot, or compare builders in the best vibe coding tool for games. On a budget, see the best free AI tools for game development and free AI game generators. Want to mod an existing game instead? See the modding hub. For examples of what others have built, browse made with AI.

Try Rosebud · Try GDevelop

Questions people ask

Can I make a video game with AI for free?
Yes, for a small game. Rosebud, GDevelop, Scenario, PixelLab, Meshy, Tripo, Stable Audio and ElevenLabs all have free plans. Free plans limit credits, and some limit commercial use, so check the license before you sell anything.

How long does it take?
It depends on scope. Start with one level and one mechanic. Small, specific prompts get you a playable result fastest, and a tiny game can be playable in a single sitting with a prompt-to-game builder.

Do I need to know how to code?
No. AI game makers like Rosebud and GDevelop's AI agent work from plain-language prompts. Knowing a little code helps once you move to an engine like Godot.

What's the best AI tool to make a game?
It depends on where the game will live. For a shareable browser game, Rosebud. For Steam or mobile, GDevelop or Godot with an AI coding tool like Cursor. For Roblox, the Roblox Assistant in Roblox Studio.

Can AI make the art and music too?
Yes. Scenario and PixelLab make 2D art, Meshy and Tripo make 3D models, Stable Audio makes music, and ElevenLabs makes voices and sound effects. Rosebud has built-in sprite, sound, skybox and 3D generators.

Do I have to tell players my game used AI?
On some stores, yes. Steam's Content Survey asks about generative AI, and itch.io asks you to tag projects that contain AI-generated material. See our guide to selling AI-made games.

Why does the AI keep breaking my game?
Usually because a prompt asked for too much at once. Change one thing per prompt, playtest after each change, and save working versions so you can roll back.

Sources

Originally published on QuickMatch. Some links on QuickMatch are affiliate links.

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