I mean all the major hurdles of making a game aren't really helped much by AI...
AI has no training data on complex logic and systems so you gotta do that all yourself.
It definitely doesn't get anything visual right really.
There isn't large amounts of automated testing you can setup ahead of time for a lot of game-play so the AI can't iterate on it to make something work it'll just be hopeless.
The art is also going to all be really derivative plagiarism overly averaged scammy looking stuff. So that's basically an insurmountable hurdle. No unique style.
Time will tell! Certainly AI is unlocking a lot of stuff, a huge number of people who did not have the time or the special skills before to create games will do so. I can think back to my own start in making computer games, using Amos on the Amiga (vastly easier than C or assembly).
It's a separate question whether anything actually good will come out of it. It's incredibly unfair to look at any particular project and say: what, another clone of this or that done idea? Very few things are original in any time. Certainly I didn't make anything particularly original all those years ago. But, soon, there should be really something, if there's really something there. If it's not just burning tokens to copy older ideas. And we'll know it when we see it, this amazing thing that would not have existed otherwise.
i don’t like ai art bc it lacks and sort of “soul” or “human touch” (nebulous and subjective but iykyk) games are just another form of art, so why would i waste my time with just another form of slop?
I largely agree with you, but that's honestly the part I like. Just like your kids, there are folks here getting value out of something that wasn't accessible to them before. My most cherished artwork isn't the tasteful stuff, it's the crayon drawing my niece made for me on my wedding day. The low-stakes nature of this AI content feels similar; people are doing it for the sheer pleasure and aren't afraid of meeting anyone's bar. A lot of it is noise right now, but I suspect we'll see it develop into something really interesting if the pattern continues.
If you want to see what the HN game dev community is building, I’ve been curating the list here (https://hnarcade.com) for the past months.
The output is quite impressive. And having spoken to a number of the developers, it does seem like AI has had a massive impact on delivering their ideas.
Awesome, I've submitted a game I made last year (https://blankwhite.cards) which was itself a remake of a game I made in 2019.
In my experience it took 5 years to find the time and motivation to build a v2.0 by hand. AI has since accelerated the production process to help me ship features that would otherwise have taken me another few years to even consider doing.
What if you get someone else to program it? By this logic, Edmund McMillen (Super Meat Boy, Binding of Isaac, Mew-Genics) isn't a game developer, because he doesn't code.
> Nobody's sharing their work, because they used AI.
Really. What a stupid statement. As if AI bros aren't screaming all over the internet telling people their vibe-coded projects.
I do use AI for code, but I really don't know why AI users seem to have some sort of victim mentality when there are literally billions of capital stacking on their side.
My latest game BossBattle[1] (html5, have a play) uses AI for graphics, some strobe effects, a C64 loading screen shader.
I have decided to lean in to it and I will document all the places I use AI in the game on my blog[2]. Not everything works, notably 3D assets[3] and sound effects.
There is a lot of human content… i paid for a lot out of my own pocket and have limited budget. It started in 2021 before chatgpt. LLMs cannot do everything and that’s not the purpose.
Generative AI makes me as an solo indie dev able to make the game. Without the AI the game wouldn’t exist
I wanted to create a game (Pre-AI) and thought it would be easy. Turns out it is not at all.
Sure you might get lucky with the next Angry bird, but there is a whole range of skills required to make a good game, and actually get people to play it.
I even read a couple of books which gave me a better understanding of how out of my depth I was. Books were "Theory of Fun", "Achievement unlocked" and "The art of game design".
AI here appears to be accelerating the ability to see those gaps faster. I think without the understanding of those gaps anything created is going to be lacking.
I think the article is being s bit disingenuous. The real problem is triple A developers and publishers pushing for it to replace a not insignificant amount of creative work.
While still over charging everyone and scalpling every $ from everyone with micro transactions and game mechanics that need xp boosters.
TinyJet[1] is a game I've been working on. Left and right arrows control thrust. Pick up cargo and carry it to the terminal at the other end. It's very difficult. Almost entirely AI generated. About 1100 prompts so far with a growing collection of (vibe coded) agents and tools to facilitate development.
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[ 4.5 ms ] story [ 52.5 ms ] threadAI has no training data on complex logic and systems so you gotta do that all yourself.
It definitely doesn't get anything visual right really.
There isn't large amounts of automated testing you can setup ahead of time for a lot of game-play so the AI can't iterate on it to make something work it'll just be hopeless.
The art is also going to all be really derivative plagiarism overly averaged scammy looking stuff. So that's basically an insurmountable hurdle. No unique style.
It's a separate question whether anything actually good will come out of it. It's incredibly unfair to look at any particular project and say: what, another clone of this or that done idea? Very few things are original in any time. Certainly I didn't make anything particularly original all those years ago. But, soon, there should be really something, if there's really something there. If it's not just burning tokens to copy older ideas. And we'll know it when we see it, this amazing thing that would not have existed otherwise.
AI is obliterating the barriers to game production for the next generation.
Will this be the next flash revolution? Or is the underlying 'brainrot' actually destructive to creative potential?
I am optimistic about the human spirit in this regard. Making games with AI will be cool when the games are cool, and the only barrier is design.
My kids made similar games with Claude code in js.
Was hoping to see some serious indie games, but these looked pretty terri-bad.
Is anyone building the next SimCity, Civilization, etc.?
The output is quite impressive. And having spoken to a number of the developers, it does seem like AI has had a massive impact on delivering their ideas.
In my experience it took 5 years to find the time and motivation to build a v2.0 by hand. AI has since accelerated the production process to help me ship features that would otherwise have taken me another few years to even consider doing.
Really. What a stupid statement. As if AI bros aren't screaming all over the internet telling people their vibe-coded projects.
I do use AI for code, but I really don't know why AI users seem to have some sort of victim mentality when there are literally billions of capital stacking on their side.
I have decided to lean in to it and I will document all the places I use AI in the game on my blog[2]. Not everything works, notably 3D assets[3] and sound effects.
There is a lot of human content… i paid for a lot out of my own pocket and have limited budget. It started in 2021 before chatgpt. LLMs cannot do everything and that’s not the purpose.
Generative AI makes me as an solo indie dev able to make the game. Without the AI the game wouldn’t exist
[1] http://epicwin.team/play/solo/BossBattle/ - (public beta) .
[2] https://generative-ai.review .
[3] https://generative-ai.review/2025/08/3d-assets-made-by-genai...
I’m so happy folks are finding fun and creativity in this space.
Sure you might get lucky with the next Angry bird, but there is a whole range of skills required to make a good game, and actually get people to play it.
I even read a couple of books which gave me a better understanding of how out of my depth I was. Books were "Theory of Fun", "Achievement unlocked" and "The art of game design".
AI here appears to be accelerating the ability to see those gaps faster. I think without the understanding of those gaps anything created is going to be lacking.
While still over charging everyone and scalpling every $ from everyone with micro transactions and game mechanics that need xp boosters.
[1](https://fargostation.itch.io/line-of-flight)