Whether you can do it without coding, what it costs, how long it takes and what your first game should be. In everyday words, no jargon.
- What AI does and what stays with you
- The cost, item by item
- The first step, small and concrete
A BRAZILIAN PORTAL ABOUT MAKING GAMES WITH AI
Making gameswith AI,explainedby someone who does it.
Guides, numbers and stories for people who want to make games with artificial intelligence, even if they can't code. Every answer comes with a source, a date and what is still hard.
6games we made with AI
0lines of code written by hand in them
35news sources read every day
THE SIX GAMES WE MADE WITH AI
WELCOME
Hi, I'm Daniel.
I make games with AI in my spare time, on my phone, during breaks at work. I've been a developer for more than fifteen years, but in my games the code was written by AI.
Here I share what I learn by doing: what works, what doesn't and what it costs. Make yourself at home and start wherever you like.
Daniel Novi, author of the portal · Who writes
THE SHORT ANSWER
Can you make a game with AI without knowing how to code?
Yes. Today you describe the game in plain English and the AI writes the code, creates images and sounds, and tests. What it doesn't do is decide for you what the game is: that stays with the person who designs it. It hasn't become easy. In a 2026 academic test, the best AI solved just over half of the game tasks on its own.
Source: GameDevBench, ICML 2026 proceedings: 53.8% of 333 game tasks.
You design. AI builds.
CHOOSE YOUR CHARACTER
Where to start
The portal talks to two kinds of readers. Pick yours, and your path stays marked.
Tools compared with price and date, store rules, Steam and mobile numbers, and the news that changes something for game makers.
- Tool comparisons
- Publishing rules and AI disclosures
- The market, with sources and the other side
START HERE
The path for people who have never made a game
The questions beginners ask, in the order they usually come up. Each one becomes a page with the answer at the top.
- 01 Can you make a game without knowing how to code?What AI does today, and what it still can't do on its own. Read
- 02 How much does it cost to make a game with AIThe game-making program is free. You pay for the AI subscription and the store fee. Read
- 03 How long does it take to make your first gameThree choices change the timeline. Nobody can promise you one. Read
- 04 Do I need to know how to draw to make a game?Three ways out: simple art, free ready-made art, or art made by AI. Read
- 05 Is my computer good enough to make games?The official minimum is low for a 2D game. To publish on the iPhone, you need a Mac. Read
- 06 What your first game should beOne action, one screen and rounds that last a few minutes. The dream game can wait. Read
- 07 How to start: the step before you open any programYour game idea in three sentences. Read
- 08 How to put a game on the mobile app storeA $25 account, a game page, 12 testers for 14 days and the store review. Read
THE SECTIONS
Everything the portal covers
Nine sections, covering the same topics as our social media posts. New articles every week.
01For people who have never made a game
Start here
Whether you can do it without coding, what it costs, how long it takes and where to begin.
- Can you make a game without knowing how to code?
- How much does it cost to make a game with AI
- Is my computer good enough to make games?
02For both
Guide
How to do it in practice: AI in the day-to-day of a project, game design and genres.
See the section03For people who already tinker
Tools
Each tool and the comparisons, with prices and the date we checked them.
See the section04For both
Publishing
Stores, fees, rules, AI disclosures and how a game makes money.
See the section05For people who already tinker
Market
Numbers and research on Steam, mobile and Brazil, always with the other side.
See the section06For both
Stories
Famous games that started small and ordinary people who made a game.
See the section07For people who already tinker
News
What's new, when it changes something for game makers.
See the section08For people who have never made a game
Questions
One question per page, with the short answer at the top.
See the section09For both
Glossary
One term per page, explained in one sentence and with an example.
See the sectionSTORIES
Famous games that started small
None of these games was made with AI. They show something else: a big game can start very small, and almost nobody gets it right the first time.
SWIPE SIDEWAYS
Minecraft2009
The first version was written by one person over a weekend. In its first weekend on sale, it sold 40 copies.
Source: Wired UK
Read
Tetris1984
The lab computer couldn't show pictures, only text: the pieces in the first version were letters and symbols.
Source: The Guardian
Read
Angry Birds2009
It was the 52nd game from a small company in Finland that was close to bankruptcy.
Source: Wired UK
Read
Mario1981
He was created to make use of 2,000 unsold arcade machines. In the first game, the character didn't even have a name.
Source: The New Yorker
Read
Among Us2018
For two years it had 30 to 50 people playing per hour, according to its creators. In 2020, during the pandemic, it became a craze.
Source: Paste Magazine, quoting the creators
Read
Wordle2021
It was made for the creator's girlfriend. On November 1, 2021, 90 people played it.
Source: The New York Times Company
Read
Stardew Valley2016
Four years of one person working alone, doing the code, the art and the music.
Source: Official game website
Read
Ordinary people who made a game
Hinadan
BEFORE AIMasako WakamiyaRetired bank employee in Japan. She learned to code after 80, with tutorials and a remote teacher, made a mobile game and, in 2017, at 82, was the oldest developer at Apple's conference.
Curve Clash
WITH AIJonathan BjerkAccountant in Norway. With AI, he put a game on mobile and on the web in less than seven months, without quitting his job. More than 1,500 people had played it by April 2026, according to him.
There are people who couldn't code and made a playable game with AI. We have not found, with a reliable source, anyone who did it this way and disclosed significant income.
NEWS · 7 A.M. RADAR
What changed for game makers
Every day at 7 a.m. (Brazil time), we read 35 news sources. What changes something for game makers goes here, with the source and the date.
Oct 12, 2026 · Apple
Apple kicks off Indie Games Week on the App Store
Seven independent games featured on iPhone and iPad, all released on computers first.
Oct 11, 2026 · SteamDB
Steam sets a record with more than 43 million concurrent users
There were 43,505,724 accounts online at the same time on October 11, the highest number in the store's 23 years.
Oct 7, 2026 · Google
Google launches Playground, which creates games from text
It is experimental, runs in the browser and, for now, only works in the United States, for people over 18.
Sep 17, 2026 · CESA
85.8% of game professionals surveyed in Japan use generative AI
The CESA survey, by Japan's game industry association, heard from 1,349 people; 63% use it every day.
IN NUMBERS
The games market, no sugarcoating
The big numbers and the other side of them. Each one with its source.
213.9billion USDis the forecast for the global games market in 2026Source: Newzoo
121.1billion USDof that total goes to mobile gamesSource: Newzoo
36%of game professionals use generative AI at workSource: GDC 2026
Steam, games released in 2025
Source: Chris Zukowski, How To Market A Game, with data from VGInsights. A thousand reviews is a measure of reach, not of revenue.
Half of the paid games released on Steam in 2019 earned less than $1,136 in their entire lifetime, by estimate. Some people do make money from games, and nobody can promise you'll get rich.
BEHIND THE SCENES
Six games made with AI, told from the inside
These are the games we made with AI, without writing the code by hand. None has been published yet. The portal will share how much each one cost, how long it took and what broke along the way.
SKATEBOARDING · PIXEL ART · ONLINERolêPixel art skateboarding in the style of the classics, with special tricks and an online ranked mode.
TRUCK · AMAZON RAINFOREST · 2DFrete ExtremoA delivery truck in the Amazon, with mud that sinks the wheels, fragile cargo, rain and night.
DEFENSE · SPACE · CARDSOrbital BastionYou defend a space base from a meteor shower, building your defense with cards.
FARM · STRATEGYHensteadYou run a henhouse, sell the eggs and protect the chicks from the weasel that attacks at night.
KIDS · 77 MINIGAMESGalinha Pum-PumSeventy-seven little farm games for young children, all in one app.
RACING · 3DMuscle Car3D racing, with the car modeled from scratch.
HOW WE WRITE
The five rules of every page
- 01The answer comes firstThe question in the title is answered in the first two sentences. The details come after.
- 02Every number has a source and a dateWith a link to whoever measured it. Our own math is marked as our math; opinion, as our reading.
- 03Always the other sideThe case that worked comes with the majority that didn't, and what AI does comes with what it gets wrong.
- 04No promisesNobody here promises income, timelines or ease. Making a game with AI is possible, and it isn't easy.
- 05If we get it wrong, we fix itEvery page shows the date of its last review. When a fact changes, the page changes and the correction is logged.
WHO WRITES
CLASS: ARCHITECT
Daniel Novi
- Video games
- since the Atari
- Software development
- 15+ years
- Hand-written code in the games
- none
I've been a developer for more than fifteen years and I was a chief technology officer. I know how to code, but in my games the code was written by AI.
I make games on my phone, during breaks at work, with the computer at home switched on and doing the work. Here I share what works, what doesn't and what it costs.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
The questions that come up most
Can you make a game with AI without knowing how to code?
Yes. You describe the game in plain English and the AI writes the code, creates images and sounds, and tests. Deciding what the game is, testing it and asking for changes are still up to you. In a 2026 academic test, the best AI solved just over half of the game tasks on its own.
How much does it cost to start making games with AI?
Godot, a game-making program, is free, and the game is yours. The AI is a subscription: the entry plan costs $20 a month and has usage limits. To publish, Google Play charges $25 once, Apple $99 a year and Steam $100 per game. Prices as of October 2026.
Is my computer good enough to make games?
The official minimum for Godot 4.7 is 4 GB of memory and integrated graphics, with 8 GB recommended. The AI works over the internet, so the heavy lifting doesn't happen on your machine. To publish on the iPhone, you need a Mac.
Can a game made with AI be sold on Steam?
Yes. Steam asks for a disclosure on the game's page when it has AI-generated content, such as art or sound. AI that only helps write the code doesn't require a disclosure.
Can you make money from games?
Some people do, and most earn little. The games market is expected to top $200 billion in 2026, according to Newzoo, but half of the paid games released on Steam in 2019 earned less than $1,136 by the end of 2022, by estimate. Nobody can promise you'll get rich.
THE COMMUNITY
Want to make yours, with guidance?
Game Architects AI is also a community with video lessons and live sessions for people who want to make games without coding. The portal is open to everyone; the community is for people who want company along the way.
FOLLOW ALONG
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