# How to make a game with AI: the complete beginner's guide

> To make a game with AI, you go through six stages: the idea, the programs, building by talking to the AI, testing, art and sound, and the store. AI writes the code and helps with art and sound; the idea, the testing and the decisions stay with you. In a 2026 benchmark, the best AI solved just over half of the game tasks on its own.

Summary for when you're short on time

- AI writes the code, builds the screens and helps with art and sound; you are the one who decides what the game is, tests it and says when it is good.
- Godot, the free program where the game is put together, needs at least 4 GB of memory, and the game you make with it is yours alone.
- The AI that works inside the game folder starts at $20 a month, with usage limits (prices as of October 2026).
- In a 2026 academic benchmark with 333 game tasks, the best AI solved 53.8% of them on its own.
- To put it in a store: $25 once on Google Play, $100 per game on Steam and $99 a year with Apple, which also requires a Mac.
- A new personal account on Google Play must test the game with 12 people for 14 days before launch.
- About 20,000 games came out on Steam in 2025, and 608 of them reached 1,000 reviews.

Your first step: Write your game idea in three sentences: what the player does, how they win and why they would play again.

By Daniel Novi. Published October 14, 2026. Updated October 14, 2026. Address: https://www.gamearchitectsai.com/en/guide/how-to-make-a-game-with-ai

## What does AI do in a game, and what stays with you?

AI writes the code, builds the screens, helps create art and sound and runs the game to see if it works. What stays with you is deciding what the game is, playing each version and saying what needs to change.

For decades, making a game took four jobs: coding, drawing, making the sound and testing. If you didn't know how to code, you stopped at the first one. Today the coding part can go to the AI, and your job becomes the designer's job: choosing, checking and cutting.

That doesn't mean AI gets it right on its own. In an academic benchmark published in 2026, with 333 real game tasks, the best AI solved 53.8% of them on its own. On 2D art tasks, the average rate dropped to 33%[1]. That is why this guide separates, at each stage, what AI does well and what still depends on you.

If your question comes before this one, and you still want to know whether someone who has never coded can pull it off, start with [can you make a game without knowing how to code?](/en/start-here/make-a-game-without-coding).

## What are the stages of making a game with AI?

There are six, in this order: the idea, the programs, building, testing, art and sound, and the store. They repeat in cycles (you build, test, adjust and build again), but this is the order you enter them in.


| Stage | What AI does | What stays with you |
|---|---|---|
| 1. The idea | Offers suggestions when you ask | Deciding what the player does, how they win and the size of the game |
| 2. The programs | Explains each one, if you ask | Choosing, installing and paying for the subscription |
| 3. Building | Writes the code and builds the screens | Describing what you want and approving what comes out |
| 4. Testing | Runs the game and fixes what you point out | Playing, noticing what is off and getting people to play |
| 5. Art and sound | Generates images and helps fit sounds in | Choosing the style and keeping everything looking consistent |
| 6. The store | Helps with text and the technical side of the file | Creating the accounts, paying the fees and following the store's rules |

## Where do you start: what is the game's idea?

It starts on paper, with the idea in three sentences: what the player does, how they win and why they would play again. If you can't write those three sentences, the AI won't guess them either.

AI fills in whatever you leave blank with the most common option. Japanese artist Kazuki Takakura, who made an action game with AI writing all the code, says that letting AI decide what is fun tends to produce a generic game, made for average taste. In his game, direction, art, sound and the feel of the controls stayed with him[21].

Size is your decision too. Takakura also recommends starting with rules the size of an 8-bit console game, in a genre you already like[21]. The details of how to get to those three sentences and how to judge the right size are in [how to start making a game](/en/start-here/how-to-start-making-a-game).

## What programs do you need to make a game with AI?

Two, besides the computer: the program where the game is put together and an AI that works inside the project folder.

**The program where the game is put together,** which in the industry is called a game engine. Godot is a free, open-source game-making program, and its official page says you are the sole owner of the games you make with it[2]. The official minimum for the editor is 4 GB of memory and integrated graphics; the recommendation is 8 GB and a dedicated graphics card[3].

**The AI that works inside the project.** It is different from a chat AI where you copy and paste answers: it opens the game's files, writes, runs and fixes right there. Two examples, with official prices as of October 2026:

- **Claude Code**, from Anthropic. It comes with Claude's paid plans, starting with Pro, at $20 a month ($17 a month on the annual plan). The free plan does not include Claude Code, and all plans have usage limits[4]. It needs 4 GB of memory and an internet connection, and runs on Windows 10, macOS 13 or Linux[5].
- **GitHub Copilot**. It has a free plan with limited use, which includes the mode where the AI works in the files, and Pro costs $10 a month[6].

Since the AI works over the internet, the heavy lifting doesn't happen on your machine. Advice from someone who has been there: Jonathan Bjerk, an accountant from Norway who made a game with AI, recommends not switching tools, because every switch costs time spent learning again[16]. The full comparison of AIs is in [which AI to use to make games](/en/tools/ai-tools-for-making-games).

## What is it like to build a game by talking to AI?

It is a loop that repeats: you describe in plain English what you want, the AI writes and builds, you play and say what you saw, and it fixes. Each round brings the game a little closer to what was in your head.

What changes for someone who has never coded is the kind of effort. You don't type code, but you have to be clear. "The jump is too low" is a request the AI understands; "make it cooler" is not.

There are two limits the makers themselves acknowledge. Claude Code's documentation warns that when the conversation gets long, performance drops and the AI may start forgetting instructions given earlier. It also says the AI stops when the work looks finished: without a way to check, you become the only check[7].

In games, this shows up in a predictable way. In a 2026 benchmark where the task was the whole game, the best agent scored 41.46 out of 100. The agents tended to get the core mechanic right and fell short on content, visual feedback and polish[20]. AI quickly delivers something that works; making it good is still work.


## How do you test a game made with AI?

By playing it, many times, and getting other people to play early. Testing is the stage where you work the most, because only whoever plays knows whether the jump feels right.

Testing has two layers:

- **Does it work?** The game opens, the controls respond, the level ends. Here AI helps a lot: it runs the game, reads the error messages and fixes them. In the academic benchmark cited above, giving the AI images and video of the game running made one of the models go from 41.1% to 52% success[1].
- **Is it good?** The game is fun, the difficulty is right, you want to play again. No automated test measures that, and AI can't answer it for you (our take).

One difference that matters for someone who has never coded: what you say after playing is worth more than the first request. "The coin disappears before I can grab it" points to a problem the AI can find. "It feels weird" forces the AI to guess, and it usually guesses wrong. The more concrete what you saw, the fewer rounds the game needs.

Bjerk, the Norwegian accountant, tuned details himself, like how sharply the line turns and how thick the trail is in his game, by testing a lot, and he advises getting real people to play early and often[16].

## Who makes the game's art and sound?

You choose among three routes: generate it with AI, use free ready-made assets or make it yourself. Many people mix all three.

- **Generate it with AI.** It works, with a known limit: OpenAI itself warns that its image model may struggle to keep a character consistent across several images[8]. In a game, where the same hero shows up in dozens of drawings, that means checking image by image.
- **Free ready-made assets.** The Kenney studio offers packs of art and sounds in the public domain, which can be used even in a commercial game and without giving credit[9]. The downside: lots of people use the same packs, and the game ends up looking like others.
- **Make it yourself.** Takakura, for example, drew and made the sounds for his own game and left only the code to the AI[21].

If the game is going to Steam, the biggest store for PC games, whatever was made with AI and reaches the player (art, sound, text, translation) must be disclosed in a store questionnaire. Using AI just to save time during development is not what this rule is about[10].

## How do you put the game in a store?

Each store has its own account, fee and rules, and AI can't skip this stage for you. It helps with text and the technical side of the file; the accounts, the payments and the requirements are yours.

- **Google Play (Android):** a one-time fee of $25 and a minimum age of 18[11]. A personal account created after November 13, 2023 must run a closed test with at least 12 people opted in for 14 days in a row before launch[12].
- **Steam (PC):** $100 per game. The fee is not refunded, but it comes back in your payout once the game passes $1,000 in adjusted gross revenue[13].
- **App Store (iPhone):** $99 per year for the account[14]. And there is a hardware requirement: to build the game for iPhone in Godot, you need a computer running macOS with Xcode installed, in other words, a Mac[15].

Google Play's closed test, in plain words: before the game shows up for everyone, it is available only to a group of people you invite, who need to stay opted in for two weeks. That is why it is worth gathering those testers before you reach this stage, not after. They can be friends, family or coworkers.

If you only have Windows, you usually start with Android, the web or Steam. The step-by-step for Google's store is in [how to publish a game on Google Play](/en/publishing/how-to-publish-a-game-on-google-play).

## How much does it cost to make a game with AI?

To get started on Android, the minimum at official prices is $45: Godot for free, one month of AI at $20 and the Google Play fee of $25, paid once (our math, prices as of October 2026). That leaves out the computer, the internet, the following months of subscription and image and sound tools.

| Item | Price | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Godot, the program where the game is put together | Free | Godot[2] |
| Claude Pro, with Claude Code | $20 a month, or $17 a month on the annual plan | Anthropic[4] |
| Claude Max | From $100 a month | Anthropic[4] |
| GitHub Copilot | Free with limits, or $10 a month on Pro | GitHub[6] |
| Kenney art and sounds | Free, in the public domain | Kenney[9] |
| Google Play account | $25, one time | Google[11] |
| Publishing on Steam | $100 per game | Valve[13] |
| Apple account | $99 a year, plus a Mac | Apple[14] |

Prices in US dollars, before tax and card fees, checked in October 2026. The details, with the amount in Brazilian reais and each plan's limit, are in [how much it costs to make a game with AI](/en/start-here/cost-to-make-a-game-with-ai).

A heads-up about the entry plan: paid plans have a weekly usage limit[4]. On a big project, it can run out before the game is finished, and then you either wait for the next week or move to a bigger plan.

## How long does it take to make a game with AI?

Nobody can promise a timeline. The size of the game, the hours you have each week and how many times you change your mind matter more than the tool. A one-screen, single-player game and a game with several levels, an in-game store and online matches are jobs of very different sizes, even with the same AI.

The best-documented case of someone who didn't code is Jonathan Bjerk. An accountant with a full-time job and only a little self-taught HTML and CSS, he started Curve Clash, a snake-style game for several people to play together online, on May 28, 2025. The test version came out in August and the full version in mid-December: under seven months[16].

But Bjerk himself says where the time went. Sync bugs between players took up September and October, and promoting the game was much harder than he expected. His advice is not to start with a multiplayer game: first, make a match fun for a single player[16].

## Who has already made a game with AI?

Bjerk is the example of someone who made it all the way to the stores. Curve Clash came out on the web, iPhone, Android and Mac, and passed 1,500 players, according to him. He sums up the division of labor this way: "AI was my engineering team, not my creative director," meaning AI was his engineering team, not the one deciding what the game would be[16].

The other side exists too. In 2026, the team behind a Slate magazine podcast, with no coding skills, made a game with Claude Code. It worked, and they themselves called the result bad in the headline of the story. The magazine's technology lead did not let the game onto Slate's website, over security concerns[17].

On the six games we made with AI, which the portal covers behind the scenes, not a single line of code was written by hand. None of them has been published yet, which is why this guide says nothing about their sales.

**The other side.** Making a game with AI became possible for people who don't code, and it did not become easy. The best AI in a 2026 benchmark solved just over half of the game tasks on its own, and it forgets instructions in long conversations. The store is crowded too: about 20,000 games came out on Steam in 2025, and only 608 reached 1,000 reviews, a yardstick used to say a game caught on[18]. And people who work in the industry are divided: in the 2026 GDC survey of more than 2,300 professionals, 36% use generative AI at work and 52% think it is bad for the industry[19]. Nobody can promise your game will sell.

## Where do you start today?

With what costs nothing: the written idea and the size of the game. Programs and subscriptions come later, once you know what you will ask for. The plan below takes you to the door; building the game itself is the part that takes practice.

## Your action plan

- [ ] Write the game idea in three sentences: what the player does, how they win and why they would play again.
- [ ] Trim the idea until it fits on one screen and in a match of a few minutes, for a single player.
- [ ] Check that your computer has at least 4 GB of memory (the recommendation for Godot is 8 GB).
- [ ] Download Godot from the official website; it is free.
- [ ] Choose the AI that will work on the project and check, on its website, the price and usage limit of the plan.
- [ ] Line up three people to play the first version and tell you what they thought.
- [ ] Decide which store you want to publish on first and note what it requires before launch.

## Related questions

### Can you make a game with AI without knowing how to code?

Yes. AI writes the code from what you describe in plain English. What stays with you is deciding what the game is, testing it and saying what needs to change.

### What program should I use to make a game with AI?

You need two: the program where the game is put together, such as Godot, which is free, and an AI that works inside the project folder, such as Claude Code or GitHub Copilot. Prices are in the table on this page, with the date.

### How much does it cost to make a game with AI?

At official prices as of October 2026, the minimum to start on Android is Godot (free), one month of AI ($20) and the Google Play fee ($25, one time only): $45, by our math. That leaves out the computer, the internet and the following months of AI.

### How long does it take to make a game with AI?

Nobody can promise a timeline. The size of the game, the time you have each week and how many times you change your mind matter more than the tool. An accountant from Norway, with a full-time job, took under seven months to launch a multiplayer game.

### Do I need a powerful computer?

Not to get started. Godot's official minimum is 4 GB of memory and integrated graphics, and the AI works over the internet. To publish on iPhone, however, a Mac is required.

### Does AI make the whole game by itself?

No. In a 2026 benchmark where the task was a whole game, the best agent scored about 41 out of 100. AI tends to get the core mechanic right and fall short on content and polish.

### Can a game made with AI be sold on Steam?

Yes, with a disclosure. Steam asks games to disclose AI-made content the player sees or hears, such as art, sound and text. Using AI just to help with coding is not what the rule is about.

## Sources

1. GameDevBench, Chi et al., ICML 2026 proceedings: https://proceedings.mlr.press/v306/chi26a.html (accessed October 14, 2026)
2. Godot, license page: https://godotengine.org/license/ (accessed October 14, 2026)
3. Godot documentation, system requirements: https://docs.godotengine.org/en/stable/about/system_requirements.html (accessed October 14, 2026)
4. Claude, plans and pricing page: https://claude.com/pricing (accessed October 14, 2026)
5. Claude Code documentation, setup and requirements: https://code.claude.com/docs/en/setup (accessed October 14, 2026)
6. GitHub, Copilot plans: https://github.com/features/copilot/plans (accessed October 14, 2026)
7. Claude Code documentation, "Best practices": https://code.claude.com/docs/en/best-practices (accessed October 14, 2026)
8. OpenAI, image generation guide (limitations section): https://developers.openai.com/api/docs/guides/image-generation (accessed October 14, 2026)
9. Kenney, support and asset license page: https://kenney.nl/support (accessed October 14, 2026)
10. Steamworks, content survey and AI disclosure: https://partner.steamgames.com/doc/gettingstarted/contentsurvey (accessed October 14, 2026)
11. Google Play Console, registration fee and minimum age: https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/6112435?hl=en (accessed October 14, 2026)
12. Google Play Console, testing required for new personal accounts: https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/14151465?hl=en (accessed October 14, 2026)
13. Steamworks, Steam Direct: https://partner.steamgames.com/steamdirect (accessed October 14, 2026)
14. Apple, what the Apple Developer Program includes: https://developer.apple.com/programs/whats-included/ (accessed October 14, 2026)
15. Godot documentation, "Exporting for iOS": https://docs.godotengine.org/en/stable/tutorials/export/exporting_for_ios.html (accessed October 14, 2026)
16. AI Gamechangers, interview with Jonathan Bjerk (April 6, 2026): https://aigamechangers.substack.com/p/ai-was-my-engineering-team-not-my (accessed October 14, 2026)
17. Slate, the game a podcast team made with AI (April 5, 2026): https://slate.com/technology/2026/04/ai-vibe-coding-video-game.html (accessed October 14, 2026)
18. Chris Zukowski, How To Market A Game, Steam games with 1,000 reviews: https://howtomarketagame.com/?p=5658 (accessed October 14, 2026)
19. GDC, "State of the Game Industry 2026": https://gdconf.com/article/gdc-2026-state-of-the-game-industry-reveals-impact-of-layoffs-generative-ai-and-more/ (accessed October 14, 2026)
20. GameCraft-Bench, Luo, Wang et al., arXiv (June 16, 2026): https://arxiv.org/abs/2606.17861 (accessed October 14, 2026)
21. Kazuki Takakura, post on note about the game made with AI (July 16, 2026): https://note.com/takakurakazuki/n/n5adf3f6cb19c (accessed October 14, 2026)