# People who made a game without being a programmer

> Yes. There are real cases of people who didn't code and made a playable game with AI, like Norwegian accountant Jonathan Bjerk, of Curve Clash, and Japanese artist Kazuki Takakura. Before AI, retiree Masako Wakamiya and journalist Tom Francis did it too, and it took them years. We found no reliable source of a non-coder disclosing meaningful revenue from an AI-made game.

Summary for when you're short on time

- Jonathan Bjerk, an accountant in Norway who only knew how to build simple websites, put Curve Clash on phones and on the web with AI in less than seven months, without quitting his job.
- Kazuki Takakura, a Japanese artist who says he can't code, made the art and sound for an action game and left all the code to AI; the game came out in May 2026.
- The team of a podcast at the American magazine Slate, with almost no coding experience, made a game with AI in 2026 and wrote in the headline that it turned out bad.
- Before AI, Masako Wakamiya, a retired bank clerk, released a phone game and, at 82, was the oldest app creator at Apple's conference in 2017.
- Tom Francis, a journalist with no programming training, took about three years to make Gunpoint, released in 2013, with a 30-dollar program.
- The cases with disclosed money, like the engineer who won a 25,000-dollar prize in 2026, involve people who already coded.
- We found no reliable source showing a non-coder who published a game made with AI and disclosed meaningful revenue.

Your first step: Write one sentence about something you already know how to do that could go into a game (drawing, telling a story, knowing an audience, remembering a childhood game), the way each person in these cases did.

By Daniel Novi. Published October 19, 2026. Updated October 19, 2026. Address: https://www.gamearchitectsai.com/en/stories/people-who-made-a-game-without-coding

## Who has made a game without being a programmer?

There are real cases, with a name, a game and a source. They fall into three groups, and the difference matters: people who made a game with AI without knowing how to code, people who made one without knowing how to code before AI existed, and people who already coded or already worked in games.

| Who | The game | Already coded? | With AI? | Money disclosed? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jonathan Bjerk, accountant | Curve Clash (2025) | No; only simple websites | Yes | No |
| Kazuki Takakura, artist | Onikappa (2026) | No | Yes | No |
| Slate podcast team | A game about making a podcast (2026) | Almost none | Yes | No |
| Masako Wakamiya, retired bank clerk | Hinadan (2017) | Learned in order to make the game | No | No |
| Tom Francis, journalist | Gunpoint (2013) | No training | No | Only that the cost came back quickly |
| Mike Bithell, game designer | Thomas Was Alone (2012) | Already in the field | No | More than 1 million copies, according to him |
| "Leo", app engineer | Capybara Delivery (2026) | Yes, nine years | Yes | 25,000-dollar prize |
| Pieter Levels, website and app maker | Flight simulator (2025) | Yes | Yes | More than 50,000 dollars a month, according to him |

Our research concluded that people who didn't code have already made playable games with AI, and that none of these cases, from a reliable source, disclosed meaningful revenue. The cases with money on the table involve people who already coded.

## Who made a game with AI without knowing how to code?

### Jonathan Bjerk and Curve Clash

Jonathan Bjerk is 38, an accountant in Norway, and works full time. Before the game, he only knew the basics of building simple websites, which he taught himself[1].

On May 28, 2025, he started Curve Clash, a multiplayer snake game: each player steers a growing trail, and whoever crashes is out of the round. AI wrote the code; first ChatGPT, then Cursor and finally Claude[1]. By August there was a test version. By mid-December, the full game was on the web, the iPhone and Android[1].

But it wasn't smooth. In September and October, he got stuck on bugs in the mode where several people play together online[1]. And, according to him, promotion was by far the hardest part. By April 2026, more than 1,500 people had played, also according to him[1]. The full story is on the page about [Curve Clash, the Norwegian accountant's game](/en/stories/curve-clash).

### Kazuki Takakura and Onikappa

Kazuki Takakura is an artist in Japan who describes himself as a non-engineer who can't code. On his own, he made a short side-scrolling action game in which the player switches between two monsters from Japanese folklore, an oni and a kappa[2].

The division of labor was clear. The direction, the art and the sound were his. All the code was written by AI, with OpenAI's Codex and Anthropic's Claude Code[2]. The final version was finished on May 16, 2026, and the game came out that month; it can be played on his studio's website[2][3].

What he says afterward is the most useful part. Even with the game done, he says he still doesn't understand programming[2]. And he lists what, for him, can't be left to AI: whether the game is fun, the art style, the strength of the stage boss and the feel of the controls. Leaving that to AI, according to him, tends to produce an average result[2].

### The podcast team that called its own game bad

In April 2026, the team of the podcast What Next: TBD, from the American magazine Slate, decided to test whether you can make a game by talking to AI. The host, Lizzie O'Leary, and producer Patrick Fort had never coded; producer Evan Campbell had a little experience[4].

With Claude Code, they made a game described as a version of the classic The Oregon Trail about making a podcast. The game was put at a separate address, off the magazine's site, because Slate's vice president of technology raised security concerns[4]. And the verdict came from them, in the article's headline: the game is bad[4].

This is the case that shows the limit. Getting a game to work with AI is now within reach of people who don't code; making it good is still the work (our reading). The details of that work are in [is making a game with AI easy? What still takes work](/en/start-here/is-making-a-game-with-ai-easy).

## Who made a game without coding before AI?

Before AI, there were also people from outside the field who made games. The difference is that they had to learn the coding part, and all of them took years.

### Masako Wakamiya and Hinadan

Masako Wakamiya worked at a bank in Japan and retired in the 1990s, when she began learning to use a computer[5]. In her 80s, she released Hinadan, a phone game for people over 60: the player places the dolls of a traditional Japanese festival on the right steps[5].

In 2017, at 82, she was the oldest creator at Apple's annual conference for app makers[5]. By August of that year, the game had about 42,000 downloads, according to AFP[5].

There was no shortcut for her. She told AFP that writing lines of code is difficult[5], and she was coached remotely by a teacher, Katsushiro Koizumi, through video calls[6]. More than two decades passed between her first computer and the game (our own math). The whole story is on the page about [Masako Wakamiya, the retiree who made a game after 80](/en/stories/masako-wakamiya).

### Tom Francis and Gunpoint

Tom Francis wrote about games for PC Gamer magazine and had no programming training[7]. In May 2010, he started his own game, Gunpoint: the player is a spy who breaks into buildings, dodges guards and uses a device that rewires the place's electrical circuits[7].

To make the game, he bought and learned to use Game Maker 8, a game-making program that cost 30 dollars[7]. The art went to two artists and the music to three musicians, whom he brought in[7]. The game came out on June 3, 2013, about three years after he started (our own math)[7].

According to him, the 30 dollars, the only direct cost, came back about a minute after pre-orders opened; counting promotion and contracts, it took a few hours[8]. After the launch, he left the magazine to make games full time[7]. It's the story of one person, which took three years, and not a picture of what happens to people who try.

## What about people who already coded, or already worked in games?

These cases show up a lot in articles and posts, and it helps to know where these people started. They show how far the tools go in the hands of people who already know how, not what happens to someone starting from scratch.

**Thomas Was Alone.** The game whose characters are colored rectangles was made by Mike Bithell in his off-hours, but he was already a professional game designer, with the approval of the company he worked for[9]. According to him, the game passed 1 million copies by April 2014[9]. It's the best example that a game doesn't need polished art, the subject of the page [do I need to know how to draw to make a game?](/en/start-here/do-you-need-to-draw-to-make-a-game).

**Capybara Delivery.** An iPhone app engineer with nine years in the job, known as "Leo", made a delivery game with a capybara in about two weeks and won the 25,000-dollar prize at Cursor Vibe Jam 2026, a competition for games made with AI[10]. He says all the code was written by AI, but also that he fixed what it couldn't solve and spent most of his time planning and playing[10].

**Pieter Levels' flight simulator.** Levels became known for building websites and apps on his own, and quickly. In March 2025, he said the browser flight simulator he made with AI was bringing in more than 50,000 dollars a month[11]. The figure is his, and the 404 Media article itself warns in its headline: yours probably won't make that[11].

## Has anyone who didn't code made money from a game made with AI?

We found no such case with a reliable source. Curve Clash is free and hasn't disclosed revenue; Takakura's game and Slate's don't mention money either[1][2][4].

The big numbers going around belong to programmers, and all of them are stated by the person themselves: the 25,000-dollar prize of an engineer with nine years of experience and the income Pieter Levels announced in 2025[10][11]. No one can promise that a game will make money, and these cases don't change that.

## By the numbers

| Data | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Curve Clash, from start to full launch | Less than seven months, with a job, according to the creator | AI Gamechangers, 04/06/2026[1] |
| Curve Clash, players by April 2026 | More than 1,500, according to the creator | AI Gamechangers, 04/06/2026[1] |
| Onikappa, final version | 05/16/2026 | Creator's post, 07/16/2026[2] |
| Hinadan, downloads by August 2017 | About 42,000 | AFP, 08/07/2017[5] |
| Masako Wakamiya at Apple's conference | 82 years old, the oldest creator | AFP, 08/07/2017[5] |
| Gunpoint, from start to launch | About three years (May 2010 to June 2013, our own math) | Wikipedia[7] |
| Gunpoint, cost of the tool | 30 dollars, back in about one minute of pre-orders, according to the creator | Pentadact, 06/18/2013[8] |
| Thomas Was Alone, copies by April 2014 | More than 1 million, according to the creator | Wikipedia, citing Polygon[9] |
| Capybara Delivery, prize | 25,000 dollars, after about two weeks of work | Wccftech, 07/13/2026[10] |
| Pieter Levels' simulator, stated revenue | More than 50,000 dollars a month, according to him, in March 2025 | 404 Media, 03/05/2025[11] |
| Non-coder with an AI-made game and meaningful disclosed revenue | None found | Our own survey, October 2026 |

## What do these cases have in common?

In our reading, three things repeat among those who weren't programmers.

- **Each brought something they already knew.** Bjerk brought the memory of a game he played with friends[1]. Takakura, the art and sound[2]. Masako, knowledge of an audience no one was serving[5]. Francis, years of writing about games[7].
- **The games were small.** A snake game, one action stage, dolls on a stand, a spy in a building. Takakura recommends starting with something the size of an old 8-bit video game[2].
- **No one was fast at what matters.** With AI, the code came more easily, but Bjerk still spent two months stuck on bugs and called promotion the hardest part[1]. Without AI, it took years.

AI changed one part of the work: the part Masako called difficult, writing lines of code, is now done by talking to AI, which has come to be called [vibe coding](/en/guide/what-is-vibe-coding). Deciding on the game, testing and fixing still fall to the person making it.

**The other side.** These are the cases that made the news, among many that nobody knows about. Almost all the figures come from the people themselves, and none were audited. The AI cases are recent and small: fifteen hundred players, a one-stage game, a game its own creators called bad. The ones from before AI took years. And no non-coder, from a reliable source, has disclosed making meaningful money from a game made with AI: these cases prove you can make and publish a game, not that it makes money.

## What does this change for someone who wants to make a first game?

It changes the starting point. Knowing how to code is no longer the first barrier, and what separates those who finish from those who give up becomes a clear idea, a small scope and the patience to test (our reading).

The practical decision is to start with what you already have. If you draw, know an audience, remember a childhood game or have a story to tell, that's what AI doesn't bring. Size comes next, and the page [what your first game should be](/en/start-here/what-should-your-first-game-be) helps you pick one that fits your week.

## Related questions

### Has anyone who can't code made a game with AI?

Yes. Jonathan Bjerk, a Norwegian accountant who only knew how to build simple websites, published Curve Clash on phones and on the web with AI writing the code. Kazuki Takakura, a Japanese artist who says he can't code, made a short action game with all the code written by AI.

### Has anyone gotten rich from an AI-made game without knowing how to code?

We found no case with a reliable source. The games by non-coders we found didn't disclose revenue, and the cases with stated money involve people who already coded, always with figures given by the person themselves.

### How long did these games take?

Curve Clash took less than seven months, according to its creator, while he worked full time as an accountant. Gunpoint, made without AI, took about three years. Neither timeline is a deadline for anyone else.

### Did Masako Wakamiya make her game with artificial intelligence?

No. Her game, Hinadan, is from 2017 and was programmed by her; she studied on her own and was coached remotely by a teacher. Her story has its own page on the site.

### Was Gunpoint made by a programmer?

No. Tom Francis was a games journalist with no programming training. He learned to use a 30-dollar game-making program, brought in artists and musicians and took about three years, without AI.

### Do people who already code make games with AI faster?

The fastest cases with the most stated money involve programmers. An app engineer with nine years in the job made, in about two weeks, the game that won 25,000 dollars in a 2026 competition. Knowing how to code helps fix what the AI gets wrong.

## Sources

1. AI Gamechangers, interview with Jonathan Bjerk, "AI was my engineering team, not my creative director" (04/06/2026): https://aigamechangers.substack.com/p/ai-was-my-engineering-team-not-my (accessed October 15, 2026)
2. Kazuki Takakura, post on note about the game Onikappa (07/16/2026, in Japanese): https://note.com/takakurakazuki/n/n5adf3f6cb19c (accessed October 15, 2026)
3. Studio tokoyo, Kazuki Takakura's games page: https://tokoyo.online/games/ (accessed October 15, 2026)
4. Slate, "We 'Vibe Coded' a Video Game. It's Like The Oregon Trail for Podcasting. It's Bad." (04/05/2026): https://slate.com/technology/2026/04/ai-vibe-coding-video-game.html (accessed October 15, 2026)
5. AFP, via The Jakarta Post, "Never too old to code: Meet Japan's 82-year-old app-maker" (08/07/2017): https://www.thejakartapost.com/life/2017/08/07/never-too-old-to-code-meet-japans-82-year-old-app-maker (accessed October 15, 2026)
6. Newswitch (Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun), interview with Katsushiro Koizumi (02/10/2019, in Japanese): https://newswitch.jp/p/16433 (accessed October 15, 2026)
7. Wikipedia, "Gunpoint (video game)" (cites Eurogamer, 06/18/2013, and PC Gamer, 06/12/2013): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gunpoint_(video_game) (accessed October 15, 2026)
8. Tom Francis, Pentadact blog, on Gunpoint's first sales (06/18/2013): https://www.pentadact.com/?p=6141 (accessed October 15, 2026)
9. Wikipedia, "Thomas Was Alone" (cites Polygon, 04/25/2014): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Was_Alone (accessed October 15, 2026)
10. Wccftech, on Capybara Delivery and Cursor Vibe Jam 2026 (07/13/2026): https://wccftech.com/ios-developer-made-capybara-game-using-vibe-coding-and-won-25000/ (accessed October 15, 2026)
11. 404 Media, "This Game Created by AI 'Vibe Coding' Makes $50,000 a Month. Yours Probably Won't" (03/05/2025): https://www.404media.co/this-game-created-by-ai-vibe-coding-makes-50-000-a-month-yours-probably-wont/ (accessed October 15, 2026)