The gold rush for AI game development is here. No coding skills
required.
Pieter Levels’ $67K/mo flight simulator sparked a new craze. Now dozens of indie hackers are shipping viral games in a matter of hours.
Last week, Pieter Levels proved that AI-assisted game development works, and that anyone can use tools like Claude and Cursor to ship interactive web apps within hours.
Well, the indie hackers community got the message.
AI-powered web games are now one of the biggest trends for people building in public. Hundreds of indie hackers are creating projects using AI models like Claude or Grok, as well as supporting technologies like Cursor, Three.js, and Claude Code.
One indie hacker — Rodrigo Rocco — even built an AI Games directory to keep track of many of the new projects from the comnunity.
Indie Hackers co-founder Courtland Allen used Cursor and Claude Sonnet 3.7 to build Indie Mini, a startup-themed crossword puzzle:
Many indie hackers, like Reagan Maconi, directly took inspiration from Levels and created their own multiplayer games.
Maconi shipped a multiplayer Battle Royale FPS in just four hours, gathering over 180K views in the blink of an eye:
Others, such as Ishan Khedkar, experimented with variations like driving simulators, rapidly prototyping two versions with AI-generated code — though with mixed results on performance and realism.
Jonathan Caruso's "Bubble Basher", Cemil Sevim’s tank battle game, and Alexandre Grisey’s forest escape game show how diverse this new wave of games is.
Grisey, in particular, pulled off something crazy: He built his entire spooky 3D game without writing a single line of code… and did it all in just three hours:
And it’s not just coders. Non-coders like Will Baker and Hank of all Trades got in on the vibe coding action as well, building quirky multiplayer games using AI-generated code.
Probably the best example is Nicola Manzini who just proved that building in public is a cheat code for going viral. His sailing game took off, gaining 195k views even though he was basically starting from nearly zero followers:
His story is proof that you don’t need a huge audience to make waves. Just put yourself out there and share the ride.
Have a story, tip, or trend worth covering? Tell us at [email protected].
This new wave of AI-assisted game dev is honestly fascinating. It’s crazy how indie creators are shipping full playable games in just a few hours — something that used to take months.
I’ve been experimenting with AI tools myself for analyzing and optimizing mobile game mechanics, especially in titles like Dynamons World (you can also visit What really surprised me character abilities and predict player behavior patterns — areas that used to require manual testing.
Curious if anyone here has tried using Claude or Cursor specifically for balancing gameplay logic or enemy AI? Most demos I’ve seen focus on visuals and prototyping, but I’m wondering how deep these tools can go into real game systems.
Hello Myself sophia & im a Developer so if you want me to do something just message me on Discord or Twitter ( My Discord : tsutsumahra
My Twitter : S_sophia_1 )
Thanks so much for mentioning the directory AIBuiltGames, it passed 50 games in the list, 3K page views and $198 in revenue 😀
Thanks for making it!
oh that's nice of you Channing :)
working in the video game industry for 25 years now ...what should i do with that lol ?
this needs real work behind though ...
I don't think this trend will last very long , once the novelty of being able to create basic games quickly wears off - someone will professionalise it and all the attention will go to a few top games.
Yep, as it goes with every competitive domain
Still there will be a window of time where there will be a lot of new games coming out and perhaps more opportunity for young artists to break into the industry. Of course if there is need human made 3d models and visuals instead of AI.
What a load of crap. And what are all these comments? Bots? Do none of you use your critical thinking skills? Bunch of ai generated drivel.
This new wave of AI-powered games is seriously exciting. It’s amazing how fast solo devs are creating fun and engaging experiences now. I’ve been following games like these closely, and it’s cool to see non-coders jumping in too. Can’t wait to try building something myself soon.
This changes everything! Can’t wait to see what non-coders create with AI in game dev.
I joined the gaming industry during the Covid boom as a 3D Artist and I remember getting work with little experience back then. Now that the boom has passed it is very hard for creatives to find jobs in the industry with experience, seemingly impossible with no experience.
My only tie to the gaming industry is selling models nowadays since I pivoted to creating 3D visuals for SaaS and E-Com. I tell beginner 3D Artists to not waste their time trying to get a studio job or freelancing for indie studios but this article and the trend with AI games might change my advice.
Is it possible the gaming space will be revived soon? I am certainly thinking about trying my hand at creating a game with AI, where my experience shipping games without it will aid me.
Also, if it provides more opportunities for up and coming artists I am all for it!
AI-driven game development is revolutionizing the industry by making game creation accessible without coding skills.
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so many bots in the comments
It's impressive how AI evolved. Thanks to the Technology, we've written a intern Management Software in only 2 Days with Claude and Github Copilot.
But there is one thing in my opinion.
The thing is that people who know to Code and understand it, will be through time more and more valueable.
Any No-Coder rely on the AI prompt to write Code, a Programmer doesn't.
a Programm needs to be maintained and documented, if you only can do it with AI be ready to have a big Pocket of $.
The AI revolution in game development is finally here, and it’s changing the industry forever. 🎮🚀
For decades, game development was restricted to those with advanced coding skills, requiring years of experience in engines like Unity, Unreal, or custom frameworks. But now, with AI-powered tools, anyone can bring their game ideas to life—without writing a single line of code.
From AI-generated art and animations to auto-generated game logic and mechanics, these tools are democratizing the industry. Platforms like GPT-4, Midjourney, Stable Diffusion, and RunwayML allow creators to generate assets, while AI-driven game builders let users design entire worlds just by describing them in plain language.
This isn’t just a trend—it’s a gold rush for indie developers, creatives, and entrepreneurs looking to break into gaming without technical barriers. The question is: will you be an early adopter, or will you watch from the sidelines as AI reshapes the future of gaming? 🔥🎮
#GameDevelopment #AI #NoCode #FutureOfGaming
This is awesome and I'm so glad you shared this with the rest of us!
This is wild! It's amazing how accessible game development is becoming with AI tools—suddenly, you don't need to be a coding wizard to put out something cool. I’m really impressed by the creativity here, like shipping a multiplayer FPS in just a few hours. It makes me wonder about the long-term impact on game design—will these rapid prototypes evolve into truly unique experiences, or will we see a flood of similar projects? Either way, it’s exciting to see indie hackers pushing the boundaries and learning as they go. Looking forward to more creative experiments and seeing how these tools shape the future of gaming!
How can AI game development tools generate unique gameplay mechanics without coding skills, just like using fancy fonts instantly transforms text styles effortlessly.
As more and more AI games emerge, how can traditional game design stand out?
code is only code ...and follows rules and technics...game design is a craft and for many things follows instinct , feeling ...there is no receipe for that ..
Do you need to know any code to make these? Like how to edit it? Deploy?
What langauge(s) are the AI code outputs in?
Not just become a game developer, maybe we could do more, use these trends.
These games are not my cup of tea but they're certainly are selling. Wonder how long this trend will last.
amazing
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