How to Make a Video Game With AI: A Beginner's Guide

Yes, you can make a video game with AI. The best way is to use an AI chat assistant as a helper next to a real game engine such as Godot, Unity or Unreal Engine. The AI explains things, writes small pieces of code and helps you fix errors, while you design, build and test the game. This guide gives you a step-by-step plan for your first AI-assisted game, prompts that work, and the safety and store rules you need to know.

What AI can and can't do in game development

Making a game means many jobs: design, code, art, sound, testing and publishing. AI helps a lot with some of them and hardly at all with others. Here is an honest picture as of November 2026.

The pattern is simple. AI is great at first drafts and bad at knowing whether a draft is right for your game. You are the director. The AI is a fast helper that never gets tired of questions, but it can be confidently wrong.

Which AI tools help you make games

Most beginners do well with one chat assistant and one free engine. These are the main types of tools:

• AI chat assistants such as ChatGPT, Google Gemini, Microsoft Copilot and Claude. They explain things and write code, and some can preview small web games right in the chat.
• Coding assistants, such as GitHub Copilot in Visual Studio Code, suggest the next lines as you type in a code editor, a program for writing code. They are handy later, but at the start they can hide what you need to learn.
• AI tools inside game engines. Unity's AI tools, an in-editor Assistant and asset Generators, are in open beta for Unity 6 and use credits. Paid plans include them, and free Unity Personal users get a 14-day trial before a paid subscription starts (as of November 2026). Unreal Engine 5.7 added an experimental AI Assistant panel in the editor. Version 5.8 added an experimental plugin that lets outside AI agents work with the editor. Godot has no AI built in, but any chat assistant can help you with it.
• AI art and sound tools for images, sound effects and music. Their licences differ a lot, so read our guide on how to make game art with AI before you use them.

As of November 2026, the free plans of the big chat assistants are enough for a small first game. Prices and limits change often, so check the official pages before you pay.

Pick a game engine that works well with AI

A game engine is the program that runs your game. It draws the graphics, plays sound, handles physics and turns your project into something others can play. The AI writes code for one specific engine, so your choice matters.

For most beginners who want AI help, Godot or Unity is the best start. Godot scripts are short, so AI answers are easy to read. Unity has the most examples online, so AI tools know it well. For a full comparison, read Godot vs Unity vs Unreal Engine. Each engine also has its own AI guide: AI for Godot, AI for Unity and AI for Unreal Engine.

Step by step: make your first game with AI

Let's use a real example called Meteor Dodge. You move a ship left and right, meteors fall, and you survive as long as you can. It is small, but it has what every game needs: controls, danger, a score, losing and restarting.

1. Write your idea in one sentence. "Dodge falling meteors for as long as you can." List the features, mark three as must-have and move the rest to a "later" list. Then ask the AI: "Which of these features can I cut and still have a fun game?"
2. Learn the editor before you ask for code. Do your engine's official beginner tutorial first. Godot's Your first 2D game takes an afternoon or two. Without these basics, you won't know where the AI's code goes.
3. Ask for a build plan, not a whole game. Try: "I'm a beginner using Godot 4.7. Split Meteor Dodge into 8 small steps I can test one by one." Save the answer as your checklist.
4. Build one step at a time. Ask, read the answer, type the code yourself and run the game. If it works, save a backup. If it breaks, paste the exact error message into the chat, as the loop below shows.
5. Use placeholders first. A placeholder is a simple stand-in, like a coloured square for the ship. Make the game work with squares before you spend time on art.
6. Add art and sound. Free asset packs are the safest start. AI images and sounds can work too, if you check the licence and disclose them where stores ask.
7. Playtest with real people. Watch three friends play without helping them. Note where they get confused or bored, then ask the AI for ideas to fix that exact problem. Our game design basics guide explains what makes a game fun.
8. Finish and share. Add a start screen, a game-over screen and a restart button. Then export the game, which turns your project into files other people can play, and upload it to itch.io for free.

How long does it take? If you have never made a game, plan 10 to 30 hours for Meteor Dodge, spread over two to four weekends. That includes learning the editor. Your second game will go much faster. For the full beginner path without the AI focus, read how to make a video game.

How to write prompts that give working game code

A prompt is the message you type to the AI. Vague prompts get vague, often broken code. Good prompts have four parts: context, a goal, rules and a request to teach you.

A full prompt you can copy and adapt:

I'm a beginner making a 2D game in Godot 4.7 (GDScript).
What I have: a Player scene (CharacterBody2D) that moves.
Goal: meteors fall from random spots at the top.
Rules: one short script, a comment on every line,
no plugins, Godot 4 syntax only.
Then explain what to set up in the editor, step by step.

Start a fresh chat for each new feature and paste in your current script. In very long chats, the AI forgets details and mixes up versions.

How to learn with AI instead of copy-pasting

If you only copy and paste, you get stuck the moment something breaks, and something always breaks. These habits turn the AI into a patient tutor:

• Type the code yourself. Typing makes you read every line. It is slower today and much faster next month.
• Ask why. "Explain line 7 like I'm new to coding" is one of the best prompts there is.
• Predict, then test. Before you change a number, guess what will happen. Then run the game and check.
• Try first, then ask for a hint. Spend 15 minutes on a problem alone. Then ask for a hint, not the full answer.
• Follow one rule. Never keep code you can't explain.

Common mistakes AI makes in game code (and how to fix them)

AI tools learned from years of old tutorials, so their most common mistake is outdated code. Here are two real examples:

# OLD: Godot 3 code that AI still writes.
# Godot 4 shows errors for it.
extends KinematicBody2D

var velocity = Vector2.ZERO

func _physics_process(delta):
    velocity = move_and_slide(velocity)

# NEW: the same script in Godot 4.
extends CharacterBody2D

func _physics_process(_delta: float) -> void:
    # velocity is now built in, and
    # move_and_slide() takes no arguments.
    move_and_slide()

// rb is the player's Rigidbody2D component.
// Older Unity code that AI often writes:
rb.velocity = new Vector2(speed, rb.velocity.y);

// Unity 6 renamed it:
rb.linearVelocity = new Vector2(speed, rb.linearVelocity.y);

• Old input code in Unity. New Unity 6 projects read the keyboard, mouse and gamepad through the newer Input System package. Old code like Input.GetAxis then throws an error as soon as you press Play. Ask for "Input System" code by name.
• Made-up functions. AI sometimes invents functions that don't exist. People call this hallucinating. If the editor can't find a function, search the official docs for it.
• Giant scripts. A 300-line answer is hard to test. Ask for one feature at a time.
• Letting an AI agent edit files without a backup. Some tools can change your project files directly. Use version control first. Version control, such as Git, saves snapshots of your project so you can undo any change.

Staying safe: age rules, privacy and backups

• Follow the age rules of every tool, with a parent's permission where it is needed.
• Never paste passwords or API keys into an AI chat. An API key is a secret code that lets a program use a paid service, so treat it like a password. Keep your full name, address and school out of chats too.
• Ask an adult before paying. AI credits, subscriptions and store accounts cost real money, and many renew automatically.
• Back up your project. Keep a copy on a second drive or in a private online repository, a storage space for code such as a private GitHub project.
• Check the licence of everything you add. Some free AI plans don't allow selling what they make, and downloaded art has its own rules. Note where each file came from.
• Don't copy other games. Asking AI for characters, names or music from famous games can break copyright law and get your game removed.

AI content rules on Steam, itch.io and other stores

Stores want players to know when AI made what they see and hear. These are the rules as of November 2026:

• Steam: Valve's content survey asks about generative AI. You must describe AI-made content that ships with your game and that players see or hear, such as art, sound, story text and translations. Valve reviews it like any other content. If your game creates AI content while people play, you must also explain your guardrails, the limits that stop it making illegal content. The survey is not about AI tools that only made your work faster, such as code helpers. Steam shows your answer on the game's store page, so keep it short and honest.
• itch.io: The quality guidelines ask you to tag projects that contain material made by generative AI, using the AI Disclosure section on the project's edit page. Tagged projects appear on the AI Assisted browse page. For asset packs and soundtracks, missing tags can get the page delisted.
• Game jams: Many jams ban or limit AI content. Read the rules page before you start.
• Phone stores: Google Play and the App Store have no AI label for games, but their usual rules apply. On Google Play, apps that generate AI content, such as chatbots, must let users report offensive results.

When your game is out, list it in the Mutop100 indie games directory so players can find it, try it and vote for it.