Before I switched to majoring in Communications, I dreamed of entering the world of video game development by picking up a college degree in Computer Science.
That initial dream of mine quickly turned into something I know I wasn’t built for once I was left utterly confused after reading up on the topics of C++ and C# for game engines and system logic. To be completely honest and blunt, I just knew I wasn’t smart enough to grasp everything that goes into creating the types of games me and my friends wanted to play.
But as I sit here and type out this article, I feel like I finally get to achieve that lofty goal of mine in the strangest way possible — through a vibe coding app that’s accessible from the comfort of my iPhone. Meta recently launched a free app called Pocket for iOS and Android devices that lets you get as creative as you’d like as a mobile game maker and prompt your concept into something that’s actually playable.
I figured it was time to show the world my creative genius as a game designer by vibe coding (which is simply describing what you want to an AI instead of manually writing out code) my own playable experiences. And honestly, this little experiment ended up being more than I thought it would.
Slashing unicorns, shooting bubbles and bouncing on clouds with trampolines
During my first go-round with Pocket, I was treated to the Pocket app’s default game, which told me to tilt my phone to move a gumball machine full of sweet, multicolored contraptions. It was a decent little interactive experience, but I yearned for something a bit more complex and satisfying to play.
For my first game, I had the inkling to get into some medieval fantasy action suitable for younger players. Once I put in my prompt, the app went to work for a few seconds as it turned my words into a playable game. Imagine my amazement when the finished product came out as something that would have kept me busy during my days as a toddler who had no siblings to annoy.
All I had to drag my pint-sized warrior across the screen warrior across the screen and tap it whenever I wanted to swing my blade to vanquish some no-good unicorns. After spending far too much time cutting down evil creatures falling out of the sky, I started my next game project.
This time, I felt like honoring a classic match-three puzzler that got far too many quarters out of me back in the day. Bust-A-Move (better known as Puzzle Bobble in Japan) is simple, cute and straight to the point — attach three bubbles of the same color to make them pop so you can clear them all out. This type of game has gotten a million and one copycats across consoles and mobile gaming storefronts.
My prompt explained that game’s concept quite clearly and, thankfully, the Pocket app knew exactly what I was trying to make. 15 seconds later and BOOM…my own match-three bubble puzzle game was born. Tapping to shoot my bubble into other ones became my dosage of fun for about 45 minutes before I had another lightbulb moment for my next game creation.
For my third and final vibe coding exercise, I wanted to play something that’s all about staying in the air and not falling to my doom.
With visions of Jetpack Joyride circling my brain, I entered my prompt and ended up producing a wholesome game I’d let my younger cousins play all day and night. All I had to do to keep my miniature avatar alive was tilt/drag the screen to move them from left to right and have them bounce on trampolines encased within clouds. The blue and white ones gave me a decently sized jump, while the grey and white ones disappeared after bouncing on them once and the pink and yellow ones threw me even higher into the sky.
This game ended up being my most complex since it featured some challenging elements that kept it from getting stale after a minute or two.
Once I was done making my games, I took a trip to my “Playlists” tab to see if I could find other people’s games. All I had to do was scroll down and find the “Discover” section full of curated picks to find even more interesting ideas. Plus, every time I opened the Pocket app after a few hours, a whole new game would pop up on my home screen (shout out to “josh” for introducing me to his highly entertaining “pocket space copter” game).
Final thoughts
Meta’s Pocket app is such a fun way to familiarize yourself with vibe coding and turn your video game concepts into something that’s actually tangible. To keep my creative juices flowing, I went to ChatGPT to see if it could generate some game-making prompts (one of them gave me the perfect Flappy Bird copycat!), so feel free to use these for yourself and add your own details to make them all your own:
- Flappy Bird-style: Create a simple one-button arcade game where I control a tiny UFO flying through a constantly changing alien city. Tap to rise and release to fall. Add increasingly difficult obstacles, a score counter, high-score tracking, and funny sound effects.
- Angry office printer: Create a game where I'm an office worker trying to defeat an evil printer. The printer randomly jams, spits out paper, launches ink cartridges, and summons error messages. Give me different attacks and make the boss progressively more ridiculous.
- Don't press the button: Create a game centered around a giant red button labeled "DO NOT PRESS." Every time I press it, something different and increasingly absurd happens. Track how many times I've pressed it and create at least 20 different outcomes.
- Choose-your-own-adventure RPG: Create a visual RPG where every decision I make changes the story. Give me health, inventory, money, and reputation stats. Include at least 10 different endings and make some endings only accessible through specific combinations of choices.
- Let Pocket make something on its own: Build me a simple playable arcade game based on a concept you invent. Keep the controls extremely simple and make the first version playable within 30 seconds. After building it, add three mechanics that make the game more addictive without making it significantly more complicated.
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