Build your first AI game: one room, five coins, one exit

I want your first game to be small enough that you can finish it while you still care about the idea. One room. Five coins. An exit that opens when you collect them. That gives you movement, a goal and a reason to play again, without spending your first weekend trying to build an inventory system.

By VelvenBeginner3 min readPublished Sep 9, 2026

A miniature playable island with a tiny cream repair robot, five amber collectible energy cells and one glowing exit gate; a single-screen game brought to life.

Start with something that already runs

Pick a starter project and launch it before asking AI to change anything. Phaser is a sensible route if you're comfortable opening a JavaScript file. Godot gives you a visual editor where you can arrange objects in a scene. The beginner guides for both are linked below; choose one and get its example running.

A scene is simply a collection of things your game loads together: the player, floor, coins and perhaps a camera. You don't have to understand the entire engine today. You do need to know how to start the game, stop it and see an error message.

A graph-paper room plan with a blue square player, five gold coins, two wall obstacles and a green exit. — Plan a reachable route through all five coins before adding detail.

Give the assistant a tiny job

My first request would be movement with placeholder shapes. A square is fine. If moving the square is awkward, a beautifully painted character won't make the controls feel better.

Run the result. Move into every edge of the room. Let go of the key. Does the character stop? Fix that basic interaction before you ask for another feature. Save a working copy or commit so you have somewhere to return if the next change breaks it.

Use the existing starter and engine version.
Make a one-screen collecting game with placeholder shapes.
Arrow keys move the player. Five coins unlock an exit.
First implement movement only and tell me how to run it.
Wait for me to test before adding the coins.

Add the reason to play

Now add one coin. Touching it should increase the score once and make the coin disappear. Touch the same spot again. If the score keeps climbing, you've found the bug before copying it five times.

I'd resist enemies for this version. Try placing one coin behind an awkward corner instead. You can make a simple rule interesting through the room's arrangement, and you'll learn something about level design while doing it.

Add the remaining four coins once the first works.
Show progress as “3 of 5 coins” rather than an unexplained number.
Make the exit visibly change when all five are collected.
Show a win message when the player enters it.
Add Restart and check that all five coins return.

Two illustrated game states: one final coin beside a blue player and a closed red exit, followed by the coin disappearing and the exit turning green. — Collect the last coin, then make the exit visibly unlock.

Hand it to someone without explaining it

Send the hosted game to a friend and keep quiet for the first minute. Watch whether they find the controls, understand the coins and notice the exit. Anything you have to explain aloud is a candidate for clearer feedback inside the game.

Once a round and a restart both work, give the room a visual theme. A repair drone collecting batteries is the same game in a different costume. Replace the shapes one at a time, keep testing, then share the playable URL on Velven. You've made a complete little game. The next idea has a much better starting point now.