So, in January of 2026, I started vibe coding using Claude. Specifically to make a prototype for a Sudoku video game I’ve always wanted to make. Initially, Claude was awesome and able t keep up, but as I wanted to add more features, I noticed the AI was starting to struggle.
That’s when I started using Godot instead! Claude would feed me code, I would refactor code in the engine, and make the game. Eventually, however, even this proved limited. After one particular update, there were some significant errors that broke what Claude had made so far. It was discouraging, but as I was sifting through the hundreds of lines of code, I realized something: I was starting to be able to read it. Ultimately, I was able to figure out where the errors were coming from and got the game back up and running, but vibe coding felt less genuine now. So, I changed course.
I decided to learn game development for real. It had always been an interest of mine anyway. And now that I could see how some of it worked, it made me excited to learn. I still use AI, but with explicit instructions not to write code for me. Instead, I am using AI as a code reviewer. Or if I am unsure about how to approach something, I ask for what concepts I should research myself to learn. I’ve been doing this ever since and it’s been wonderful (albeit, much slower than simply vibe coding). It’s also fulfilling.
I’m learning to code most recently using Boot.dev (which has been insanely challenging, but so much fun). For game development specifically, I’ve been taking courses on Zenva Academy, GameDev.tv, and GDQuest. A lot of what I have learned has been from tutorials. Like this horror game I made in Godot from a Zenva course: Create a Horror Game in Godot 4.
I’m also working on several game development projects on the side which I treat like little game jams (minus the time limit). One game I am working on is for a procedural Backrooms horror game. Here’s some screenshots from that:
Here are some videos, too. The first is from early in development, the second is with much cleaner textures.
I also made a series of dice for an RPG I was working on. The first video was a rudimentary d6 I’d made before committing to a full set:
Couldn’t call myself a gamer if it didn’t have RGB.
This one is a prototype for a top-down stealth game.
Most recently, I’ve been working on a procedural voxel space game. Here’s a planet generated from scratch:
So, yeah. I’ve done so much more that I haven’t captured. It’s a constant learning process, and I wish I would have started learning years ago. It’s good though. Lots of fun and definitely worth the investment.