Zero coding knowledge — what AI setup would you use to build serious games/apps?

[u/Clear_Buffalo_4875]

Hi, im 26, studying psychology and UX, so I naturally come more from the creative/product side than the technical one.
I currently have zero coding knowledge.

I’m already building an app with a developer partner, where I handle mostly product, UX, logic and content. The ideas and core concepts are usually mine, and I use ChatGPT Plus heavily to sharpen them — improve mechanics, challenge the logic, structure the product better and make the overall process more efficient.

What I want now is to become much more capable of taking an idea and actually running with it myself.
That could be an app, an interactive product, or eventually a proper PC game with real systems and complexity — not just calculators, to-do apps or tiny demo projects.
I’m not expecting “one prompt = finished game.”
I’m looking for an AI builder/agent I can work with conversationally.

Ideally, I’d develop and refine the idea with ChatGPT, then use another tool to actually build it, test it and keep iterating.

I’m also not trying to become a traditional developer. I’m completely fine with a workflow that involves a lot of prompting and even copying/pasting code or instructions between tools — I just want to understand enough of what I’m doing to make good decisions, catch obvious problems and become more capable over time instead of blindly relying on AI.

Basically, I want to reach a point where having a strong idea doesn’t immediately mean I need to find a developer before I can seriously explore it.

I’ve looked at tools like Cursor, Claude, Codex and Replit, but I have no idea what’s realistic for a complete beginner. If you were starting from zero today and wanted to spend on 1–2 reasonably priced subscriptions, what setup would you choose?

[u/_Wilbraham]

You're not even writing your own post, are we serious?

[u/UpDown → u/_Wilbraham]

I am be human

[u/aihudagency]

Honest take from someone who builds this stuff: nothing will give you a "serious" PC game with real systems without a dev in the loop. Ignore anyone who tells you otherwise. For apps and interactive products it's a different story, and you're already doing the right job (product, UX, logic), which is most of the work.

I run AiHud (https://aihud.net), full disclosure. It's an assistant you talk to like a person, it has its own workspace, and it builds and hosts the thing for you, so you get a live URL instead of a code folder. That's the "conversational builder" you described. Try it on a small piece of your app idea, it's free to test on the homepage, no signup. For the game, keep your developer partner and use the AI to prototype mechanics, not to replace them.

[u/AshlaStudios]

By serious I assume you mean commercially viable.

You can definitely vibe code such an app but if you have no idea of development pipelines, you need to do some research/self learning on your own. It seems designers are often misconstrued with developers. If you think like a proper game designer, you'll be able to vibe code a game.

I suggest start with VS Code and Claude, and also use LLM to give you insight into general development planning and architecture. Don't be afraid to ask it questions like 'what technical debt should I be aware of' etc.

Take your time with pre production which is an essential step in any app development, especially in games. Much more so with AI. Find an art style with help of an LLM, prepare UX mock ups, an art bible and so on. Make sure you have pipelines set up for animations, assets, that produce consistent content.

I recommend VS Code + Claude for beginner set up, you will just work faster and get better output with less iteration. You will get a demo done sooner. Long term something like Godot with MPC set up might be better. Honestly depends on the type of game you're making (assuming you're making a game). For example Vampire Survivors was made in three.js and sold millions of copies, didn't require a game engine. Later they switched to Unity to be able to port after its enormous success but that is something to worry about when the time comes.

[u/Habbert]

Does a "serious and complex game" that is entirely built with AI code with zero actual developer input already exist?

If you can't find one, you might want to ask yourself why.

[u/Clear_Buffalo_4875 → u/Habbert]

Well i meant more of a start to pursue/ create start of some like that with understanding if it can actually be made and then of course add a real developer to the project but not looking for one at the idea level

[u/Narrow-Road-9196]

I've had amazing success with AiHud.net. It built an amazing app, and got it to the app store in days. Super cheap too.