Vibe Code a Retro Game in 3 Prompts

Learn to vibe code by recreating a childhood retro game with Grok and Cursor in 3 simple steps.

Before diving into the steps, why not 🎮play the game here🎮 and then decide if you want to learn how to create something like this👇 in 3 prompts:

Preview of the game created

In this tutorial, we'll use AI to design, develop, and deploy a fully functional game. You can also checkout the repo and play locally too:
https://github.com/bibryam/space-shooter

🎮 Requirements: Recreate Galaxian

Galaxian is an arcade game from 1980 that I happened to play on my Nintendo as a kid. I thought I could recreate it with my own rules and enjoy it offline in the browser, anywhere.

Galaxian 1980

The game will have smooth shooting mechanics and AI-generated enhancements to make it visually appealing—all created without writing a single line of code yourself!

We'll follow a three-step process:

1. Research & Ideation - Use Grok Deep Search Mode to explore game ideas

2. Planning - Generate a structured implementation plan with Grok Think Mode

3. Development - Convert our plan into working code using Cursor, then iteratively improve it.

This hands-on approach demonstrates how vibe coding can bring joy and creativity. Let's get started!

🏗️ Step 1: Research with Grok Deep Search

Once you have an idea in mind, use an LLM with deep searching capability to investigate what's possible:

• Grok 3 Deep Search (what I used)

• Perplexity

• ChatGPT with Deep Research 🔭

Here's how:

1. Open Grok 3 and set it to "Deep Search" mode

2. Type your idea: "How to build a Galaxian-style retro game using p5.js"

Ideation prompt

After about 30 seconds, Grok will provide various ideas. Pick one and turn it into a plan in the next step.

🏗️ Step 2: Game Design with AI Thinking Models

The initial search gives you a good foundation, but you can refine it further with a thinking model. Here I prefer:

• Grok 3 Research (What I used)

• Claude 3.7 Sonnet Extended

• ChatGPT o1

I tried different models and chose Grok, but the app generated from ChatGPT had a much better retro feel, so I incorporated inspiration from it.

Planning prompt

Here's the prompt I used if you just want to try it:

Generate a Game Design Plan
Design a p5.js space shooter game with the following features:  

🎮 Core Gameplay:
- A player-controlled spaceship (moves with arrow keys)  
- Press spacebar to fire bullets  
- Enemies descend from the top at increasing speeds  
- Collision detection: player loses if hit by an enemy  
- Score tracking system  

🚀 Special Effects:  
- Different enemy types with unique behaviors  
- Power-ups (triple shot, speed boost, shield)  
- Background animations & particle effects  

📋 Development:  
1. Provide a structured breakdown of game mechanics.  
2. Ensure rules are clear and optimized for engagement.  
3. Include considerations for AI-generated enhancements.  

Output the plan in an easy-to-follow structure.

Copy the generated plan from Grok, and make adjustments as needed before moving to implementation.

🔧 Step 3: Generate the Game Code with Cursor

You can use many tools to implement your game, from copy/pasting files from a chat tool to using CLI or IDE extensions. I used Cursor in Agent mode.

Executing on the plan in Cursor

With your design plan in hand (from the output of step 2), paste it to Cursor Agent to generate the full game code.

If you're lucky, the game will work on the first attempt. Open the index page (I used "Open with Live Server" in VS Code) and try it out:

First generation of space shooter

Voilà, you are a game creator! 🎮 🚀
Don't be discouraged if your game looks quite different from the polished version you played earlier! At this stage, you're likely seeing simple shapes like boxes and triangles representing your spaceship and enemies. This basic implementation has all the core mechanics in place - it just needs some visual enhancements and refinements, which we'll tackle in the next step.

🐛 Step 4: Improve the Project (Optional)

Now that the basic game is working, let's enhance it with more engaging features and polish. In Cursor, switch to Ask mode to get AI-assisted improvements.

Ideate for improvements

Such a prompt can give you areas to improve the game:

1️⃣ Enhance Enemy Designs:
- Make enemy ships look futuristic, detailed, and visually striking
- Add animations so they feel more alive and engaging
- Introduce 3 distinct enemy types, each with unique attack patterns and movement styles
- Implement a boss enemy that appears at high scores to increase engagement

2️⃣ Improve Player Ship:
- Make the player’s spaceship look more advanced & visually appealing
- Add a thruster animation when moving
- Implement a firing animation & glow effect on bullets

3️⃣ Enhance Overall Game Visuals:
- Make the background more dynamic with stars and space nebulas
- Improve UI elements (health bars, score display, power-ups)
- Add smooth animations when enemies explode or take damage  

Play, prompt, and commit changes until you're satisfied with the game logic.

Debugging & Optimization

I don’t like premature optimisations, but if you find bugs or want to prevent, use a prompt like this:

Debug & Optimize the Game Code
Review the game code for errors, performance issues, and missing functionality.  

🚨 Things to Fix:
- Ensure shooting mechanics work smoothly  
- Fix any collision detection issues
- Optimize frame rate for smoother gameplay
- Add proper game restart functionality

🛠 Optimization Tasks:
- Implement object pooling for bullets and particles
- Add responsive design for different screen sizes
- Ensure consistent performance across browsers

Testing & Documentation

Complete your project with automated tests and documentation:

Generate Tests for the Game
Create simple test functions that verify:
- Player controls respond correctly
- Collision detection works as expected
- Score system updates properly
- Game state transitions (start, play, game over) function correctly

Include console.log outputs to easily verify test results in the browser.

Add a readme with comprehensive description:

Generate a comprehensive README.md that includes:
- Game overview with screenshots
- Controls and gameplay mechanics
- Technical implementation details
- Development process using AI tools
- Instructions for extending the game with new features

Iterate. Play. Prompt. Commit. Until you're satisfied with your game. Each enhancement builds upon the core mechanics while making the game more engaging and polished.

🚀 Step 5: Deploy the Game on GitHub Pages

Since our game uses p5.js for all graphics and game logic, it runs entirely in the browser without any backend requirements. This makes it perfect for GitHub Pages deployment:

1. Push your completed project to GitHub

2. Navigate to your GitHub repository

3. Click Settings → Pages

4. Under "Source," select the main branch

5. Click Save

Wait a few minutes, and your space shooter will be live. Mine is here:

https://bibryam.github.io/space-shooter/

The beauty of this approach is that each developer's game will have unique characteristics based on their prompting style and design choices.

Have fun coding with AI, and let me know what retro classics you recreate next!