How to make a tiny game prototype with AI in one night

Pick HTML Canvas or Godot, ask a model for one verb — dodge, jump, or catch — then play the result yourself; code that runs is a draft, and a prototype is what you have tested with your own hands.

A model can draft a game loop in minutes. Fun is a measurement you take with your hands — those are different jobs.

Tonight is one mechanic, not a store listing. Write the verb on paper first: dodge falling blocks, jump a gap, or catch a falling thing. That written verb is the brief.

Canvas path: one HTML file. MDN’s Canvas API is Mozilla’s guide for drawing in the browser. It says to get a 2d context and draw. The basic-animations chapter says clear the canvas, draw the frame, and drive the loop with requestAnimationFrame — the browser’s animation clock. Open Cursor on an empty folder. Use Agent with Cmd I, or paste the same brief into Claude or ChatGPT. Ask for one file: a player you move with the keyboard, one threat, a fail state. Open the file in a browser.

Godot path: the official FAQ says you can extract the editor binary and run it. No installer required. Godot’s official first 2D game is Dodge the Creeps — the player moves, enemies spawn, and a score counts. Project setup: new project, official art zip, 480×720 window — 480 pixels wide by 720 tall, a portrait phone-sized frame. Follow that tutorial, or paste one scene into Cursor. Stop when the player can die. Export and storefronts are a different night.

What the model drafts versus what you play: it will invent hitboxes that miss, gravity that feels like soup, keys that do nothing on your keyboard, and a score that never resets. ChatGPT’s Learn page says a polished answer can still be wrong. Claude’s get-started page says be specific and iterate. Cursor’s quickstart says review the diff and run the project’s own checks. For a game, the check is play: move, fail, restart, ten times. If you have not done that, you have a sketch.