2. Creating Your First Game
Already know about Cipher Game Builder and ready to create your game? Read on!
If you're completely new, we recommend checking out 1. Getting Started, which will cover the basics of navigating your Cipher workspace and features - all of which you'll be using to build a kick-ass game!
Your prompt is your game's blueprint. A good one gets you a playable game on the first try, while a vague one gets you something you didn't ask for. This guide shows you exactly how to describe games so Cipher builds what you're actually picturing.
Creating Your First Game in Minutes
Let's speedrun from zero to a simple, playable game, with no experience needed!
1. Create a new project. Any name you like works!
2. Describe your game in the chat. Be specific about what the player does, what shows up on screen, and how the game ends. Here's an example:
Create a game called "Laser Cat Chaos". The player controls a laser pointer dot using the mouse and must keep cats chasing it while avoiding being caught by a cat. If a cat touches the laser pointer, the game ends. The laser dot moves freely around the screen. Cats spawn in the arena and constantly chase the laser pointer. Increase cat spawn rate over time. Add simple obstacles in the room that both the player and cats must move around. Display a survival timer showing how long the player has lasted and the current number of cats in the arena.
3. Wait for Cipher to respond. It'll first show you a Draft Plan with the game concept, how it plays, what the controls are, and how it's going to build everything. Read through it. If it looks right, tell Cipher to go ahead!
4. Watch it build. You'll see "Building your game..." and a progress bar filling up at the bottom of the preview. The time taken depends on how complex your game is.
5. Playtest your game. When the build finishes, your game loads in the preview. Click into it and play.
6. Make it better. Type your next change. "Add cat noises." "Make the cats faster." "Change the background to a wooden floor" Every change triggers a new build that updates your game.
That's it. You just made your first simple game! Want to see the above example in action? Laser Cat Chaos.
How Cipher Reads Your Prompt
When you describe a game, Cipher doesn't just start building right away. It first creates a Draft Plan that breaks your idea down into pieces:
Game concept — A one-line summary of your game and its genre.
Core loop — The main cycle of actions the player repeats (move, dodge, collect, survive, etc.).
Mechanics — The specific rules that make the game work.
Controls — What the player presses and what each input does.
Scene plan — The actual game objects, menus, and screens Cipher will build.
Implementation checklist — The build order, step by step.
Risks — Things that could go wrong and how Cipher plans to handle them.
Quick tip: This plan is your chance to catch problems before anything gets built, so read it! If something's off, say so. It's way easier to fix a plan than to fix a finished game.
How You'll Read the Draft Plan
After your first prompt, Cipher shows you the drafted plan before building. Here's what to look for:
Core loop Does this sound like the game you want to play? If the main action cycle doesn't sound fun, let Cipher know as clearly as you can. This is the foundation of everything!
Mechanics Did Cipher add anything you didn't ask for? Did it miss something you wanted? This is where Cipher fills in gaps, so make sure it filled them the way you intended.
Controls Double check these match what you described. If Cipher assigned different keys, bring it up.
Scene plan This is the most technical section. You don't need to understand every detail, but scan it to make sure all the game elements you described for that prompt are accounted for.
Risks Cipher is flagging potential problems before they happen. If any of these sound like they'd ruin the game, ask Cipher to address them before it starts building.
If everything looks good, just let Cipher know. And if something's wrong, describe the fix so Cipher can update the plan.
What Makes a Good First Prompt?
The best prompts answer three questions clearly. If you cover these three things, Cipher has enough to build a playable game on the first try.
1. What does the player control and how?
Weak: "A fun platformer." Strong: "The player moves a character with arrow keys. Left and right to move, space to jump."
2. What happens in the game world?
Weak: "Enemies attack." Strong: "Enemies spawn from the right side of the screen every 3 seconds and walk left. If they touch the player, the player loses a life."
3. What ends the game or creates a goal?
Weak: "The player tries to win." Strong: "The game ends when the player loses all 3 lives. Score is based on how many enemies were defeated."
As An Example
A detailed prompt:
Create a game called "Neon Duel". It's a 2D fighting game where Player 1 is AI-controlled and Player 2 uses keyboard controls. Player 2 moves with left/right arrows, jumps with space, uses A for a laser attack and S for a punch. The characters face each other in an arena with a floor and walls. Each player has a health bar at the top of the screen. When a player's health reaches zero, the round ends and a "Game Over" screen shows the winner. Touch controls are also supported.
This covers controls, mechanics, win conditions, and UI so Cipher knows exactly what to build.
A simple prompt:
Create a game where the player is a circle that bounces around the screen collecting stars. Arrow keys to move. Each star adds 1 to the score. Every 10 stars, a new obstacle appears that bounces around randomly. If the player hits an obstacle, game over. Show the score at the top.
Short and clear, Cipher has everything it needs.
What Your First Build Will Look Like
When Cipher builds your game from the first few prompts, it's going to look basic.
Your player character will probably be a colored circle or rectangle. Enemies might be simple shapes in a different color. The background will likely be a flat color. Obstacles will be plain blocks.
Every game starts this way, and professional studios call it "greyboxing" or "blockout." Before anyone draws a single character or designs a single environment texture, they build the entire game with placeholder (temporary) shapes!
You want to know the base game mechanics are fun before you invest time and effort to improve how it looks. A beautiful game that isn't fun to play is still a bad game!
Cipher follows the same logic. Your first prompt creates the gameplay foundation. Then you layer visuals on top with follow-up prompts. You will learn more about it in 3. Improving and Refining Your Game!
Quick-tip: Building in the right order – gameplay first, visuals later, will give you better results on both fronts.
What to Avoid
Don't be vague - be clear about how your game is played!
"Make a fun RPG" gives Cipher almost nothing to work with! What does the player see? What do they click? What's the goal? Here's the sweet spot:
Too vague: "Make a space game." Cipher doesn't know if you want a shooter, exploration game, trading sim, or something else entirely.
Just right: "Create a game where the player pilots a spaceship with arrow keys. Asteroids drift across the screen from right to left at random speeds. Press space to shoot. Destroyed asteroids add to the score. If an asteroid hits the ship, game over."
Too specific for a first prompt: "Create a space game. The ship should be 64x64 pixels, positioned at x:100 y:360. Use a dark blue gradient background (
#0a0a2eto#1a1a4e). Asteroids should use CharacterBody2D nodes with circular collision shapes of radius 20..." Describe the game, not the code! You can fine-tune technical details in follow-up prompts.
Don't just name another game, describe it
"Make something like Hollow Knight" is too open. Instead, describe the parts you want: side-scrolling, sword attacks, double jump, dark atmosphere, enemies that walk back and forth on platforms.
Don't cram every feature into the first prompt
Start with the core gameplay and get that working first. Then, add features one by one in follow-up prompts. A massive first prompt describing 20 things usually creates more unnecessary complexities than a focused one!
Don't stress about visuals on the first try.
Yet again, get the gameplay working first! Once you can play it and the mechanics feel right, tell Cipher to upgrade the visuals how you like it!
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