Let’s make an awesome game together!

Correction: let’s make an awesome casual game together.

Casual games are generally built around one simple game mechanic, with the best ones wrapping that mechanic in layers of polish, detail, effects, and bonus features. Luckily, Astrocade makes all of this as easy as wishing for what you want in natural language. The question is: what exactly should you wish for?

This tutorial documents the creation of STARBOY: Way of the Shuriken, a simple but refined ninja star throwing game. I put together this trailer to emphasize the fact our goal is to create something that feels like a solid, legit mobile game:

Read on, dear creators! ALL THIS POWER CAN BE YOURS

Starboy - Trailer.mp4

Where every game starts: The idea

Before writing a single wish, my first step is always working out the vision of the game I want to make, and sometimes even sketching it out.

BEHOLD!

This highly technical engineering schematic imagines the core of the game: a ninja at the bottom of the screen throwing ninja stars at targets at the top of the screen.

The creation wish

Astrocade games always begin with a creation wish that sketches out an idea to get the AI started, with as much (or as little) detail as you’d like to include. It’s an important step, but don’t overthink it; if the AI needs to know more before getting started, it’ll ask. Some creators write long, multi-paragraph creation wishes, while others barely complete a single sentence. Both can work!

Here’s how I got my game off the ground:

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A top-down game in which a ninja standing at the bottom of the screen must throw ninja stars at targets that scroll by along the top of the screen. Use a colorful anime art style.

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It’s pretty simple, but it’s not arbitrary. I always try to hit the following details in mine:

The game’s perspective (“top-down”)
The game’s art style (”colorful anime”)
The general location and behavior of key elements: the ninja, the ninja stars, and the targets.

Other details that can be helpful if your vision includes them, too:

The game’s setting (A dojo? An ancient Japanese countryside? A futuristic training chamber?)
The look of the main characters
Essential UI elements (a score counter, an inventory, etc.)

I often include these, and you’re encouraged to do so if you have more specifics in mind. In this case, though, I was happy to let the AI cook and see what it comes up with.