Example prompts for building games with AI

You can ask an AI agent to do almost anything you could do yourself in the DiceyTable editor or at a preview table. The prompts below are grouped by task. Copy one, swap in your own game, and see what happens.

Each group links to the guide that explains what the agent does behind the scenes. Once your agent is connected, you can start anywhere. Planning to test a prototype before you print it? The page on playtesting a board game prototype shows why that works well here.

Get connected#

• "Connect to DiceyTable and show me the pairing code."
• "Which DiceyTable tabs are paired right now, and what is each one showing?"

New to this? The quick start covers the setup these prompts assume.

Look around first#

• "Open my project called Harbor Market. Tell me what's in the scene and list any errors that are already there."
• "Describe the Inspector for the selected board. Don't change anything yet."

Build the scene#

• "Make a new game project called Pond Hop. Add a 2 ft square board in the middle of the table and 4 frog tokens in the corners."
• "Set up 4 seats with a hand zone in front of each one."
• "Add a snap grid of 8 by 8 points on the board so pieces land in the squares."

These all use the tools in Let an agent edit your scene.

Make the decks#

• "Import cards/market-sheet.png and cards/market-back.png from this folder. They are my own art. Make a 6 by 9 deck of 52 cards from them."
• "Name the cards from this list and give each one a cost. Then show me card 12, face and back."

See Build a deck of cards with an agent.

Write the rules#

• "Write a table script that deals 5 cards to each seat when the game starts."
• "When a player rolls a 6, give them another turn. Fix every compile error and scanner warning before you stop."
• "Read the script on the dice tray and explain what it does in plain words."

Write game scripts with an agent explains what the agent checks.

Play-test it#

• "Start a preview, deal a round, and check that every seat has 5 cards and the deck has 32 left."
• "Roll both dice 20 times in the preview. Check that they always land on the table and never fall through it."
• "Something is off with the discard pile. Find the error in the diagnostics and fix it in the editor."

See Play-test your game with an agent.

Take screenshots#

• "Take a screenshot of the table from the iso camera with the editor chrome hidden."
• "Show me the top view after the deal, so I can check the layout."

The tools and cameras are in Take screenshots with an agent.

Test with other players#

• "Create a lobby for this game and add one of its bots to the second seat."
• "Make an invite link for this lobby so a friend can join me."

See Set up a multiplayer lobby.

Get ready to publish#

• "Check whether this project could be published. List every blocker, and the credits I still need to review."

What makes a good prompt?#

Name the thing. "The red token called Scout" beats "the token". Ids are even better, and the agent can read them from the scene.

Say what done looks like. "Stop when every check passes" gives the agent a finish line. Without one, it may stop after the first try.

Work in small steps. One feature per prompt keeps each change easy to test and easy to undo.

Be honest about credits. When the agent imports a file, tell it who made it and under what license. It writes that into a credit record, and you review each one before you publish.

Ask before deleting. "Tell me what you'll delete before you do it" is a fair rule. The agent has to confirm deletes anyway, but this way you hear about them first.

Next steps#

• Build a game with an AI agent: the whole loop these prompts fit into.
• Instructions to give your AI agent: set the ground rules once.
• Set up a multiplayer lobby: when you're ready for more players.