Game Design 101 for Vibe Coders 📚🎮

by: Edgar San Martin, Jr

If you’ve ever opened a code editor, scroll endlessly on X/Twitter , and just started vibing your way into a game, congrats you’re a vibe coder.

Vibe coding is about letting intuition guide creation. It’s less “requirements doc” and more “what feels cool right now.” It’s the kind of chaotic good energy that birthed Flappy Bird, Goat Simulator, and half of itch.io’s greatest hits.

But while vibe coders are excellent at starting, we often hit walls:

• Why does this feel boring after 3 minutes?
• Why don’t players know what to do?
• Why does it feel... empty?

That’s where game design comes in.

This guide is a crash course in good game design, written specifically for new vibe coders, game developers, and intuitive creators. We’ll use practical examples, lightweight code ideas, and proven frameworks. No overkill. No theory bloat.

Whether you're building your first ThreeJS game or you're using Cursor along with your game engine of choice, this guide will

1. Understand What Makes a Game Fun (It’s Not the Graphics)

Before we talk code, let’s talk play. Great games deliver a loop of expectation, action, and reward. This is known as the core gameplay loop.

Example: Vampire Survivors

Introduction: You Can Feel Your Way into Great Game Design

• Expectation: Enemies are coming.
• Action: Move around to survive.
• Reward: Auto-weapons clear mobs, XP floods the screen, you level up.

It’s stupidly simple, but satisfying. The loop repeats with escalating intensity and just enough randomness.

Tip for Vibe Coders:

Ask yourself:

What does the player do over and over?
Is that loop satisfying even without polish?

Test this early by building a prototype where your loop is the only thing that works. A clicker game. A dodge-the-cube. A physics toy. If it's not fun without UI or story, you’ve got homework.

Watch:

Game Maker’s Toolkit – What Makes a Good Game Loop?

2. Learn the 5 Pillars of Game Design

Every great game stands on these five pillars. You don’t need all five to start but understanding them helps your vibe coding land.

1. Mechanics

The rules and verbs of the game. (Jump, shoot, merge, trade, etc.)

Celeste's tight jumping.
Tetris's snap rotation.
Minecraft's mining and crafting.

2. Dynamics

How mechanics interact over time.

In Among Us, “reporting” + “tasks” creates social deception.
In Hades, dashes + god boons create build strategy.

3. Aesthetics

The game’s look, feel, and mood.

Journey evokes awe.
Hollow Knight oozes loneliness.
Vibe coders: This is your superpower.

4. Narrative

The story, told directly or emergently.

Undertale lets your actions write the story.
Slay the Spire offers lore through encounters.

5. Systems

How all other elements form a coherent ecosystem.

XP systems, upgrade trees, resource loops.
Even a shop counts as a system.

Tip for Vibe Coders:

Start with 2-3 of these pillars. Build your way up. You don’t need an epic story or complex systems on day one.

3. Start Simple with Core Loops

The core loop is what the player does most. Even if you don’t write it down, your game has one.

Example: Click-to-Collect

• Mechanic: Click objects
• Reward: Earn coins
• Progression: Unlock upgrades that click faster

It's the loop behind Cookie Clicker, Idle Miner, and every mobile ad you've ever skipped.

Here’s a super-light JavaScript structure for such a loop:

let coins = 0;
const coinButton = document.getElementById("coin");

coinButton.onclick = () => {
  coins += 1;
  updateUI();
};

function updateUI() {
  document.getElementById("count").textContent = `Coins: ${coins}`;
}

Now imagine using ThreeJS instead:

• Replace coinButton with a 3D object
• Use raycasting to detect mouse clicks
• Add sound effects and particle effects for feedback
• Animate a spinning coin when clicked

Level Up with AI

Want to make the click experience more dynamic?

• Use AI to randomly generate coin types, names, or descriptions
• Add a GPT-generated upgrade system
• Use player behavior to predict and suggest next upgrades

Prompt Example:

“Suggest 5 fictional coin types with unique powers for a browser game about clicking coins. Each should have a fun name, description, and visual suggestion.”

4. Use AI to Accelerate Prototyping

AI isn’t just for chatbots. It’s your new infinitely patient and infinitely smart intern. With the right prompts, you can rapidly:

• Generate level layouts
• Create dialogue
• Suggest upgrade trees
• Design puzzles

Procedural Content Generation

AI + randomness = endless content.

Example:
Let’s say you're building a dungeon crawler. Use GPT to generate rooms:

“Give me a list of 5 creepy dungeon rooms with unique features, enemies, and loot.”

Feed those results into your level generator to keep your game fresh.

Smart NPCs with GPT

Imagine a ThreeJS game with a non-player character (NPC) that actually talks to the player. Use GPT to power it.

// Simplified example using fetch to OpenAI API
async function talkToNPC(playerInput) {
  const response = await fetch("/api/chat", {
    method: "POST",
    body: JSON.stringify({ prompt: `Player says: ${playerInput}. NPC replies:` })
  });
  const data = await response.json();
  return data.reply;
}

You can even give NPCs unique personalities, objectives, or quests. All AI-powered.

Tools to Check Out:

• GPTScript – Build logic and prompts easily
• RunwayML – Video, art, and model generation
• FlowGPT – Curated prompt workflows

Vibe Coder Challenge:

Try building an AI-powered side character in your ThreeJS game that gives daily randomized advice or missions.

5. Master Game Flow

Game flow is about how the experience unfolds. Unlike the core loop (what you do over and over), game flow is the pacing of the overall experience.

Flow Theory (Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi)

Players enter a “flow state” when challenge matches skill. Too easy? Boredom. Too hard? Frustration.

🎮 Celeste teaches you slowly, then crushes you gently.
🎮 Portal masterfully paces puzzles so you feel smart.
🎮 Hollow Knight makes you suffer (not only from waiting for Silksong) but it's fair.

How to Manage Flow in Web Games:

• Gradually increase enemy speed or spawn rate
• Add cooldowns or stamina systems to slow players down
• Introduce new mechanics one at a time (like Super Mario Bros World 1-1)

In ThreeJS, try using a simple timer to control when new challenges appear:

let timeElapsed = 0;

function gameLoop(delta) {
  timeElapsed += delta;

  if (timeElapsed > 30) {
    spawnEnemy();
    timeElapsed = 0;
  }
}

This allows you to control flow pacing moment-to-moment.

6. Focus on Player Feedback and Polish

“Juice” is what makes your game feel good. It’s the bump, wiggle, spark, sound, and sizzle when a player acts.

Why Feedback Matters:

Without feedback:

• Hits feel like misses
• Rewards feel unearned
• Progress feels invisible

With feedback:

• Actions feel responsive
• Damage feels impactful
• Rewards feel deserved

🎮 Dead Cells has crunchy sound design + big hit sparks
🎮 Hades throws particle effects and camera shake at you
🎮 Mario collects coins.. and we all can hear that nostalgic "ding"

YouTube Classic:

Juice it or Lose it – Why Games Feel Good

Feedback in ThreeJS:

Let’s say your player collects a gem. Here’s what you add:

• Visual: Make the gem explode into particles
• Audio: Play a satisfying “ding!”
• UI: Flash “+10 XP” near the gem
• Haptics (if mobile): Trigger vibration

// Basic particle burst idea
function burstParticles(position) {
  for (let i = 0; i < 20; i++) {
    const particle = createTinyMesh();
    particle.position.copy(position);
    scene.add(particle);
    animateBurst(particle); // Move outward and fade
  }
}

Vibe Coder Rule:

If it feels flat, add more juice. Shake it. Light it up. Drop a bassline. More is more.

7. Plan for Progression and Reward Systems

Progression keeps players hooked. It’s the carrot-on-a-stick that says, “Just one more run.”

Types of Progression Systems:

• XP and Levels – Classic RPG structure
• Currency and Shops – Buy upgrades (Zelda, Loop Hero)
• Skill Trees – Choices = personalization
• Unlockables – New characters, maps, powers

Avoiding Grind Fatigue:

Don’t make your players feel like hamsters on a wheel.

• Reward experimentation (not repetition)
• Add meaningful milestones
• Surprise the player sometimes (roguelike chests, rare drops)

Sample Reward Pattern in JS:

let xp = 0;
let level = 1;

function earnXP(amount) {
  xp += amount;
  if (xp >= level * 100) {
    levelUp();
  }
}

function levelUp() {
  level++;
  xp = 0;
  alert(`Level Up! Welcome to Level ${level}`);
}

Cool AI Reward Ideas:

Use GPT to:

• Name abilities based on the player’s style
• Create random item descriptions
• Personalize progress reports ("You’re a stealthy swordsman. Cool!")

8. Create Emotion Through Aesthetics and Music

Even if your game has solid mechanics, it won’t feel complete without emotional texture. That’s where aesthetics and sound come in.

Why It Matters

Vibe coders excel here: we trust instinct and atmosphere. Mood is design.

• 🎮 Celeste uses dynamic music that intensifies with player stress
• 🎮 Hyper Light Drifter uses color and ambient sound to create mystery
• 🎮 Inside is near-silent, building tension through minimalism

How to Build Vibe in a ThreeJS Game

• Shaders: Use GLSL or ShaderToy snippets to add distortion, glow, or surreal effects
• Lighting: ThreeJS lets you add fog, spotlights, colored shadows
• Sound: The Web Audio API or Howler.js lets you control layered soundtracks and effects

const listener = new THREE.AudioListener();
camera.add(listener);

const sound = new THREE.Audio(listener);
const audioLoader = new THREE.AudioLoader();
audioLoader.load('ambient-track.mp3', function(buffer) {
  sound.setBuffer(buffer);
  sound.setLoop(true);
  sound.setVolume(0.5);
  sound.play();
});

YouTube Gem:

Celeste's Dynamic Music – Game Score Finesse

AI Enhancements:

• Use AI to compose ambient music or procedural soundscapes
• Tools: Beatoven, Mubert, or prompt-based generation via GPT + DAW

Prompt: “Generate a haunting melody for a fantasy forest level at night. Instrumental only.”

9. Design for Replayability

If your game can be finished in 10 minutes, you can still make it infinitely replayable.

Types of Replayability:

• Procedural Generation: New layouts, items, or enemies each run
• Branching Narratives: Choices matter, outcomes change
• Unlockables: New content after each completion
• Random Events: Keep the experience unpredictable

🎮 Slay the Spire combines deckbuilding with random enemy sequences
🎮 Into the Breach is short but deep due to permutations and tactical challenge
🎮 Loop Hero reinvents loops with unlocks and meta-progress

AI + Replayability Ideas:

• Use GPT to generate new side quests each playthrough
• Let AI craft lore entries or logs from player behavior
• Add GPT-generated dialogue with different tone settings per run

Code Thought Experiment:

What if your ThreeJS dungeon crawler had an AI storyteller narrating each session?

const prompt = `Narrate a dark and eerie dungeon based on these rooms: ${JSON.stringify(roomData)}.`;

10. Playtest Relentlessly

Vibe ≠ guesswork. Your instincts are powerful, but without feedback, you’re building blind.

How to Playtest Without a Big Audience:

• Give your game to 3 friends and watch them play silently
• Ask: Where do they get stuck? What do they skip? What feels pointless?
• Where do they get stuck?
• What do they skip?
• What feels pointless?
• Record screen + voice if you can (Zoom works fine)

Watch for Signs of Bad Flow:

• Excessive pausing
• Confusion about next steps
• Ignoring mechanics you spent days on
• Rage-quitting during tutorials 😅

Use AI to Analyze Player Behavior:

If your game logs basic telemetry like:

{ level: 2, timePlayed: 324, deaths: 5, locationOfDeaths: [x,y,z] }

You can prompt GPT to summarize:

“Analyze this player log. What caused most of their deaths and what might improve their experience?”

You’ll get insights in seconds and this can scale across hundreds of testers.

11. Deploying Web Games and Collecting Data

Your ThreeJS game is done (or at least playable). Time to share it!

Where to Host:

• Netlify – Easy drag-and-drop, deploy in seconds
• Vercel – Great for JS-heavy sites
• Itch.io – Friendly to experimental web games
• GitHub Pages – Free and effective for personal sites

Basic User Tracking Ideas (No Creepy Stuff):

• Time spent on level
• Which levels get abandoned
• Number of retries per area
• Which powerups are chosen most

Use lightweight tools like:

• Plausible for privacy-friendly analytics
• PostHog for more in-depth, open-source product analytics
• Or roll your own with Firebase or Supabase

Conclusion: Trust the Vibes, Learn the Craft

Game design isn’t the opposite of vibe coding. It's what'll give passionate vibe coders an edge. By learning core principles, you’ll:

• Build games that feel good and play well
• Use AI not just for flash, but for smarter design
• Make experiences that players actually finish (and replay!)

Every great designer started messy. Celeste was a Pico-8 jam. Minecraft launched without a tutorial. Flappy Bird barely had art.

You don’t need AAA polish. You need a solid loop, thoughtful flow, juicy feedback, and a little emotion.

Whether you’re sketching out your next WebGL jam or crafting a GPT-enhanced world, your instinct is your engine. Let design be your steering wheel.

Bonus Resources for New AI Game Developers & Vibe Coders

• 🎮 Game Maker’s Toolkit (YouTube) – Smart breakdowns of game mechanics and design
• 📚 Extra Credits – Game Design Series
• 🧠 OpenAI GPTScript – Chain GPT actions in your games
• 💻 ThreeJS Journey – Gold-standard course on mastering ThreeJS
• 🎵 Beatoven.ai – AI-generated music for your game
• 🌐 glitch.com – Great place to host small JS games or experiments
• 🧪 Itch.io Game Jams – Start creating and shipping, vibes-first