Pixels, Please started as a small AI-assisted experiment and slowly turned into a weird dystopian design inspection game inspired by retro bureaucracy systems, fast decision-making, and creative worldbuilding.

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Building the World First Made Everything Easier

One thing I learned early was that world building helped guide the gameplay. Creating the “Bureau of Aesthetic Purity,” the lore, ranks, penalties, and absurd design rules made the game feel more cohesive and fun to expand.

Game Specs Helped Reduce Chaos

Starting with clear mechanics made development smoother. Defining the approval/rejection loop, timer system, scoring, and progression early helped avoid random feature creep later on.

Moodboards and References Improved Consistency

Visual references became extremely important. Retro terminal interfaces, monochrome UI systems, old operating systems, and dystopian aesthetics helped maintain a consistent direction throughout the game.

Smaller Prompts Worked Better Than Giant Ones

Large prompts sounded efficient at first, but smaller step-by-step instructions consistently produced cleaner results. Breaking features into tiny tasks made debugging and iteration much easier.

AI Made Prototyping Extremely Fast

AI helped accelerate idea generation, UI writing, fake lore, applicant profiles, dialogue, and visual experimentation. Features that normally would’ve taken days became testable much faster.

Iteration Became the Real Workflow

The game improved the most through constant iteration. Features evolved through repeated adjustments. From dossier logic to marketplace systems, rank progression, and termination mechanics.

The Fun Part Was Treating AI Like a Collaborator

The best results came from treating AI as a creative collaborator instead of expecting one perfect output. The process became less about generating a finished game instantly and more about refining ideas together.