How Google AI Studio Builds an Android App From a Prompt
On Tuesday, when Google showed off AI coding on a Doom-like game, we joked that I should make MOOD — a Doom-like text adventure game called Modern Online Oratory Dungeon. That was all Google needed to start. When I typed "Make me a Doom-like text adventure game called MOOD" into AI Studio, Gemini began typing additional ideas itself, attempting to autocomplete my thought.
From Prompt to Phone in 20 Minutes
Unlike Claude Code, Gemini doesn't make a plan and ask you if you want to proceed. It sprints ahead automatically — though you can inspect the code if you want. One minute later, it already had five design mockups for me. Twenty minutes later, I pressed the Install button to transfer the game to a Pixel 9 phone.
What the AI-Generated Game Actually Looked Like
The writing was terrible, as expected. There were no demons in sight. The entire dungeon consists of just 11 rooms, and you can "win" just by spamming the attack button every single time. You can beat the game in a single minute if you try. Or at least you can now that Gemini helped me fix two showstopper bugs.
The Reality of Vibe Coding: Bugs, Limits, and Upsells
When I told Gemini that the game breaks during a conversation with "The Whistleblower" because the button that ends the conversation is missing, it spit out a new version of the app right away. I pressed Install, the app on my phone restarted itself, and I found myself exactly where I'd left off — only now with the button I needed.
The Calorie Counter That Underestimated Everything
The calorie counter decided the best way to estimate calories in a given quantity of food was to ask the paid Gemini API, and I don't have a paid Gemini API key. When I told it to search for that information in other databases instead, I discovered it vastly understating the number of calories in various kinds of food.
Why Your AI App Might Get the Math Wrong
When I told Gemini there's no way a 16-ounce boba milk tea is just 190 calories, it seemingly did discover the silly error in its own code. It had decided "milk" was a good enough match for "boba milk tea", and chose low-calorie 1 percent milk to make matters worse. Gemini claims it'll match more reliably now.
Can Google AI Studio Make Nintendo Knockoffs?
With great shame, I present to you Super Peach Rescue. It is a terrible program that crashes as soon as its horrific, one-eyed-floating-alien-of-a-Princess-Peach dares to touch a single power-up block, every single time, and Gemini has not yet been able to figure out why. Also, it's impossible to clear the game's second pipe, as Peach simply can't jump that high.
The Daily Limit That Killed My Momentum
Just when I started to enjoy iterating on my apps, trying to make them better, AI Studio informed me I'd reached my daily limit. I'd have to pay or wait for more. So yes, there's still friction, but it's impressive how much you can do. In one morning, my colleague Stevie Bonifield made a personal workout tracker they found good enough to actually use.
Is Vibe Coding Worth It?
At least one of the two games I vibe coded was playable, right away, with no sweat from me — unless you count all the psychic damage I feel knowing how many game developers are out of work these days. To be clear, I'm glad the games I vibe coded are bad. While I might justify building a completely free personalized calorie counter because no on
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