I've Been Watching Vibe Coding Posts for Months. I Finally Shipped Something Playable

For months, I scrolled through Twitter and LinkedIn, watching developers and indie makers rave about "vibe coding" — the art of using AI assistants to write code based on natural language prompts. I read threads about shipping MVPs in hours, building games without writing a single line of traditional code, and prototyping ideas that would have taken weeks. I was skeptical. Then I tried it. Here's what happened when I finally stopped watching and started shipping. ## What Is Vibe Coding, Really? Vibe coding isn't just asking ChatGPT to write a Python script. It's a workflow where you describe what you want in conversational language, the AI generates the code, you test it, and iterate by tweaking your prompts. The key insight: you don't need to understand every line of generated code. You need to understand the problem and how to guide the AI. I define vibe coding as: *Using an LLM (like Claude, GPT-4, or Gemini) as a pair programmer who writes the boilerplate while you focus on product logic and user experience.* It's not magic. It's a new division of labor. ## My First Real Project: A Playable Game After weeks of overthinking, I decided to build something small but complete: a 2D arcade-style game. My goal was to ship something I could actually share — not just a prototype. ### The Stack I Used - **Claude** (via API) for code generation - **HTML/CSS/JavaScript** for the frontend (no frameworks — kept it simple) - **Local testing** on my browser ### The Process 1. **Prompt 1**: *"Write a simple HTML canvas game where a player controls a spaceship with arrow keys and shoots asteroids. The asteroids spawn randomly from the edges."* 2. **Result**: A working game in 20 seconds. But it was ugly and had no collision detection. 3. **Iteration**: *"Add collision detection between the spaceship and asteroids. If they collide, the game ends. Show a score."* 4. **Result**: Collision worked, but the spaceship moved too fast. I asked: *"Reduce ship speed by half."* 5. **Final polish**: Added sound effects (using Web Audio API), a restart button, and a high-score tracker in localStorage. Total time from zero to playable: 3 hours. And I wrote exactly zero lines of code by hand. I just reviewed, tested, and prompted. ## The Reality Check: What Vibe Coding Does and Doesn't Do | What vibe coding excels at | What vibe coding struggles with | |----------------------------|--------------------------------| | Rapid prototyping | Production-level security | | Simple games and tools | Complex state management | | UI components | Database schema design | | API integrations | Multi-threaded performance | | Proof-of-concept apps | Debugging non-obvious bugs | I learned the hard way that vibe coding is not a replacement for engineering knowledge. When my game had a bug where asteroids would sometimes spawn inside the spaceship, I had to understand the coordinate system to craft a precise fix prompt. You still need to think like a developer — you just type less. ## Concrete Tips from My Experience **1. Start with a tight scope.** Don't build "the next Notion." Build a to-do list. My game was 3 features: movement, shooting, collision. That's it. **2. Test every generated block.** AI code can have logical errors that only appear at runtime. I ran the game after every prompt. **3. Use version control.** I committed after each working iteration. When a prompt broke the game, I rolled back. Git is your safety net. **4. Learn to debug through prompts.** Instead of "fix the bug," describe the symptom: *"When the player reaches 100 points, the game freezes. Check the score logic."* **5. Know when to hand-code.** For the game's restart button, the AI generated a function that didn't reset the score variable correctly. I fixed it manually in 30 seconds. Sometimes it's faster than prompting. ## Who Should Try Vibe Coding? - **Non-technical founders**: You can now build MVPs without hiring a developer for the first iteration. Ship something, test it, then bring in engineers. - **Experienced developers**: You can prototype 10x faster. I now use vibe coding for all my side projects. - **Designers**: You can create interactive prototypes without learning JavaScript deeply. But it's not for everyone. If you need to build a PCI-compliant payment system or a medical device interface, vibe coding is dangerous. The AI doesn't understand compliance. Use it for throwaway prototypes or internal tools. ## The Result: I Shipped The game is live. It's not beautiful, but it works. People played it. I got feedback. I improved it. Six months ago, that would have taken me a week. Now it took an afternoon. ASI Biont supports connecting your vibe-coded projects to real data sources through API integrations — learn more at asibiont.com/courses. ## Final Thoughts Vibe coding is not a threat to developers. It's a new tool. The real skill is knowing what to build and how to guide the AI. Stop watching posts. Ship something ugly. Then make it better. If you've been sitting on an idea, try vibe coding this weekend. Set a timer for 4 hours. Ship one playable thing. You'll learn more than reading a hundred threads.

I've Been Watching Vibe Coding Posts for Months. I Finally Shipped Something Playable

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