Do not index
Do not index
The App store is filled with apps and games that started as passion projects but didn’t make any money.
Even I started a game, raised $500,000 and then shut it down.
GAMES ARE TOUGH.
Let me tell you a wild story about an AI-created game that just hit 80 MILLION impressions and made $70k+ in DAYS...
Let’s dive in.
Bring your popcorn 🍿
The setup
A few weeks ago, Pieter Levels (@levelsio) had a simple idea:
"What if I create a game without writing a single line of code myself?"
The experiment was simple:
- Use Cursor AI to write ALL the code
- Only use prompts to guide it
- Ship whatever comes out, good or bad
The result — A super basic flying game called "Plane Fly"
What happened next 📈
Hate it or love it, but the internet is a CRAZY place.
Things escalated QUICKLY:
Day 1: Basic flying game launches
Day 3: Multiplayer added
Day 7: Monetization added
Day 10: 30,000+ players in a SINGLE DAY (it takes months for others)
Day 17: $1,000,000 in ARR
Let that sink in.
A game created entirely by AI, with minimal human input, generated more revenue in a week than most indie games do in their lifetime.
How?
$5k/month in-game ads + in-app purchases.
And if you think this was the best part - read ahead 👇🏻
The backlash that followed
Game developers LOST THEIR MINDS:
- "This game is terrible!"
- "It has no gameplay!"
- "How is this making money?!"
- "This is the death of game development!"
And honestly? The critics weren't wrong.
The game IS objectively bad.
But these comments reek of privilege, monopoly, and resistance to change.
The real lesson for YOU
Here's what everyone's missing:
A game doesn't make money because it's good.
It makes money because of the STORY behind it.
The 10 best games each year make money because of quality.
The other 99.9% make money (if they do) because of storytelling.
Pieter didn't just create a game - he created a narrative:
- "I'm building this live"
- "I'm not even coding it"
- "Look how fast AI works”
- "I'm making money while I sleep"
It’s curiosity, aspiration, and excitement all packaged into one.
And if you look closely, you will notice a pattern.
Elon Musk does the same exact thing with Tesla, SpaceX, and everything else.
→ Create a compelling narrative.
→ Repeat it endlessly.
→ Watch as the story becomes reality.
A well-told story turns into truth through repetition.
What this means for you 👇
This whole episode brings out A LOT of ideas and lessons for builders and makers. Here are all of them:
- Skills are changing
Coding is becoming less important, prompting and storytelling more important.
- Distribution > Product
A "meh" product with great distribution beats an amazing product nobody sees
- Be the documentary
Don't just build - document the journey publicly
- Speed > Perfection
Ship fast, tell the story, iterate based on real feedback
- Haters validate success
No one hates products nobody uses. Every successful product has haters.
The bottom line
The game will fade. The trend won't.
"AI-created games" is just the beginning.
Soon we'll see "AI-created businesses."
The question isn't "Will AI take your job?"
It's "Will you use AI to create a compelling story that people want to be part of?"
Hit reply and tell me - are you ACTIVELY integrating AI into your life and business? 👇🏻
The most important question
Did I like playing the game?
Well not really. I like flying games, but I prefer them to be more realistic 😉
I’ll catch you next week!
Keep building
Tibo 💻
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