Building Multiplay Games with AI-Powered Development

Building Multiplay Games with AI-Powered Development

Graham M / December 4, 2025

I recently launched Multiplay Games, a real-time multiplayer party games platform featuring 8 different games. What makes this project unique isn't just the technical achievement—it's that I built the entire system using AI-assisted development, leveraging complex prompts, iterative code reviews, and reinforcement learning to create production-ready code without writing a single line by hand.

The Challenge

The core challenge was creating a multiplayer gaming platform that feels truly real-time. Traditional polling approaches create noticeable lag, especially in fast-paced games like QuickDraw. I needed sub-100ms latency, scalable architecture, secure score submission with encryption, and a subscription system.

The AI-Powered Development Approach

Rather than coding manually, I used a systematic AI-assisted workflow:

  1. Complex Prompting: Started with high-level architecture prompts, then progressively refined them through iterations
  2. Code Review: After each AI-generated block, I'd prompt the AI to review for security, performance, edge cases, and type safety
  3. Self-Review: Had the AI review its own work, identify bugs, generate test suites, and suggest improvements
  4. Reinforcement Learning: By iterating on prompts and incorporating feedback, the AI's output improved over time

Technical Architecture

The system uses Supabase Realtime with a hybrid approach:

  • Postgres Changes: For durable state (room settings, scores, game status)
  • Broadcast Channels: For ephemeral, high-frequency data (drawing strokes at 50ms intervals)
  • Presence: For tracking online players and teams
  • Polling Fallback: Ensures reliability if Realtime disconnects

This architecture provides ~50-100ms latency compared to the previous 2000ms polling approach—a 20x improvement.

Performance Gains

| Metric | Before | After | Improvement | |--------|--------|-------|-------------| | Update Latency | 2000ms | ~50-100ms | 20x faster | | Network Requests | 150/min/player | ~5/min/player | 30x fewer | | Data Transfer | Full state every poll | Only deltas | ~10x less |

Security & Features

  • AES-256-GCM encryption for score submissions with key rotation and replay protection
  • Stripe integration for monthly/yearly subscriptions with ad-free rooms
  • Comprehensive REST API for game room management
  • Automatic cleanup via database functions and Vercel Cron jobs

Development Process

  1. Core Infrastructure: Database migrations and API endpoints (all AI-generated)
  2. Real-Time Migration: Migrated from polling to Realtime game-by-game, starting with Wordle, then QuickDraw (most complex), then standard games
  3. Monetization: Added subscription system with AI-generated Stripe integration
  4. Documentation: AI generated comprehensive API docs, setup guides, and code examples

Lessons Learned

What Worked: Iterative prompting, AI code reviews, test generation, and documentation-first approach all produced better results than trying to get everything perfect in one prompt.

Challenges: Still working on making some games feel truly real-time. Prompt engineering required significant iteration, and long conversations needed careful context management.

Why This Matters

This project demonstrates that AI-assisted development can produce production-ready, scalable systems. By combining complex prompting, self-review, reinforcement learning, and proper code review processes, I built a sophisticated multiplayer gaming platform that rivals hand-coded solutions in quality and performance—but in a fraction of the time.

Technologies

  • Next.js 16: React framework with App Router
  • Supabase: PostgreSQL database with Realtime subscriptions
  • Stripe: Payment processing and subscriptions
  • TypeScript: Type-safe development
  • Zustand: State management for complex game state
  • Vercel: Hosting and serverless functions
  • Google AdSense: Ad monetization

Try It Out

Visit grahammakesgames.com to play any of the 8 multiplayer party games. Create a room, share the code with friends, and experience real-time multiplayer gaming.

This project showcases the potential of AI-assisted development when combined with proper engineering practices, iterative refinement, and comprehensive testing. The future of software development isn't about replacing developers—it's about augmenting our capabilities to build better systems faster.