Strategy (turn-based)
Turn-Based Strategy With a Competent AI Opponent
Tested with Google AI Studio · produced Cell Wars
The Prompt
Build a turn-based territory strategy game as one self-contained HTML file (inline JS, no libraries). Game: [describe rules precisely, e.g. "7x7 Ataxx-style board: click one of your cells to clone to an adjacent empty cell, or jump 2 cells (the source cell is emptied); all enemy neighbors of the destination convert to your color; board fills = game over; more cells wins"]. The AI opponent is the critical requirement: - Implement opponent as a heuristic scoring function over every legal move: prefer moves that capture the most enemy cells, that increase total mobility (adjacent empty cells), and that avoid leaving a cell vulnerable to immediate recapture. Weight captures > mobility > safety. - Evaluate ALL legal moves every turn (board is small); pick the best with a small random tie-break so games differ. - Add a difficulty switch: Easy = random legal move, Normal = heuristic, Hard = heuristic + 1-ply lookahead that maximizes (my gain - your best reply gain). - Move times must be under 100ms; no blocking the UI thread noticeably. UI: click/tap to move; last-move highlight; simple animated capture flips; score bar; win/lose overlay with restart; difficulty selector on the start screen. 960x540 letterboxed, responsive, touch-first. After the code, print the opponent evaluation function and explain each weight in one line.
What This Prompt Produces
Explicit heuristic weights ("captures > mobility > safety") are what make the AI stop playing randomly. Cell Wars was generated from this prompt on Gemini 3 in Google AI Studio.
Modification Tips
- Give exact rules — strategy AI is only as good as the rule text you provide.
- If the AI plays too defensively, follow up with: "Double the capture weight and re-test."
- Ask for the evaluation function separately; you will want to hand-tune those weights after a few matches.
- Swap "captures > mobility > safety" for actual weights (3 / 1 / 1) when you want a specific feel — Gemini 3 maps exact numbers onto the heuristic cleanly.
The Game This Prompt Produced
Want to try it? Open Google AI Studio, paste the prompt, and you'll have a playable game in minutes. When you're happy with the result, submit it to Daily AI Games.