How I Built a Simple Telegram Game in 1.5 hours with A.I : 3 Key Learnings for Prototyping

In the age of generative AI, the question isn’t just what we can build—it’s how fast we can bring ideas to life. During my block leave, I set myself a challenge: prototype a simple Telegram game using AI tools like ChatGPT. The goal? Learn how to quickly build something functional, leveraging AI to streamline the process.

The result? A playful game where users decide which country a capybara should travel to, and the bot responds with a custom image of the capybara taking a selfie in that destination, generated using DALL-E. Here's how it looks:

Here’s a step-by-step look at how I built it and what I learned along the way.

The Challenge

The game loop was intentionally simple:

1. The user starts the game.

2. They select a country from a menu.

3. The bot fetches a custom image based on their choice and sends it back.

To make it work, I needed the bot to handle:

• Auto-replies: The bot’s ability to respond dynamically to user inputs.
• Menu options: Persistent commands for an intuitive user experience.
• External API calls: Connecting with DALL-E to generate the images; as a non-visual person and non-designer generating graphics has always been difficult for me. Using DALL-E really saved a lot of troubles.

Key Learnings

1. AI Makes Building Prototypes Accessible

I was amazed at how ChatGPT could generate a working script with multiple functions. A decent prompt is still required though. The prompt I used to generate the initial script was:

I'm writing the Telegram bot-based mini game using https://pypi.org/project/pyTelegramBotAPI/ 

The game loop is:
1. User hits /start command
2. User is presented with 3 options - these are 3 countries suitable for travel
3. User selects an option
4. Send a API call to OpenAI to generate an image with a capybara travelling to the selected country's places of interest.

Write a python program using Flask using https://pypi.org/project/pyTelegramBotAPI/  as the telegram api library
        

I had the foundational code in minutes - the code generated still requires setting up Telegram's bot tokens and OpenAI's API key.

2. Specific Edits Can Be a Bit Tricky

One challenge I faced was making specific changes to the script. While ChatGPT is great at generating new code, editing a specific line in the code generated was challenging. For example:

The line openai.Image.generate should be openai.image.generate

After a few attempts of trying to update the script using prompts, i decided to update the bug manually.

3. Adding Features is Surprisingly Straightforward

As I gained confidence, I decided to enhance the user experience by adding a persistent menu option. With a single line of instruction to ChatGPT:

The start command should be a menu option. Always show the menu option.?         

ChatGPT responded with a new version of the code which included the following new snippet:

bot.set_my_commands([
    telebot.types.BotCommand("start", "Start the game"),
    telebot.types.BotCommand("help", "Get help about the game")
])
        

The bot now offers an intuitive way for players to restart the game or choose a different destination at any time.

What’s Next?

This mini-project proved how generative AI can fast-track prototyping, even for someone like me who no longer code daily. The possibilities are endless—whether you’re building games, tools, or interfaces, AI can be your partner in experimentation and creation.

My next steps include exploring:

? Expanding the game’s mechanics (e.g., adding mini-games or progress tracking).

? Deploying the bot on other platforms, like WhatsApp or a web app.

? Exploring other AI tools that could make building more effecient.

Final Thoughts

Building this Telegram game in just a couple of hours reinforced that with the right tools, prototyping doesn’t have to be intimidating or time-consuming. Whether you’re a seasoned developer or just starting out, leveraging AI can make building your next idea faster and more fun.

Have you tried using AI for building prototypes or tools? Share your experiences or challenges in the comments!

#AI #Telegram #ChatGPT