My 10th Steam game is out! Why am I both HAPPY and SAD?

Summary

Code Monkey introduces his tenth Steam release, Cards: Tidy Up!, a relaxing card-sorting game that gradually adds automation and faster-paced play.

Gameplay Highlights

• Players sort roughly 2,000 scattered cards by turning them over, identifying their suit and theme, and placing them in the correct spots on wall boards.
• Trays help players organize and move cards. Upgrades and machines automate parts of the sorting process, while abilities let players collect or throw groups of cards quickly.
• The game starts as a calm tidying experience and becomes more intense as automation builds. Code Monkey says playtests often lasted much longer than expected, and the demo averaged 27 minutes per session.

Why He Made It

• The game began as a demonstration project for Code Monkey’s course on publishing a game on Steam.
• He chose a small-scale tidying game because it was a genre he enjoys and could make a suitable, manageable example.
• The course covers Steam setup and release topics, including store pages, review checklists, builds, demos, discounts, localization, Steam Deck compatibility, Steamworks features, and mod support.
• He also plans to publish two shorter, free videos about Steam publishing and Steam terminology.

How AI Was Used

• Code Monkey used AI to build the game, but says it did not create the finished game on its own. He acted as the designer and creative director, repeatedly playtesting and guiding changes to the mechanics, abilities, visuals, and pacing.
• He estimates the process involved roughly 200–300 prompts. He did not write code himself; the game contains around 40,000 lines of code.
• He found the process enjoyable from a design perspective but personally missed programming. He estimates AI helped him make the game about five times faster than doing it by hand.
• His conclusion is that AI can be a powerful development tool when guided by ongoing human decisions—not a substitute for the designer’s creative input.

His Channel’s Future

Code Monkey says views on his game-development tutorials have declined, particularly since the summer, and he suspects AI may be one factor. Because tutorials also help bring people to his paid courses, falling views could affect his income.

He is unsure whether to keep focusing on programming tutorials, return to making games, or teach topics such as game design, Steam publishing, or AI-assisted workflows. He plans to discuss the channel’s future in a separate video.

Games Mentioned

Cards: Tidy Up!, The Guardians, Kitchen Chaos, and Flappy Bird.