Dozenal: Building a Puzzle Game with AI Assistants

A developer built Dozenal, a spatial arithmetic puzzle game where players move tiles on a grid to reach a total of 12, with operations changing based on empty spaces between numbers. The project used a hybrid AI workflow where AI handled logic and layout while humans steered design and refined puzzle sets, though users struggle with mixed arithmetic operations, showing AI cannot solve UX intuitiveness issues.

Dozenal: Building a Puzzle Game with AI Assistants The project is Dozenal, a spatial arithmetic puzzle. The core mechanic is weirdly addictive but potentially frustrating: you move tiles on a grid to hit a total of 12, but the operation add, subtract, multiply changes based on how many empty spaces are between the numbers. For example: 0 spaces: Addition 5 → 4 = 9 1 space: Subtraction 5 → → 4 = 1 2 spaces: Multiplication 5 → → → 4 = 20 From a development perspective, this is a prime example of a modern AI workflow. It wasn't "vibe-coded" where you just pray the LLM gets it right , but rather a hybrid approach. The AI handled the heavy lifting of the logic and layout, while the humans steered the design and refined the puzzle sets. That said, the "human" side of the feedback is where things get messy. The learning curve is steep, and users are struggling with "mixed" arithmetic combining two operations in one move . It proves that while AI can accelerate the deployment of a feature, it can't solve the UX puzzle of whether a mechanic is intuitive to a stranger. If you're into grid-based logic or want to see what a human-AI collab looks like in production, it's a decent case study. https://dozenal.game Next How to Use a 14-Day Decision Loop for Career Pivots → /en/threads/3941/