May 26, 2026
AI built it, comments broke it
What I've Learned (So Far) Building Online Mini Games with Elixir and Swift
Indie game maker cheers AI-built app as commenters roast the missing details
TLDR: A developer says AI helped make a lightweight social arcade app that runs best on Apple devices, not the web. Commenters were split between curiosity and skepticism, questioning the missing technical details, the heavy setup, and a launch hiccup where some game links didn’t even work.
A solo developer showed off Migo Games, a tiny social arcade app for iPhone, Mac, and web, and proudly said modern artificial intelligence did a lot of the coding heavy lifting. The pitch was simple: the app is small, fast, and feels better on phones than in a browser. But the real show started in the comments, where readers immediately shifted from polite curiosity to "okay, but where’s the actual meat?" energy.
One commenter flat-out said they were "expecting a bit more substance," which is the kind of Hacker News side-eye that lands like a slap in a quiet room. Another questioned whether the chosen tools were overkill, basically asking if this was a sleek indie arcade or a guy bringing a bulldozer to plant a flower. There was also a mini-dogpile over the hosting choice, with one reader dragging Fly.io as unreliable and suggesting there were easier options.
Meanwhile, the developer jumped in with a humble warning that the server sits in New Jersey, so European players may get lag — a confession that somehow made the whole project feel more lovable and more chaotic at the same time. Another commenter raised a very relatable gripe: building phone apps can feel painfully slow compared with the instant feedback of the web. Add in the accidental comedy of web game links that didn’t actually let people play, and the vibe became: charming project, big dreams, slightly wobbly launch.
So yes, the app got attention for using AI and aiming for a polished native feel. But the comments made it clear the real battle is still the internet’s favorite sport: builders shipping, and everyone else demanding receipts.
Key Points
- •The article describes Migo Games as a social arcade available on Mac and iOS, with at least one game also playable on the web.
- •AI-assisted coding played a major role in building the project, although the author says understanding the code and overall design remains important.
- •The project uses Elixir and Phoenix on the backend, Swift and SpriteKit on the client, Fly.io for hosting, and Crunchy Bridge for managed Postgres.
- •The author says the game-room model maps directly to Elixir processes, which supports scalability and fault isolation.
- •The article argues that native apps, particularly on iPhone, outperform the web version in responsiveness and user experience, while AI does not solve distribution or user acquisition.