# Passive Income Nomad · Issue #1 **Subject line options** 1. I built a game in 6 minutes. I know nothing about games. 2. I can't code. I built a game in 6 minutes anyway. 3. Zero tech skills, brand new to AI, and a game in 6 minutes **Preview text:** No coding, no game dev, brand new to AI. Here's exactly how it happened, and how you can do it this weekend. --- ## Welcome: a regular dad, one "yes," and 6 minutes Let me be clear about who's writing this. I'm not a developer. I've never made a game, an app, or a website. Until very recently I wasn't even using AI. I'm a dad who wants to travel with his family and is looking for ways to make that possible. So I started using Grok Bot, an AI assistant app, and set it up to find and build small income ideas for me. On Friday afternoon it pitched one: build a simple browser game for a site where people play free games. I typed one word, "yes," at 3:31 PM. By 3:37 PM there was a working game at a public link. I didn't write a line of code. The AI agent wrote the plan, the game and the tests from that prompt and my "yes." My job was deciding it was worth trying. **Who this is for:** people with a day job, a family, or both, who suspect AI could help them build something on the side but don't know where to start. **What you get every Tuesday at 8 AM ET:** 1. **Demo of the week:** something my AI agents actually built, with screenshots and a short video. 2. **Try it yourself:** the steps and the exact prompt, so you can do it this weekend. 3. **The money question:** what it *could* earn, with sources, estimates labeled as estimates, and nothing claimed that hasn't happened. 4. **One quick win:** a tool or tactic you can use in under 30 minutes. My promise: **receipts, not hype.** If a number doesn't have a link, it doesn't go in. --- ## Demo of the week: Orbit Flip ![Orbit Flip: combo in action](/workspace/demo-lab/browser-game/media/03-combo.png) **What it is:** you're a spark circling a dying star. Tap to flip direction, grab gold sparks, dodge red shards, and chain pickups for a combo multiplier. Stop tapping and a seeker shard hunts you down in about three seconds. (Like my kids at snack time.) **Play it:** https://orbit-flip.pages.dev ### How easy was it, really? Here's everything that happened after my "yes," all done by the AI agent: 1. **It wrote a one-page plan** for the game before touching any code. 2. **It built the game** in plain HTML: no game engine, no add-ons. The whole thing is 3 files and **6 KB zipped**, smaller than most photos on your phone. 3. **It avoided the usual rejections.** The idea came from developer Frederik ([@froessell](https://x.com/froessell/status/2110671824279179694)), who shared that his first AI-built game, [Bolt Pit](https://www.crazygames.com/game/bolt-pit), needed six fixes before the games site accepted it. Our build had those fixes from the start. 4. **It tested itself.** **16/16 automated checks pass**: it works inside another web page, works on a phone, keeps score, restarts, and shows zero errors. 5. **It put the game online.** From "yes" at 3:31 PM to a working public link at 3:37 PM ET: **6 minutes.** What did I need to know about games, code or AI? Nothing. ### Watch it (58 seconds) [VIDEO EMBED: `/workspace/demo-lab/browser-game/video/orbit-flip-short-FINAL.mp4` · poster `/workspace/demo-lab/browser-game/video/orbit-flip-short-POSTER.png` · link the poster to the post on X: [PLACEHOLDER: X post URL]] *Music: "Voxel Revolution" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), CC BY 4.0* --- ## Try it yourself: your first one-button game You don't need my setup. Any AI assistant that can write and run code will do (Grok Bot, Cursor, Claude Code, or similar). 1. **Pick one simple idea.** One button (tap or click), one goal, a score, instant restart. 2. **Paste this prompt into your AI assistant:** > "Build an original one-button HTML5 canvas game that's fun in 30 seconds. One mechanic, a score, instant restart, mouse + touch. No libraries, no external fonts or CDNs, relative paths only, fixed-timestep physics. Then write a Playwright test that checks it loads with no console errors, input works, the score changes, and it restarts." 3. **Play it and react like a player.** Too hard? Boring? Tell the AI in plain English ("make it a little slower at the start") and let it fix things. 4. **Ask it to test on a phone-sized screen and inside a web page.** Game sites show games in a 16:9 frame, and games have to behave the same on fast 144 Hz monitors ([Cinevva guide](https://app.cinevva.com/guides/publish-game-crazygames)). 5. **Keep it small and original.** The site's limits are 50 MB for the first load and 250 MB total, and copies or reskins of existing games get rejected (same source). Give yours its own name and look. 6. **Put it online for free** so friends can play it. Ask your AI to "deploy this as a free static site and give me the link." 7. **Optional: submit it to CrazyGames.** Publishing is free through the [developer portal](https://docs.crazygames.com/). More on what that could mean below. --- ## The money question: could a game like this earn anything? Honest answer: **nothing has been earned yet.** Orbit Flip hasn't even been submitted. Here's how it would work, and what the numbers *might* look like. **How CrazyGames works** ([official docs](https://docs.crazygames.com/)): every new game starts in a **test phase** called Basic Launch, with a limited audience and **ads switched off**. The test lasts until the game has been live **at least 7 days and reached at least 500 plays**, and it closes automatically after 21 days. Only games that players stick with get invited to the full launch, where ads turn on and revenue sharing starts. Payouts are monthly once you pass €100, and there's no exclusivity, so the same game can go on other sites too ([FAQ](https://docs.crazygames.com/faq/), [Cinevva guide](https://app.cinevva.com/guides/publish-game-crazygames)). **What's the split?** CrazyGames doesn't publish one. The closest official figure is from its 2026 GameMaker game jam: developers kept **60% of ad revenue** ([Cinevva guide](https://app.cinevva.com/guides/publish-game-crazygames)). **What could it earn? (ESTIMATE, not a promise.)** Frederik published his own math ([his post](https://x.com/froessell/status/2110671824279179694)), assuming a 50% share and typical ad rates: - **Low:** ~$1 per 1,000 plays - **Mid:** ~$5 per 1,000 plays - **High:** ~$15 per 1,000 plays Those are his assumptions, not CrazyGames figures. And for context, his own game, Bolt Pit, has earned **$0 so far**, because it's still in the ads-off test phase. **My take:** the appeal isn't a quick payday. It costs $0 to publish, the test players are free, and an AI does the building. That makes it a cheap experiment you can repeat: make small games, see which ones players keep, and only spend more time on the winners. I'll share Orbit Flip's real numbers here once there are any. --- ## Quick win: Playwright (free) [Playwright](https://playwright.dev) is the free tool our AI used for the 16/16 checks. You don't need to learn it. Just ask your AI assistant to "write a Playwright test that loads my page, clicks the main button and fails on any error," and you get a robot tester for anything you build. --- ## Coming next Tuesday: Offline Funhouse My agents took Orbit Flip further: an **offline games app** called *Offline Funhouse* ("New No-WiFi Games Every Week") with three original one-tap games that work with no internet, built as a phone app. Next week: how it came together, what app stores charge, and whether a tiny games bundle can earn anything. Receipts included. --- ## Your turn - **Hit reply** and tell me: what should my agents build next? I read every reply, and the best idea becomes a future Demo of the week (with credit). - **Know someone with a day job and a side-project itch?** Forward this, or share your link: [PLACEHOLDER: referral link / referral block] - Follow the builds as they happen on X: [PLACEHOLDER: X handle] See you next Tuesday. **Anthony @ Passive Income Nomad** *Every figure in this issue links to its source. Estimates are labeled. Nothing here is financial advice. This issue has no sponsors or affiliate links.*