Building a coherent game business with AI-assisted production
Project28 brings game design, visual identity, production, and engineering into one independently built product. The business challenge was to create a recognizable world and a repeatable path from concept to playable experience, without the production structure of a large studio.
The business challenge
A game needs more than striking artwork. Characters, environments, promotional assets, controls, and progression must feel like one product. For a solo builder, the challenge is maintaining that coherence while managing the work required to keep developing and presenting the game.
The design and production system
Carl Brunson designed and engineered Project28 under CRB Labs. A defined visual direction, reusable prompt structure, and asset-specific framing guide AI-assisted art production. Human selection and implementation connect those outputs to the game’s identity and technical constraints. Godot provides the foundation for the playable systems.
Where control belongs
There are two distinct relationships with automation. In production, AI helps create assets while the designer sets direction and decides what belongs in the product. In play, automatic firing reduces input demands so the player can focus on positioning, upgrades, and defenses. The combat automation is game logic—not evidence of a generative-AI player experience.
The business value
A consistent production system connects the game, its store presentation, and its marketing. The aim is to make a small team’s output coherent and maintainable while preserving the decisions that make play meaningful.
Game DesignVisual SystemsBrandEngineering
