Claude Design vs Lovable vs Base44: I Tested Which AI Tool Creates the Best Game

Artificial intelligence (AI) has come a long way from generative AI chatbots. Now, we have autonomous AI agents that can think and complete tasks on your behalf, AI assistants that can produce a variety of content apart from just text, and vibe coding that allows anyone to create software without writing a single line of code.

We have talked about autonomous AI agents, the capabilities of different AI assistants, and how you can vibe code apps focusing on productivity boosts. Hence, we decided to do something different, something more fun and refreshing. The question we had was what fun and refreshing thing can we do using AI?

Then, finally, we got an idea. Why not make something fun and refreshing for ourselves? What could be more fun and refreshing than a game? So, in this article, we will compare different vibe coding tools to see which one can actually vibe code the best game.

What will we do, with what tools, and how?

We will use and compare Claude Design, Lovable, and Base44 to see which of these three can create the best endless running game like Subway Surfers and Temple Run. We will give the same prompt to all three tools and refine the output if needed, and if we have credits left. We will use the free version and avoid editing.

Prompt:

Build a professional-grade 3D endless runner game called "The Eternal Sprint," a vibrant, polished experience inspired by Subway Surfers and Temple Run, but with a unique seasonal evolution mechanic. The game must run smoothly in the browser using Three.js for 3D rendering and standard web technologies (HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript). No external assets generate all geometry, materials, and animations procedurally.
  
CORE GAMEPLAY
- Third-person endless runner with three-lane swipe/keyboard controls (A/D or ←/→ to switch lanes, W/↑ to jump, S/↓ to slide/roll, Space to use power-up).
- The character runs forward automatically along an infinite, procedurally generated track.
- Smooth camera follow, with subtle motion blur and screen shake on impact.
- The world should be richly populated: floating islands, ancient ruins, modern cityscapes, mystical forests. Pick a fusion theme that mixes adventure and fantasy.

  CHARACTER SELECTION (4 unlockable runners)
1. Aria: Agile parkour explorer (default, balanced stats).
2. Diya: Cyber-ninja with a slight speed boost.
3. Tori: Mystic sorceress with a longer power-up duration.
4. Nishant: Rugged adventurer with one extra heart per run.
Each character has distinct colors, silhouettes, and a unique idle/run animation cycle. Lock the last three behind coin thresholds (100/200/300).

  SEASON & YEAR PROGRESSION (the signature mechanic)
The world cycles through five seasons that change every 1,000 points within a year. After Winter ends, the year increments, and the difficulty scales up.
- Spring (0–1,000): Cherry blossoms drift, soft pinks/greens, gentle pace, friendly tutorial-feel obstacles.
- Summer (1,001–2,000): Golden sunlight, palm trees, beach ruins, faster speed, more coins.
- Monsoon (2,001–3,000): Rain particles, lightning flashes, slick surfaces that affect slide distance, dramatic blue-grey palette.
- Autumn (3,001–4,000): Falling orange/red leaves, harvest-themed obstacles, swirling wind currents that nudge the runner.
- Winter (4,001–5,000): Snow accumulation, breath fog, icy lanes that reduce traction briefly, aurora in the sky.
- Year transition: Cinematic 2-second flash with "YEAR 2 BEGINS" overlay. Each new year adds +15% base speed, +1 obstacle type, and unlocks rarer power-ups. Display "Year X · Season" prominently in the HUD.

  POWER-UPS (spawn randomly, glowing orbs above the track)
- Magnet (golden): Pulls all coins for 10 seconds.
- Shield (blue): Survives one collision.
- Jet Boots (orange): Flies above obstacles for 10 seconds.
- Time Slow (purple): Slows the world to 50% for 5 seconds
- Coin Shower (green, rare): triples coin spawn for 10 seconds
- Phantom (pink, Year 3+): Pass through obstacles for 10 seconds

OBSTACLES (scale per season & year)
Trains, rolling boulders, falling branches, lightning strikes (monsoon), ice walls (winter), spike pits, swinging logs, hovering drones (Year 2+), laser gates (Year 3+). Mix jump, slide, and lane-switch obstacles so no single move is enough.

  HUD & UI
- Top-left: Animated coin counter with a satisfying tick-up.
- Top-center: Year + Season indicator with a small icon.
- Top-right: Distance score and high score.
- Bottom-center: active power-up timer ring.
- Vibrant, slightly cartoony color palette with bloom and ambient occlusion. Use post-processing for that "premium mobile game" sheen.
- Polished start screen with character carousel, settings, and "Tap to Run" pulse.
- Game-over screen showing run summary: distance, coins, year reached, best season streak, with a single "Run Again" CTA.

  AUDIO
Generate procedural sound: footsteps that change pitch per season (crunchy in winter, splashy in monsoon), coin chime, power-up whoosh, season-transition sting, and an upbeat looping music bed using the Web Audio API.

  DIFFICULTY CURVE
Year 1 should feel breezy and inviting. By Year 3, the game should be genuinely challenging, with faster speed, denser obstacles, and narrower power-up windows. By Year 5+, it should be brutal. Coin rewards scale with difficulty, so high-skill runs feel earned.

  POLISH REQUIREMENTS
Save high score, coins, and unlocked characters to local storage. Add a subtle screen vignette during power-ups. Animate the season transitions with particle bursts. Make sure controls feel snappy. Input lag is a dealbreaker.

  Deliverable: A single playable build I can run in the browser. Prioritize feel and polish over feature bloat. Every system above must work cleanly before adding extras.

Claude Design vs Lovable vs Base44: Which AI can build the best game?

Claude Design:

Claude Design by Anthropic, powered by Claude AI models. It is currently available in research preview for Claude Pro, Max, Team, and Enterprise subscribers. Its standout features include custom adjustment sliders that Claude generates on the fly, inline element commenting, web capture, design-system import from your codebase, and export to Canva, PDF, PPTX, or standalone HTML files.

Output:

It took Claude Design about 5 minutes and 30 seconds to create the game. Overall, it worked decently and smoothly. There were power-ups, and the season changed as I asked. You could certainly improve the graphics and add more features if you decide to go with Claude Design.

Lovable:_*

Lovable is a full-stack AI app builder. The platform is an AI app builder that turns a natural-language prompt into a live, full-stack application using Claude as the underlying language model for the core build engine. It can ship a working application with a React frontend, a Supabase backend (database, authentication, file storage), and one-click deployment via Lovable Cloud.

Output:

It took Lovable about 7 minutes and 30 seconds to create the game, and I really liked the output. In my opinion, it was better than that of Claude Design. While yes, improvements could be made and the game could be better, for a one-prompt-and-done outcome, it was amazing and truly felt challenging.

Base44:_*

Base44 has been acquired by Wix as an all-in-one AI app builder. Base44 supports multiple AI models, and you can select your preferred model or use the Default option, which automatically selects the best model for each task. Its standout feature is that it is an all-in-one stack with UI, database, auth, and hosting all within Base44.

Output:

It took Base44 about 6 minutes and 35 seconds to create the game, and I am disappointed. There were no cool avatars, power-ups didn't work, and after running for a few seconds, the obstacles just disappeared. I had high hopes with Base44, but the output didn't live up to my expectations.

In Conclusion:

If you want to vibe code a game, I would recommend you either Claude Design or Lovable. While Base44 is amazing for generating web apps and websites, it is not as good for vibe coding video games. Lovable surprised me and was shockingly the best AI vibe coding tool for creating games, but a lot of improvements are still needed. Claude Design, in my opinion, created the best working prototype where everything worked as expected. If you want to do something fun with AI and refresh your mind, create a game and enjoy.

_{*Affiliate: We do make a small profit from the sales of this AI product through affiliate marketing.}