ImagineLab

ImagineLab helps children turn dreams into playable games without any technical skill while learning to design, test, gather feedback, solve problems, and improve their work through playful iteration.

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Inspiration

Kids have amazing imaginations, but many eventually feel that building games or apps is only for people who know how to code. We built ImagineLab to change that. A drawing, a voice prompt, or a simple idea can become a playable game in minutes.

What it does

ImagineLab is an educational mobile and tablet app for elementary-aged children. It helps children turn their ideas and drawings into playable games without coding.

Children can describe a game by speaking and drawing in natural language, then continue refining it through conversation. They can also publish their games and share them with others.

The platform introduces children to a simple software development workflow. They start with an idea, build a prototype, test it, and improve it while exploring different game ideas.

How we built it

We built the mobile app with React Native, TypeScript, Expo, and Expo Router. Generated games run inside an HTML WebView, allowing children to play them instantly.

Our backend is built with Node.js, Fastify, and TypeScript. We use OpenAI's Responses API to power game generation and other AI features.

Challenges we ran into

  • Making sure the games have proper guardrails and don't generate violent content.
  • Designing a backend architecture that supports both the parent portal and the child app while keeping the system responsive.
  • Balancing children's creative freedom with appropriate safety controls.
  • Learning how to write effective prompts for Codex to generate reliable results.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We're proud that the project does more than generate a game from a prompt.

We've always wanted to build an AI studio for kids, and now we've made it a reality.

What we learned

We learned that AI should remove technical barriers without replacing creativity.

We also improved our prompt engineering skills and became much better at vibe coding throughout the project.

Next step

Our next step is to scale the platform and help more children turn their imagination into games they can build, play, and share.

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