ChronoSpark - RPG game inspired on Game of Thrones

Inspiration

Chrono Trigger is one of my favorite videogames. I love how it blends a very rich and deep storytelling with gorgeous graphics, music, and a balance combat system. Before 2025, I only dreamed of creating a videogame. However, with the advent of vibe coding tools, I realized this dream could become true. So, ChronoSpark was born as my first attempt at creating an MVP of an RPG game borrowing elements from Chrono Trigger.

This game was created using AI Prototyping

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What it does

The game is a 2D RPG Game based on the lore of Game of Thrones (GoT). You play a non-GoT character that interacts with characters (e.g. Jon Snow, Children of the Forest, etc.) across four maps: Winterfell Courtyard, Winterfell Crypt, The Godswood, and King's Road. In addition, you are able to engage into combat with other NPCs in a Pokemon-type of dynamic. The objective of the game is multi-faceted as it has different endings (similar to Chrono Trigger), however the most compelling one is revealing the true heritage of Jon Snow. The progress in your objective you have to discuss with different NPCs as well as fighting and gaining experience.

You can play the MVP of ChronoSpark here: https://sunny-sunshine-04ffcd.netlify.app

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How I built it

This game was built using entirely Bolt.new. The process can be broken down into:

Creating PRD via ChatGPT using as inspiration images of Chrono Trigger, and adjusting the PRD manually.
Asked Bolt to outline the implementation approach across different phases using as reference the PRD. In my system prompt, I ask Bolt to always do this approach and don't write code until I mention it explicitly. I validated and updated the different phases proposed by Bolt.
The implementation was divided into 6 different phases, and I followed a process of (a) implement phase/sub-phase N, (b) validate functionality, (c) iterate or fix issues based on user testing (before moving to next stage), (d) evaluate the need to adapt coming phases or create new ones, (e) move to the next phase/sub-phase.
After repeating this process multiple times, the last step was to adapt the storyline to enable multiple endings and create the home screen. ## Challenges we ran into
My initial plan was to replicate Chrono Trigger aesthetics. However, after few iterations, I realized this was not possible by Bolt by using only screenshots as reference. I believe an option would be to create the sprites using 3rd party tools, however due to limited time I had to de-scope the UI and aesthetics of the game.
When expanding to new maps and NPC, Bolt initially hardcoded individual use cases that would trigger a "combat". After realizing this in the implementation plan, I asked Bolt to build a more scalable approach that would solve for N NPCs. The answer was to add a 'combat' field in the json metadata of the NPC dialogue file. ## Accomplishments that we're proud of The game feels like something that could have been released in the 90s, and the storyline follows the actual lore of GoT. The foundational code of ChronoSpark could be use to expand to different lore or additional maps relatively easily.

What I learned

Breaking down the implementation into smaller chunks allows for better control and quicker debugging, as opposed to implementing everything at once. It's important to review the plan and ask for clarification or tell the system to find a different approach before blindly asking it to implement it. Another learning is that screenshots can make it only so far. Besides creating the sprites myself, perhaps another route could be to create a library of components first in Bolt (based on Chrono Trigger's) and then ask to create the RPG by using them.

What's next for ChronoSpark

Expand the storyline to include additional NPCs and political elements. Improve the combat system to make it more dynamic. Add inventory items for more sophistication, including the use of magic.