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I don’t know how to code. So I was delighted this week to discover a new AI service, Windsurf Cascade, that helped me make several little games and apps right after downloading the free software.
- How it works: I draft a prompt explaining to the AI what I’m envisioning. It spits out code I can test, then I ask for revisions. I then publish and share an app.
- Why it matters: Windsurf is the first tool I’ve seen that makes it easy for absolute beginners to code full games and applications without any prior experience. If you’ve ever been curious about coding but intimidated by the complexity, now’s a great time to dive in with AI assistance.
- What you can do: If there’s a game you’d love to make—or a simple application—you might finally be able to do so without professional help. Read on for how it works, what you can do with it, and why I’m so excited about this new service.
Getting started
Download the free Windsurf code editor. Once installed, the software1 lets you chat with an AI assistant in one window, while code shows up in another. The AI guides you through generating code to run new games or apps you make.
How to begin: Chat with it just as you would with ChatGPT or Claude. Windsurf incorporates both top AI models to understand your requests and generate the necessary code.
Your first prompt: Start by telling Windsurf’s AI in a few sentences about the subjects, games or applications of interest to you, asking it for ideas for what you can make.
- Start simple. Consider beginning with the simplest of games—like Tic-Tac-Toe or Hangman. You’ll get a quick feel for the interface.
- Level up a bit. Move on to a trivia or arcade-style game, or a little converter or calculator.
- Make something useful. After you’ve made a couple of quick apps, try customizing a mini application you can use for work or a hobby. Consider making a teaching or learning game. Or an information assistant that looks up policy information in your own documents or spreadsheets. Use it yourself or share it with a friend or colleague.
What the founder says
Varun Mohan, the CEO and co-founder of Codeium, which makes Windsurf, told me in a recent Zoom interview that he was surprised at the surge of interest from non-coders.
“We have a lot of non technical people at the company. Very quickly, once the product was released internally, all of them were spending the entire day building apps instead of doing their job,” he said.
