Meta is casting around for something to do with artificial intelligence. One of those things is Pocket, a newly launched app that’ll give users basic game design skills. ‘Skills’ is a relative term, of course, since you’ll give the app a prompt and it’ll (hopefully) do the work.
It’s vibe coding but without ever seeing any of the code. It’s not like most of the app’s users would understand it (or want to) anyway. Exactly how useful it’ll be as an experience remains to be seen. Exactly what Meta will eventually charge users for broader access, even more so.
Gizmo in your Pocket
Pocket users aren’t really creating games, as such. They’ll be building what Meta calls gizmos. This is “a small interactive thing you can tap and play with… and you can make a gizmo just by describing it.” It should be possible to create game-like experiences, with enough time and effort, but the point seems to be sharing these creations.
Meta has built a social feed into the new app. Users share what they’ve made on their profiles. Others can like and comment on what was made, adding them to playlists for easy reference and return. You don’t need to share your first attempt, either. There’s an editor that’ll allow for refinements before you ‘deploy’, meaning users can put their best human-computer communication efforts on display.
It’s worth asking what data Pocket is collecting on Meta’s behalf. Gizmos can use a person’s smartphone camera, photographs, and music for their functions. There’s bound to be a way to misuse all of this access. But the app hasn’t secured enough downloads yet for anyone to figure out exactly how.
Pocket is currently completely free. By the lack of noise Meta has made, this could well be a soft launch. Supported devices also seem to be rather restricted right now, so don’t expect to jump in and start playing if you have an older smartphone.
