Before Your First Prompt: Artwork, Story and Pitch With Tony Valcarcel/Makko

The best games don't start with codethey start with a compelling idea. In this session, Tony Valcarcel, co-founder of Makko AI , shares why your artwork, story, and pitch should be validated before you spend your first AI token or write your first line of code.

Helping thousands of game creators refine their concepts and bring projects to market, Tony will walk through a practical framework for defining your game's core fantasy, visual identity, target audience, and unique hook. Attendees will learn how strong concept art, concise game pitches that can dramatically reduce wasted development time while increasing the chances of building a game people actually want to play.

Whether you're a first-time developer or an experienced studio, this talk will help you create a stronger foundation, iterate faster, and ensure every prompt, prototype, and development decision moves your game toward success.

Topics Covered

• Why successful games begin with vision, not code
• Defining your game's core fantasy and player experience
• Creating concept art that communicates your vision
• Building a compelling one-sentence and one-paragraph game pitch
• Validating ideas before investing time or AI compute
• Avoiding common mistakes that lead to abandoned projects
• Turning ideas into an actionable development roadmap
• How AI should accelerate great ideas, not replace them
• Real-world lessons from helping thousands of creators bring games to life with Makko AI