GAMES · THE SIGNAL
Tooth for Tooth’s creator says AI helped him rethink combat
Kunchevsky says AI took routine code off his hands and helped him try more versions of the game he had in mind.
Kunchevsky says he reworked Tooth for Tooth’s combat over a few days until it clicked. AI helped him keep trying when the combat wasn’t working.
What Happened
Alex Kunchevsky posted his Tooth for Tooth trailer and says the replies turned into a fight about AI. He answered by walking through the work behind the game, a turn-based brawler where teeth are both health and currency.
The game’s Steam disclosure says generative AI was used alongside human direction and editing. His post gets more specific: he rebuilt mechanics, tried different visual directions and used AI to handle routine programming.
Why It Matters
Kunchevsky says AI took routine programming off his hands so he could focus on game design.
For a small team, that could mean spending more of the day working on combat instead of repetitive code. His post gives another developer something useful to consider: which coding chores could they hand over to make time for design?
Where AI Helped Development
As Alex Kunchevsky describes it
Design / Mechanics
Kunchevsky says AI helped him rework tooth mechanics and builds over a few days, giving him more chances to change combat that wasn’t clicking.
Balance / Simulation
He says he ran millions of simulated fights to explore builds and balance. That covers combinations a developer could spend an age playing through by hand; deciding whether combat feels good is another job.
Art / UI
He kept refining the art, animation and interface. He says AI made it quicker to try different looks before settling on a visual direction.
Code / Automation
Kunchevsky says AI took routine programming off his hands, leaving him more time for game design.
Localization / QA
He describes adding 16 language options, checking saves and fixing bugs. Those jobs reach the player directly: can they read the menus, and will their progress survive the next session?
Build Preparation
AI also helped him prepare versions for multiple platforms, he says. He wanted the different platform versions ready for the same launch date.
Kunchevsky describes his own results here; VEYR has not tested them.
From disclosure to detail.
Steam tells us AI was used. Kunchevsky tells us where it showed up.
