Anthony Parente

Block Party - Collect, Combine, Create: We gamify creativity with AI!

Block Party is the first AI-native world building game. The real-world map started off as a blank canvas, but has been transformed into a whole new world. Players have purchased land, collected cards, and combined them to create new places for you to explore.

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Anthony Parente

We built Block Party because we’re gamers who have always wondered what it would be like if a game world were generated by its players. When image models like Dall-E and Flux came out, we experienced the joy of being able to generate any image you could imagine, but we also knew from experience that sitting in front of a Midjourney or ChatGPT text box was paralyzing. We felt that creating with AI could become a lot easier by gamifying it, and building simple and delightful UX around it.


What has really worked for us:

  • Human-Model Interaction: Block Party is the easiest way to interact with an image model leveraging cards and simple modifier switches. Players have control and are able to see out their intended creations, but are able to do so without prompt engineering.

  • Game Item Generation: All game items are generated using AI. This allows us to add 50 new items a week in minutes, not days.

  • Constraints Birth Magic: Players’s outputs are constrained by their inventory and the input modifiers. Players have to navigate a latent space for how the cards work and figure out how to leverage them to get the outputs they are seeking, which has led to some really amazing creation.

  • Variable Rewards: Every time we take an action like opening a drop or creating something new we are excited to see what comes of it. This variable reward makes for a strong game loop.

What we've found difficult:

  • Content Control: Image models have a mind of their own sometimes and we’d be lying if we said there weren’t images generated that were NSFW, contained copyrighted material, or drifted away from our trained art style. Our solution has largely been to rely on user-reported content moderation, but in the future intend to leverage LLM’s to support this.

  • Choosing the Right Art Style and Sticking with It: For the game to feel consistent, we’ve trained a LoRA on an art style to use throughout the game. It’s often tempting to add more art styles, but doing so in a clean way that is coherent with the game is a challenge.

Please give the game a try and let us know what you think!

  • What's working for you?

  • What could be improved?

We'd love to hear your feedback.

GeneralTso

@anthony_parente2 More avatar slots when?

Anthony Parente

@generaltso More avatar slots will be available within the next week!

Will Busch

@anthony_parente2 This is my number one game right now! Awesome community and a next generation mobile game design embracing AI in the best way.

@anthony_parente2 Been playing for a long time and can’t be more satisfied, but you Could enhance the property owning aspect, some rewards for holding property especially in high real estate?

Anthony Parente

@sam_8 totally - we have some plans to reward property ownership in the game!

Leana Rae Concepcion

I LOVE Block Party!

I’ve never played a video game in my life and I am absolutely hooked on this one!!

Collecting has been one of my favorite features of the game.

This community is growing so quickly and it’s been so awesome to see and the Devs are working overtime to add new features as the community grows. Love love love it!!!!!

Anthony Parente

@leanarae Thank you so much Leana! We're glad you are having so much fun playing :)

Brendan

Started playing this game back in January, haven’t put it down since. Between how much fun the game is and the social community that has grown around it, this is easily one of my favorites.

Anthony Parente

@mistyyyyyy We're glad you're enjoying and are happy that you're part of our community!

Justin Dias

This is the greatest mobile game since Clash of Clans, if you aren’t playing you are missing out!!!!

Anthony Parente

@justin_dias Thank you so much for the kind review!

Olivia Kaplan

Love being able to build so many cool things. Runway rivals is also super fun

Anthony Parente

@mrmilkman Runway Rivals is the best hour of the day! Thanks for the kind review

Peter Mills

It's a super fun game for the casual enthusiast. I'm not much of a gamer, but I've really enjoyed the entertainment Block Party provides, and I love the retro-style graphics!

Anthony Parente

@peter_at_quadratic Thank you so much Pete - glad you agree that Block Party is great for the casual enthusiast

Ishmael Samuel
This game is so dope!
Anthony Parente

@ishthedestroyer thanks so much for the kind review!

Keith Chu

I’ve been playing Block Party for a few months now and it’s quickly become my favorite mobile game:

  1. It gets me out of the house and “drop hunting” like no game since Pokémon and Geocaching

  2. It scratches the “collect ‘em all” itch, with new cards being added every Friday

  3. In addition to tucking them away in a digital binder, I can use those cards to make and remix unique buildings/avatars via GenAI

My play style is mostly collecting cards and making realistic avatars, but I appreciate how a diversity of play styles are catered to. You can buy and build up virtual properties around you, making your favorite haunts look (nothing) like their real-world counterparts. You can even engage in PvP, looting rare and valuable cards from others’ under-defended builds—but beware of reprisal!

What really sets this game apart, however, is how involved the developers are with the community. In Discord, the developers are in constant conversation with the players to provide updates and support, admire shared builds/avatars, and solicit feedback on new cards—many of which actually make it into the game every week! This level of engagement by the developers makes it feel like the game is ever-improving because of its community.

I’m a huge fan of Block Party and its developers and I wish them massive success in the future!

Stephen Silber

@catharsis Really appreciate the kind words!

Anthony Parente

@catharsis Thank you SO MUCH for this comprehensive review! We really appreciate your involvement in the community and are so glad that you enjoy the various aspects of Block party that set it out as being unique.

You are absolutely right to point this out:

the game is ever-improving because of its community

We really treasure and value the community's feedback and contributions toward making Block Party great!

Brandon Shin

This game is sick 🔥🔥🔥

Anthony Parente

@bshins Glad you're enjoying!

100ksoph

Block Party is so fun and has got me hooked! I’ve only become more obsessed with it the more I play. I love collecting drops and going on walks but also building anything I could possibly imagine and playing the party games!

Anthony Parente

@100ksoph so glad you enjoy Block Party so much! It's great to hear you're having so much fun

Cody Bruen

I’ve been an avid player of BlockParty since December 2024. Watching the team expand and grow this game into what it is has been astounding, I can’t wait to see what else they have in store in the future for this amazing, technology forward game!

Anthony Parente

@humansimulation_ Thanks so much Cody! We're so glad you've been part of this community for so long and helping us shape the game with your wonderful feedback. I look at your card suggestion thread every day!

Bateman

Have been playing this game since Dec of 24 haven’t put it down since. The community and devs are amazing.

Anthony Parente

@bateman thank you! 🙌

nvs

Congrats on the launch – generative gaming is the future 🚀

Anthony Parente

@nvs thank you! we totally agree

Marie Pacheco

Love love love Block Party, it’s one of the apps on my phone that I consistently check on every single day! Now me and my little dinosaurs go on little walks to hunt for treasures and it’s doesn’t even matter if it’s not a Leggy. Very fun app for this overwhelmed mama!

Anthony Parente

@marie_pacheco thanks so much for this review! We're so glad that you are having a great time going out on drop hunts. The occasional legendary does really make it worthwhile

chanzen

Started playing at the start of june, its all i have been playing. The gameplay loop is so addictive. Always looking forward to the next set of cards coming out

Anthony Parente

@chanzenk Thanks so much Chanzen! Glad you're enjoying 🙌

Fresh Find Friday is the best day of the week!

Julio Watson

Love this game and wish I could collect everything! Multiple ways to play and have loved it ever since I downloaded!

Anthony Parente

@julio_watson Thanks Julio! I hope you can collect all the cards too! Although you may have to pay up with your energy for those Mythics 😉

Bateman
I have been playing since December of 24 and haven’t stopped playing the devs and the community behind it are great can’t wait to see the future of this game.
Anthony Parente

@bateman Thanks so much Bateman! Excited to hear that you are pumped to watch the future of Block party unfold

MqAuNeTeInS

This game is super fun, really helpful for motivating me to get put and walk more. Its fun to put items together and see what it builds. Great for people that like to collect items, and the community is fun and friendly. Best game devs I’ve encountered, theyre active and respond quickly to inquiries and bug reports.

Anthony Parente

@lauren_mather I'm glad Block party motivates you to get up and walk more! Thanks so much for this review :)

Miguel Maneiro

I love the game,

I love the artwork, the cards, the clans, the community and whole idea behind the game. I have been playing for over a month now. I don’t think there’s been a day where I haven’t opened the game. Devs are pretty in-tuned with the community within the discord server as well. There’s consistent tech support and they are constantly making improvements to the overall landscape of the game.

Anthony Parente

@miguel_maneiro we're so glad you've been enjoying playing Block Party! Thanks so much for the glowing review

Dillon Francis
By far one of my favorite growing gaming apps! Can’t wait to keep seeing this app improve!
Anthony Parente

@dillon_francis Thank you so much Dillon!