How Cosmic Lounge powers their Puzzle Engine with Layer

Plugging AI into the pipeline

As a studio building puzzle games for long-term play, Cosmic Lounge needed a way to streamline content production without sacrificing creative quality. Their unique and flexible Puzzle Engine, built on Unity, already empowered game designers to create new puzzle mechanics without writing code and also to generate and test game levels using integrated AI models - but art pipelines had several limitations for both ideation and production art.

The team had already been using different integrated gen-AI tools in the past, but none delivered the style control they needed. Layer stood out with powerful custom style training. With Layer embedded into their workflow, designers can now generate 2D game-ready assets on the fly, speeding up both prototyping and production across live games and new titles alike.

“In the past we integrated several different 2D art AIs, but recently switched to Layer because of their superior style training capabilities”

Tomi Huttula, Cosmic Lounge

Layer x Puzzle Engine: From engine to assets

With Layer integrated directly into their Puzzle Engine, Cosmic Lounge has redefined how their team creates and ships game assets. Designers and artists can now generate high-quality, stylized assets at any point in development - whether they’re prototyping a new mechanic, producing core content, or preparing assets for a UA campaign.

What sets this pipeline apart is its seamlessness. There’s no need to leave the engine, no juggling between tools other than the initial style training, and no handoff delays. Custom styles trained on Layer ensure consistency across every asset, while the API connection brings gen-AI directly to the people who need them most - the designers building the games.

Rapid FLUX generations from Layer’s API inside the Puzzle Engine.

In the sections below, we take a closer look at how Cosmic Lounge uses Layer across three critical parts of their workflow: Puzzle Engine integration, production-ready asset creation, and scalable content for live games.

“The biggest factor was Layer’s impressive ability to train different art styles with very few images. We were genuinely surprised by how little data was needed to get high-quality, consistent results.”

Tomi Huttula, Cosmic Lounge

Integrating Layer custom style training into the Puzzle Engine

Cosmic Lounge’s Puzzle Engine is the foundation of their entire approach to game design. Built on Unity but with a unique architecture, the engine’s game logic uses content rather than code. This lets designers test, modify new game mechanics without needing dev support and also update the game without players needing to install a new version of the game.

By integrating Layer’s API directly into the Puzzle Engine, Cosmic Lounge gave designers the ability to generate assets on demand using custom styles from the Layer app. When working on a new piece of content or mechanic, a designer can simply prompt for what they need - like a specific animal or decoration - and Layer returns usable, stylized assets immediately. No need to leave the engine, no switching tools, and no delay.

Using Layer’s API, the team can generate directly inside their custom engine.

The team also trained custom styles using Layer’s FLUX model, tailored specifically to match the art direction of their games. Styles are accessible through the engine’s internal prompt UI, making it easy to maintain visual consistency across content - even when it’s being generated on the fly.

From Prototyping to Production

At Cosmic Lounge, generated assets aren’t just for early-stage testing - they’re already in live games. With Pets & Puzzles the team uses Layer to generate in-game 2D decorations at production quality - stylized, polished, and ready for player purchase in the game.

Custom Layer styles - available inside Cosmic Lounge’s game engine.

Like most of their visual sets, the team trained a custom style in Layer for decorative items, allowing artists to produce consistent content quickly while maintaining a clear visual identity. With the Puzzle Engine wired into Layer’s API, artists and designers can generate, review, and implement assets without disrupting their workflow.

This seamless handoff between prototyping and production makes it easier to test ideas fast, which is always key for a mobile studio. Whether it's placeholder assets that designers can drop in for internal testing or final decorations in the shop, the process stays the same.

Scaling Content for Live Games and UA

With live games to support and new titles in development, Cosmic Lounge needs a steady stream of fresh content - not just for production, but also for effective user acquisition. Their Puzzle Engine allows for fast feature iteration, and now with Layer asset creation is just as quick.

Whether it’s in-game decorations, thematic updates, or visual assets for real minigames used in UA campaigns, Layer helps the team generate high-quality 2D art quickly and reliably. Designers can test new ideas without waiting on custom artwork, and artists can focus on refining the assets that make it into production.

2D generations from Layer directly into UA minigames.

By removing the usual friction from asset pipelines, Cosmic Lounge has built a scalable system - one where new content can be created, tested, and launched rapidly, across both gameplay and marketing channels.

Building into the future

For Cosmic Lounge, Layer isn’t just a tool - it’s now a natural part of their infrastructure and workflows. By integrating Layer directly into the Puzzle Engine, the team essentially embedded a whole suite of leading gen-AI models into the core of how they build, test, and ship games.

This native integration means faster iteration, scalable content pipelines, and a tight feedback loop between design and production. With custom-trained styles and API-driven workflows, Cosmic Lounge has turned Layer into an essential part of their engine - powering everything from early prototypes to polished, player-facing assets.

“We see AI as a force multiplier—not a replacement. It allows our teams to move faster, explore more ideas, and make smarter decisions. But creativity still needs the experience and insight of professional game developers.”

Tomi Huttula, Cosmic Lounge