Pic Tower is an iPhone game that uses AI to detect and cut out objects from your photos, then turns them into pieces for a casual stacking game. Create games from everyday photos, play with funny shapes, and share the same photo game with friends using a photo and game code.
Hi Product Hunt 👋
I’m Shoji, an independent iPhone app developer from Japan.
I built Pic Tower because I wanted to make a game where the player’s own photos become the game itself.
Pic Tower uses AI-powered image recognition to detect and cut out objects from a photo, then turns them into pieces for a casual stacking game. A family photo, a pet photo, food, toys, or random things on your desk can all become playable objects.
The part I’m most excited about is sharing:
you can share the same photo game with friends using the photo and a game code, so everyone can play with the same image.
I’d love to hear what kinds of photos you would try first, and any feedback on the idea, onboarding, or gameplay.
Thank you for checking it out!
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Does the AI actually work well on tricky backgrounds like hair or busy scenes, or is it more of a rough cut that needs cleanup?
Pic Tower is built for playful game creation rather than professional photo editing, so tricky areas like hair or busy backgrounds can sometimes result in rougher cutouts.
That said, in many everyday photos the AI works well enough to create fun playable pieces, and the imperfect shapes can actually make the stacking gameplay more interesting.
Pic Tower is free to try, so I’d love for you to test it with your own photos and see how it feels in practice. Feedback would be very welcome!
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how well does the ai actually handle messy backgrounds or weird lighting, like can it cut out my cat from a cluttered room without ending up with a jagged mess around the fur?
Pic Tower is not a professional photo editing tool, so messy backgrounds, weird lighting, or detailed fur can sometimes produce rough edges. A cat in a cluttered room may work well if there is enough contrast, but it can also get jagged in harder cases.
The goal is playful game creation rather than perfect cutouts. Those imperfect shapes can even make the stacking gameplay more funny and unpredictable.
It’s free to try, so I’d love for you to test it with your own cat photos and see how it feels. Feedback from tricky photos would be very helpful.
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Cut a photo of my cat into pieces and the AI actually got the shape right, then I made my roommate try to stack her. Such a weirdly fun loop.
@dorukeylanv38x Thank you so much — this is exactly the kind of experience I hoped Pic Tower would create.
I love that you made your roommate try to stack your cat 😄
For me, the fun part is not just that a photo gets cut out, but that something familiar suddenly becomes a strange little physics challenge. Pets, people, food, toys, or random things in a room can all turn into playable pieces.
And because the same photo game can be shared, it becomes something other people can try too:
same photo, same game, different players.
Really happy to hear it felt weirdly fun — that loop is the core idea of Pic Tower.
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how well does the AI handle messy backgrounds or overlapping objects when cutting out shapes, and is the detection speed fast enough for casual play?
Messy backgrounds and overlapping objects are harder cases, so Pic Tower will not always create perfect cutouts. Sometimes objects may be rough, merged, or missed.
But Pic Tower is a game, not a professional background-removal tool. Those imperfect shapes can actually make the stacking challenge more funny and unpredictable.
As for speed, the detection happens when creating the photo game, not during the stacking gameplay, so it is designed to stay fast enough for casual play.
The goal is not perfect extraction — it is turning everyday photos into quick, playable physics challenges.
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Snapping a pic of my coffee mug and watching it turn into a playable piece still feels kind of magical. The photo sharing code idea is clever too.
@beautropun60773 Thank you so much — “kind of magical” is exactly the feeling I hoped Pic Tower could create.
I wanted everyday objects like a coffee mug, a pet, food, or something on your desk to suddenly become playable game pieces, not just images on a screen.
And yes, the sharing code is a big part of the idea. I wanted people to be able to send or post the same photo game so others can try the exact same challenge.
Same photo, same game, different players.
Really happy you noticed both parts!
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This sounds genuinely fun, especially the part about sharing a game with friends using a code. One thing I'd love to see is a way to save or revisit puzzles I've already played, maybe with a leaderboard showing my best stacking scores. Right now it feels like once you finish a game it might just be gone, and having some history would make me want to keep coming back.
@samikavurmjecp Thank you so much — that’s a really good point.
I agree that Pic Tower should not feel like a one-time experience. Saving and revisiting favorite photo games is an important part of making people want to come back.
I also really like the leaderboard / best-score history idea. Since the same photo game can be shared with friends, comparing scores on the exact same puzzle could make the loop much stronger.
Same photo.
Same game.
Different players.
Different best scores.
I’ll definitely keep this in mind for future updates. Thank you for the thoughtful feedback!
PoemCam
Does the AI actually work well on tricky backgrounds like hair or busy scenes, or is it more of a rough cut that needs cleanup?
PoemCam
@devranzalpkib4 Great question — thank you.
Pic Tower is built for playful game creation rather than professional photo editing, so tricky areas like hair or busy backgrounds can sometimes result in rougher cutouts.
That said, in many everyday photos the AI works well enough to create fun playable pieces, and the imperfect shapes can actually make the stacking gameplay more interesting.
Pic Tower is free to try, so I’d love for you to test it with your own photos and see how it feels in practice. Feedback would be very welcome!
how well does the ai actually handle messy backgrounds or weird lighting, like can it cut out my cat from a cluttered room without ending up with a jagged mess around the fur?
PoemCam
@tlinyiterkwaw That’s a fair question.
Pic Tower is not a professional photo editing tool, so messy backgrounds, weird lighting, or detailed fur can sometimes produce rough edges. A cat in a cluttered room may work well if there is enough contrast, but it can also get jagged in harder cases.
The goal is playful game creation rather than perfect cutouts. Those imperfect shapes can even make the stacking gameplay more funny and unpredictable.
It’s free to try, so I’d love for you to test it with your own cat photos and see how it feels. Feedback from tricky photos would be very helpful.
Cut a photo of my cat into pieces and the AI actually got the shape right, then I made my roommate try to stack her. Such a weirdly fun loop.
PoemCam
@dorukeylanv38x Thank you so much — this is exactly the kind of experience I hoped Pic Tower would create.
I love that you made your roommate try to stack your cat 😄
For me, the fun part is not just that a photo gets cut out, but that something familiar suddenly becomes a strange little physics challenge. Pets, people, food, toys, or random things in a room can all turn into playable pieces.
And because the same photo game can be shared, it becomes something other people can try too:
same photo, same game, different players.
Really happy to hear it felt weirdly fun — that loop is the core idea of Pic Tower.
how well does the AI handle messy backgrounds or overlapping objects when cutting out shapes, and is the detection speed fast enough for casual play?
PoemCam
@filizzenarqihc Great question.
Messy backgrounds and overlapping objects are harder cases, so Pic Tower will not always create perfect cutouts. Sometimes objects may be rough, merged, or missed.
But Pic Tower is a game, not a professional background-removal tool. Those imperfect shapes can actually make the stacking challenge more funny and unpredictable.
As for speed, the detection happens when creating the photo game, not during the stacking gameplay, so it is designed to stay fast enough for casual play.
The goal is not perfect extraction — it is turning everyday photos into quick, playable physics challenges.
Snapping a pic of my coffee mug and watching it turn into a playable piece still feels kind of magical. The photo sharing code idea is clever too.
PoemCam
@beautropun60773 Thank you so much — “kind of magical” is exactly the feeling I hoped Pic Tower could create.
I wanted everyday objects like a coffee mug, a pet, food, or something on your desk to suddenly become playable game pieces, not just images on a screen.
And yes, the sharing code is a big part of the idea. I wanted people to be able to send or post the same photo game so others can try the exact same challenge.
Same photo, same game, different players.
Really happy you noticed both parts!
This sounds genuinely fun, especially the part about sharing a game with friends using a code. One thing I'd love to see is a way to save or revisit puzzles I've already played, maybe with a leaderboard showing my best stacking scores. Right now it feels like once you finish a game it might just be gone, and having some history would make me want to keep coming back.
PoemCam
@samikavurmjecp Thank you so much — that’s a really good point.
I agree that Pic Tower should not feel like a one-time experience. Saving and revisiting favorite photo games is an important part of making people want to come back.
I also really like the leaderboard / best-score history idea. Since the same photo game can be shared with friends, comparing scores on the exact same puzzle could make the loop much stronger.
Same photo.
Same game.
Different players.
Different best scores.
I’ll definitely keep this in mind for future updates. Thank you for the thoughtful feedback!