I’m excited to share something lighthearted and experimental: Pong Block, a new WordPress block plugin available on WordPress.org and GitHub. As the name suggests, it brings a playable version of Pong right into your posts and pages, modeled loosely on PongGame.org and the Wikipedia history of Pong.
Try it now!:
Built with Telex
I built Pong Block using Telex from Automattic after hearing about it in Matt Mullenweg’s WCUS 2025 keynote. Compared to my tests with Cursor, Cline, and Copilot, Telex’s scaffolding was refreshingly lean, just enough to be useful without burying me in files or modern build systems. Too often, the modern WordPress plugin tooling world can balloon into layers of complexity. Telex avoided most of that, spitting out something usable and lean that I could quickly shape into a finished plugin.
Why simplicity matters
Block development has gotten powerful, but also heavy. For small creative plugins like adding a Pong game to a site, you don’t always need the full commercial plugin setup. Telex struck a balance: it scaffolded enough to be practical without burying me in unnecessary files or modern build systems.
That simplicity is why I’d recommend Telex to anyone curious about experimenting with block plugin creation. It feels like a fast way to explore an idea and get it live.
Why Pong?
The idea traces back to an August 6th core devchat, where Ben Dwyer asked what block could never be core-worthy. Tammie Lister jokingly said “Pong block.” I decided to run with the idea as a playful benchmark for AI coding tools: could they generate something whimsical, yet usable? Telex was the first to nail it.
What’s next
I plan to keep experimenting. I’d like to test Telex against a few other block plugin concepts and compare results with other AI vibe coding tools. Cline, in particular, has caught my attention thanks to Adam Silverstein’s talk at WCUS 2025.
For now, though, I hope you enjoy Pong Block as a playful example of what’s possible when you mix classic games, WordPress blocks, and a little AI help.
Give it a spin, fork it, or drop me feedback. And if you’ve been curious about Telex, I’d say it’s worth checking out, especially if you’ve been turned off by overly complex AI-generated scaffolds elsewhere.
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