AI Dungeon

Want to spend too much time trying to play through any semblance of a coherent storyline when the game master is an AI program? If you enjoy the kinds of shenanigans you can get into, then AI dungeon is for you!

What in the World is AI Dungeon?

AI Dungeon is a program that’s constantly being worked on. It allows you to play through an adventure similar to that of a tabletop RPG in which the AI is the game master. There are multiple worlds and scenarios to play through, the computer analyzing your input and trying its darndest to keep the story going.

Its effectiveness varies, however.

What it Does Well

For the most part, AI Dungeon seems good at remembering the scenario at hand and the characters it has conjured up for you to interact with. Due to the sheer insanity of it, the kinds of situations you can find yourself in are endless and often entertaining.

What it Sucks At

In my first game, my buddy John was murdered by his wife. Then the AI changed its mind and he committed suicide in his car. After a while, I wasn’t sure if the AI really was keeping track of its characters and their fates, so I decided to talk to John.

Lo and behold, the AI conjured up John and he was no longer dead! Hallelujah! Yes, he was still married to his wife, who by this point in the game was very sweet and seemed to like me a lot.

I then informed the computer that I was building a rocket and eventually took a trip to the moon. It completely went along with my absurdity.

At the start of one game, I decided arbitrarily that I would like to grow wings, so I did.

What this all means is that the AI isn’t good at telling you that you can’t do something. To bring John back, all I had to do was type, “ask John, ‘Would you like to go fishing?’” and the computer brought him back for me instead of informing me that John was dead and that I’d spent the first several minutes of the game looking for him to confirm that fact.

Example

In this game, I found myself the last of a long line of kings. My father had wasted his fortune to obtain some creature that only lives for a few days. The computer didn’t mind about that, however, presenting me face to face with a man who had an incurable illness, which I then cured because the game isn’t going to tell me ‘no’ if I get creative enough.

To get the story going, I was then informed that the peasants were revolting. Upon asking why, I was told that it was because they were starving and had no bread. A quick search of the castle told me that I, too, was starving and all of the bread I had was moldy.

At this point, the AI got incredibly confused, and I was beginning to wonder if curing my buddy was really a good idea.

In the end, I diverted from where that going by suggesting we look for better lands to grow crops. We headed south and found a nice patch that AI decided wasn’t so nice after all and then I died.

...What?

If you want to play this insane game yourself, just go to its website!