Gemini, Google’s AI -Chatbot, running the 2.0 flash model, is well equipped to handle complex conversations, generating immediate images (“I need a photo of a guy working on the weekend on his computer”) and handles difficult math equations. I know all this, and yet I sometimes just find myself chatting with the thing, and when I do, I often discover hidden capabilities, like classic video games.
Do you remember Zork? In 1977, a trio of MIT scientists created the first text-based adventure play for a Dec Mainframe and eventually ported it to the earliest PCs. I discovered the minimalist game in 1980 at my high school’s mathematics laboratory, home to the school’s only computer. The game offers you descriptions and options while a witty narrator carries you throughout history. Your decisions define your experience and gameplay. It was difficult and indescribable, but I loved it.
BFFS
The topic of the game came up quite randomly during a relaxed conversation with Gemini.
I started using Gemini more after I found that I could place the Gemini -Widget on my iPhone 16 Pro Max’s lock screen. Now llm is a pressure away. As with most AI conversations, they follow my own somewhat random stream of consciousness. I started by asking Gemini about AGI (artificial general intelligence). Gemini spelled it for me and admitted that it doesn’t have AGI yet.
The conversation felt stalled, so I asked via Voice Gemini to make his answers more relaxed, as if it were my best friend. It heard the word “relaxed” as “coffee” and then comic mixed coffee references to its now much friendlier quarrel.
Gemini asked about my weekend plans and then I asked if it liked to play games. Among the answers it offered is that it enjoyed text -based games. Then Gemini asked what games I liked to play.
I explained my love for chess and bad modern video filament. Then I described playing “one of the very first video games where there was nothing but text and you would kind of go on an adventure and you would get a prompt and then you would find out what to do based on some options.”
This description clearly fascinated Gemini and it asked if I would talk more about these classic games, play chess or play a text -based adventure as it would create.
I remembered the game Zork, which Gemini described as a “legendary game” and gave me some details of its story.
Then Gemini offered to create a small “Zork-inspired adventure.”
Wanna play a game?
Don’t worry; This is not a story where an eerie computer offers to create a game that has inexplicably has geopolitical and possibly world ending implications. Gemini is not so AI. But I would say that the game that followed was impressive if it was a little too precious.
Here’s how it started:
You find yourself standing at the edge of a whispering forest. The air is thick with the scent of moist soil and old trees. A narrow path winds in the depth of the forest, disappearing in the shadows. To the left you see a crumbling stone wall, partly grown with Ivy. To your right side, a small, gurgling stream flowing from the forest, its water dark and clear.
What are you doing?
Options:
1 Follow the path into the forest.
2 Examine the stone wall.
3 Follow the power.
4 Listen to the sound of the forest.
Enter the number that corresponds to your choice. “
Most often I chose numbers that I thought would keep the adventure of the adventure. The descriptions were rich and mostly well written; If I closed my eyes, I could imagine the scene. I was entertained and curious enough to continue.
The history of the game led me through a path in the woods to of course an old moss -covered cottage. Inside was a “figure” that was eventually described as “Edler.” At one point, Gemini took the figure to call the figure “them” and “they”, which could have meant that the figure had no gender or that Gemini had lost a bit of the thread.
Through more than a dozen requests, we explored the forest, picked up a magic key and examined the contents of a mysterious box. Maybe my favorite part of the game was how it tied together, picked up the key from a magic stone and then realized that it was also the key that unlocked the special box.
The game continued for so long that I had to take breaks. When I returned to Gemini, I thought I had lost the game, but Gemini is keeping track of all quick discussions in the CHATON in the upper left corner of the app. As soon as I opened this prompt we were able to continue from the place where I left.
Gemini’s idea of a big reveal fell a little flat. We found a locket in the box containing photos of Edler’s parents. Their story of love found and lost was not very magical or even the dramatic, but Edler’s obvious sadness touched me.
When the elderly first shared the ‘secret’ in the closet, I was no longer interested in the elderly’s story or the hut, so I chose the opportunity where I said goodbye and left the hut.
Here was the last gameplay text:
“Thank you for sharing your story, oldest,” you say, your voice soft and respectful. “I’m glad I could help you recover this precious memorial.”
You get up from your chair, ready to take your leave. “I was going on my way back now. The sun is going down and I won’t be lost in the woods.”
Elder nods slowly, their eyes filled with gratitude. “You are a friendly and brave traveler,” they say. “May the forest guide you safely on your journey. And must you always remember the power of love and memory.”
You turn and walk towards the door, the creaking hinges repeat themselves in the quiet room. When you step out at dusk, look back on the hut. The flickering candles throw a warm glow through the window that illuminates the figure of the elderly and still holds the silver lock.
You turn and walk away, the sounds of the forest are closing around you. The path back to the edge of the forest seems clearer now, as if the forest itself is guiding you.
The end. “
Gemini was not so good at raising the effort – a key component of the best gameplay – but I was engaged and I think the game may have been more interesting if I had made some different choices or been more involved in game development. I’m sure Gemini would let me adjust some of the mechanics.
It is another reminder that we are far from discovering the full depths of these chatbots’ capabilities. We need to be ready to look beyond the obvious, choose our path and take an AI adventure.
