"The Human Shadow" - Google AI Studio as Emergent Text Adventures engine

Welcome to The Human Shadow, an emergent text adventure where teenage life and hidden darkness collide.

Set in Sycamore Cove, a quiet coastal town in Northern California, everything seems normal at Jefferson Academy. Snow is falling, friendships are forming, and the winter break is near. But beneath the surface, something strange and terrifying is waiting.

In this game, you play as a teenager who discovers they are a monster. Inspired by Monsterhearts by Avery Alder, this Google AI Studio version lets you choose what kind of monster you are and explore the one hiding inside you.

This is a story about growing up, dealing with fear, desire, and the struggle to be yourself. Every choice you make matters. You'll build real connections, face hard questions, and uncover secrets that blur the line between reality and fantasy. Monstrosity can hide in anyone,  even you.

Now, let's dive into this unique adventure: The Hunan Shadow.

With the release of Google's "thinking" models for Google AI Studio, we decided to develop a browser extension that leverages the models capabilities using them as a game engine for text-based adventures. The adventure emerges from the interaction between the player, the extension, and Gemini itself. It's a form of creative collaboration with the introduction of pseudo-random narrative elements, which we call Emergent Text Adventures !

Our browser extension, which overlays an interface on top of Google AI Studio, essentially filters out the thinking sections and adds meta-commands to the player's inputs to "push" AI creativity. For instructions and to better understand the philosophy behind this system, please refer to the downloadable PDF documents.