Text adventures you play with an AI
Free interactive fiction scaffolds that turn Claude, ChatGPT, or any AI chatbot into your personal game master — part text adventure, part one-player tabletop RPG. Load one into your AI as a skill, a custom GPT, or a Gem, and start playing.
The Games
Each game is a structured prompt (a "scaffold") that gives an AI everything it needs to run the game: rules, world details, and a consistent tone — like a rules-light TTRPG module written for an AI game master. Every game page has a downloadable skill and the full text, so you can run it as a skill, build a custom GPT or Gem from it, or paste it straight into a chat. Some games are worlds with multiple scenarios, and new scenarios are added over time.
A Fool's Errand
A warm, silly, Terry Pratchett-lite medieval adventure. You're a peasant farmer declared the Chosen One by a very nearsighted Royal Wizard. Track your HP, Gold, Dignity, and Cheese.
Well-tested Play this game → ⛪Ecclesiastical Politics
Literary historical fiction set inside medieval and early-modern church assemblies — cathedral chapters, councils, and diets. Theology, rhetoric, and political savvy in a world of stone and incense and winter light. A growing collection of scenarios.
Beta Play this game → 👑The Emperor of the United States
A grounded, gently comic adventure in contemporary San Francisco. You've inherited the obligations of Emperor Norton I and have one week to decide what that means.
Beta Play this game → 🗺️New Vinland
An alternate-history world, where Norse colonization took hold of North America in the 10th century. A growing collection of scenarios, starting with mapping the continent's rivers for the Danish crown — but a map is not neutral.
Beta Play this game →How It Works
Pick a game
Browse the games above and open one that sounds fun. Each page explains the setup and what to expect.
Set it up
The smoothest way is a skill: download the .skill file for Claude or Grok and it loads automatically. On ChatGPT or Gemini, you can build a custom GPT or Gem from the text so the rules stay put.
Play
Start a session and the game begins.
FAQ
What is a text game scaffold?
It's a carefully written prompt (sometimes several files) that sets up an AI chatbot to act as a game master. It defines the world, the rules, and the tone so the game stays consistent and fun instead of wandering off course.
Is this like a TTRPG or D&D?
Close cousin. These play like a one-player tabletop RPG where the AI is the game master — you have stats, make choices, face consequences, and can attempt anything your character plausibly could. Crossed with classic interactive fiction: it's all told in prose, turn by turn, in a chat window. No dice, no rulebook, no scheduling four friends.
Can I play these with ChatGPT, Gemini, or Grok?
Yes. The games are written and tested as Claude skills, and Grok supports skills
too, so the .skill download works directly in both. On ChatGPT or
Gemini, the best results come from building a custom GPT or a Gem with the game
text as its instructions — that keeps the rules in place for the whole session.
You can also paste the text straight into any chatbot, but longer multi-file games
may need condensing to fit, and the instructions can drift out of memory in a long
session. Any adaptation is a modified version, and your mileage may vary.
What's a Claude skill?
A Claude skill is a folder containing a main instruction file (and sometimes
supporting reference files) that Claude loads automatically. If you use Claude
(or Grok, which also supports skills), downloading the skill is the smoothest way
to play. On other chatbots, build a custom GPT or Gem from the text instead. The
.skill download is just a ZIP archive with a different extension —
you can open it with any unzip tool to get at the text.
What do "Well-tested" and "Beta" mean?
Well-tested games have been through many full play sessions and their mechanics are smoothed out. Beta games are complete and playable, but newer — they've had fewer run-throughs, so you might hit a rough edge. Beta games graduate once they've earned it.
Is this free?
Yes — all the games here are free to download, copy, remix, and share. The game content is licensed under CC BY 4.0: if you re-share a game substantially based on one of these scaffolds, please link back to this site so others can find the originals.