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If you enjoy word games, you’re going to like this. If you enjoy word games and you’re fascinated by the idea of a semi-randomly generated narrative that continues “forever”, you’re going to love this! Word Journey is my latest game – and program; and literary effort – that bridges these two aspects together.

The game goal of Word Journey is very simple: You are given the definition of a random word, and you must guess what the word is, gathering points and racing against the clock. But that’s not all! Every time you correctly guess the word, a sentence relevant to the word is added to the stack, generating a theoretically infinite semi-random narrative! When you run out of time (there is also a “Zen Mode”, without time constraints) you can export the text to a file.

Sounds great? I think so too 😉

Word Journey: a Narrative Adventure

The game is easy to play, difficult to master! Though don’t worry; as I said, there is also a “Zen Mode” that allows you to focus on creating your narrative adventure, not worrying about time and points.

How the Game Progresses

The initial game time is 100 seconds, though successful guesses add time to the clock. Before the game begins, you can provide a topic for the round (this is optional). Exact matches return more points, whereas close guesses or guesses based on synonyms are also accepted, but return fewer points. The exact number of points depends on word length.

On some random occasions, point or time bonuses are up for grabs. Answering correctly on such a round returns more points or adds more time to the clock. If you can’t guess a word, you can ask for a hint – costing 3 points or, if you have less than 3 points, 3 seconds – or you can get a new word, taking a 10-second penalty.

Sample Narrative and Gameplay

Would you like a very short narrative sample? Here’s what Word Journey created the last time I played.

We pounded along, stopped, landed soldiers; went on, and the wool of his pate shaved into queer patterns, and three ornamental scars on each of his cheeks. The situation gradually improved.

Yeah, I can notice the fierce battle occurring in his consciousness. An absorbing account of their marriage. I saw the time approaching when I would be desolated if anything should happen to Mr. Kurtz before we came up. A ceremonial sword hung at his side in a gilded scabbard, however… I ought to listen. We wouldn’t have a brother any more, everything was left up to him.

It’s… it’s from someone who died unknown, but was not ambushed. A prying passerby would presume we’re a couple.

And if you’d like to get a visual feel for the game, there you go:

Click to display the embedded YouTube video

Word Journey: Some Technical Details and where to Play

The game relies on the Datamuse API, the Dictionary API, and the RiTa library to retrieve information, synonyms, and other data. Text generation occurs through a combination of context-relevant example sentences and random Markov chains – see this post for more information – using several (randomly picked) texts as sources.

It also sports a global high score system – your best score (and the date it was achieved) can be saved on the server, for the world to see.

You can try Word Journey following this link. For a full list of my available programs, see the relevant page on the main site. Looking for another infinite text generator? Try Rabbit Hole! And if you’d like a word-formation game, you might like Letteract.