Character.AI levels up its chatbots with new games

(Image credit: Character AI)

Character.AI, the chatbot for conversing with different AI characters, is offering a new activity for those looking to do more than just talk to its virtual personalities. The platform is testing games on its website and mobile app in case you want to play word games with Shakespeare and not just discuss sonnets. Subscribers and a growing number of free users can now play the initial two games, though if they go over well, more will likely be added.

The two games are Speakeasy and War of Words. Both are designed to turn your friendly AI chats into competitive battles of wit and wordplay. In Speakeasy, the goal is to trick your chatbot into saying a specific word without using five banned words. Picture trying to make it say “croissant” without mentioning butter, French, or flaky. It’s part strategy and part luck. Meanwhile, War of Words pits you in a verbal duel against your chosen character, with an impartial AI referee deciding who delivers the better arguments over five rounds. Think rap battles, but make it nerdy.

To keep things neat, Character.AI prompts you to start a new chat for these games so your previous conversations with your favorite bot stay untainted. This means your deep philosophical discussion with the AI version of Aristotle won’t be interrupted by the aftermath of losing a word battle to AI Napoleon. Just remember, most of your favorite copyrighted and trademarked characters aren't around to play with anymore.

AI gamemasters

The aim of the new games appears to be for Character.AI to bill itself as more of an entertainment hub and not just a home for chatbots. Users have already created games of their own, including text-based adventures and chess. Designing its own games gives the company more control and an opportunity to exploit its deeper knowledge of what the AI chatbots can do.

Adding AI games might seem like a small step, but they point to where AI chatbot hubs may go in the future as people get over the initial wonder of basic interactions and look for something more engaging to do with them. Competitive wordplay with AI is much more enticing than just making small talk.

The addition of games might also serve as a subtle shift in the conversation around Character.AI after the company felt compelled to release multiple rounds of new safety features. These safety features were mainly aimed at children, after the platform faced accusations that the AI chatbots were negatively impacting teenager's mental health. Instead of ersatz romance, people can now try to beat an AI in War of Words.

Eric Hal Schwartz is a freelance writer for TechRadar with more than 15 years of experience covering the intersection of the world and technology. For the last five years, he served as head writer for Voicebot.ai and was on the leading edge of reporting on generative AI and large language models. He's since become an expert on the products of generative AI models, such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Anthropic’s Claude, Google Gemini, and every other synthetic media tool. His experience runs the gamut of media, including print, digital, broadcast, and live events. Now, he's continuing to tell the stories people want and need to hear about the rapidly evolving AI space and its impact on their lives. Eric is based in New York City.