Google used AI to make a puzzle game that rivals Wordle
Google has just unveiled four new games that its Arts and Culture Lab team has put together using AI. This follows Google launching its Google Bard experiment – a generative AI that it launched to rival Microsoft’s Bing Chat. Bing is powered by OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
The first game (and our favorite of the bunch) is XYZ Toy. You’ll be shown a message made up of AI-generated images of letters. The letters have been crafted from something – it’s your job to work out what they’re made from by typing your guess on your keyboard. We’ve had a play and the answers are quite varied: we’ve faced letters made up of “Eggplant,” “Port” (as in boats rather than the alcoholic beverage), and even “Fossil Fuel.”
Bagel spelled in letters that look like bagels (Image credit: Google)
Just like the classic game Hangman, you’ll know how long the answer is, you can enter letters in any order – though if a letter appears multiple times you’ll only fill in one instance rather than all of them. You can make a few incorrect guesses to deduce the right word. If you’ve been looking for a word-based puzzle game to keep you entertained while you wait for tomorrow’s Wordle, XYZ Toy could be what you’ve been looking for.
Next up is Odd One Out, an art game that challenges you to find the AI-generated impostor hidden among a selection of real art. Each level is a race against the clock and you have four lives total – you lose one for each incorrect guess you make. If you run out of time or lives your run is over.
The music is a little annoying, but the challenge is surprisingly difficult. A hint from us: if an image seems like an abstract take on the prompt it’s probably not AI-made, the generative program isn’t likely to take creative liberties with the suggested output.
Classics reimagined
Then there’s Un-Dough. In this game, you’ll be presented with AI-generated images of well-known landmarks and monuments recreated in colorful dough and you have to guess what they are. You’ll start with a very obscured image that will steadily start to resemble the landmark as you correctly guess the letters in its name – picking one out of four in successive rounds. This game is pretty fun, though it is rather simple – puzzle enthusiasts will find it a bit too easy.
(Image credit: Google)
If you aren’t a fan of puzzles then Google has one last AI experience that could be more your speed. Haiku Imagined combines traditional and modern haiku poems that have been animated using AI-generated music, video, and fonts.
Looking for other ways you can use AI in your day-to-day? Check out our list of ChatGPT examples to see some interesting ways that generative AI have been used.
