How to Make Your Own AI Text Adventure Game on Questner

Short answer: go to New game → Custom Adventure, describe your idea to the Game Designer AI, check the opening message, then open Publish, add genres and images, and click Publish. Your game appears in the Questner library for anyone to play.

This guide walks through each step, then covers what makes a game players come back to.

What you need

• A Questner account. New players get 40 free messages, and asking the Game Designer AI for help uses messages from your plan.
• An idea: who the player is, where the story happens and what they want.
• Optional: a preview image and a start image for the game page.

Step 1: Open the game creator

Go to New game and select Custom Adventure (or open Custom Adventure directly). The game creator opens with a text box and a few settings.

There are two ways to build a game:

• Let the Game Designer AI design it. Describe your idea in plain words and it fills in the campaign.
• Write the Game Description yourself.

A mix of both usually works best: let the AI draft, then fix what matters to you.

Step 2: Choose your AI

Open Creator Settings at the bottom of the right-hand panel and pick an AI model from the drop-down. Here you can also add creator instructions to steer style, tone and structure. They apply only to this game.

Step 3: Write the game description

The game description is what the AI Game Master reads to run your game. It starts as a set of cards that cover the core structure. Click > next to a card to see what's inside.

• Browse cards adds cards made by other creators, such as dice-roll systems or NPC memory.
• Switch the toggle to Text to see the whole description as one block.

A new description is mostly empty. Ask the Game Designer AI to fill it in, or write your own details.

Step 4: Add stats (optional)

Stats show values like health, gold or inventory that change during play. To turn them on, expand the Stats section and tick the box. The stats panel holds up to 400 characters, so keep it short.

The AI Game Master also needs instructions for when to update stats. The Game Designer can set this up for you. For example, when we asked it to add stats to a cycling game, it turned on the panel, set starting values and added a Stats card to the description that connects the two.

Step 5: Write the opening (stages)

Every game needs a Stage 1 user message: the opening players see when they start. The Game Designer usually writes it once you describe the game, but you can write your own.

Each stage also has a hidden prompt for behind-the-scenes rules that players don't see. The AI sometimes fills it in; otherwise you can write it yourself.

A good opening drops the player into a situation with a decision to make, rather than a long description of the world.

Step 6: Finishing touches

Set the game title. Then ask the Game Designer AI to check that all cards are in a sensible order. It costs one message, makes the game faster and reduces the chance the AI misses details.

Step 7: Publish

Open the Publish section and:

1. Choose up to two genres.
2. Pick an icon to show next to the title in the sidebar.
3. Write a short description that explains the premise at a glance.
4. Upload a preview image (shown on the game page and in the library) and a start image (shown above the first message). They can be the same.
5. Choose whether to show your name. We recommend showing it.
6. Optional: click Generate post next to the Discord post link to create a thread for your game in the Questner Discord. Players see a button to it while playing.
7. Click Publish.

Your game is now on Questner.

Tips for a game people want to play

• Make the player's role clear. Who are they, and what do they want?
• Give the world one strong hook. A specific premise with real stakes beats a long list of lore.
• Write important rules simply. For example: "NEVER control the player character" and "Always wait for the player's next message". Short, direct rules are followed more reliably than long lists.
• Set the tone and pacing. Say whether the story should be gritty or cozy, fast or slow.
• Let the player fail. Stories without risk feel flat. Stats, rules or tough NPCs create stakes.
• Play it yourself first. Play 20–30 messages and fix what feels off before you publish.

Learn from popular games

The fastest way to learn is to see how successful games are built. Open one, then go to Game Menu → Game Prompt to see its cards. Good ones to study:

• London Life: Realism: a realistic life sim where money is hard to make
• In Character: a guild-ranking fantasy with a twist (break character and the world turns hostile)
• Concrete Jungle: The Bottoms: street life with real consequences
• Life Simulator: Infinite Life: an open-ended life simulator
• Arcane Academic: Reborn: a magic academy story, rated 9.0 by players