Chatbot Character.AI Launches 2 New Word Games

One thing the Wordle craze has taught us is that a light-hearted brain game can be a welcome change from the monotony of everyday life. Now, an online chat service called Character.AI has combined the user-generated love of word games with a little challenge from an AI-powered competition.

Your favorite AI characters can be your new opponents in the game every day

With so many AI services out there, companies need to find a way to stand out. A startup competing with heavyweights like OpenAI, Character.AI has made a name for itself with its digital characters, allowing you to choose or create your own virtual character to chat with. Now, Character.AI has taken it a step further by adding a word game to its platform.

While Character.AI may be capitalizing on our obsession with games like Wordle and The New York Times' Connections, these games aren't solo projects—they're competitive. Your opponent is an AI character.

At the time of writing, there are two games available on Character.AI's mobile and desktop web apps: Speakeasy and War of Words.

Note : According to TechCrunch's report on the development, only paid subscribers and "a limited group of users on the free plan" will be able to access the game.

Speakeasy

With Speakeasy, you're essentially trying to get the AI ​​chatbot to use a specific word without using five pre-set related words. This is reminiscent of a board game called Taboo, where you might need other players to say "brie" while avoiding the words "cheese", "creamy", "milk", "dairy", and "cow". This challenge is further complicated when the chatbot is role-playing and only communicates in a certain way.

War of Words

War of Words is less comradely, and involves engaging in a verbal sparring match with an AI chatbot. An AI judge will evaluate your arguments with the chatbot and decide the winner of each round. While it's unclear how fair the AI ​​judge will be between humans and AI chatbots, or what the criteria for determining a winner will be, the game can be a useful debating exercise.

Barriers to AI chatbots

The introduction of the game could be Character.AI's strategy to attract subscribers back since the platform removed a slew of copyrighted characters in November 2024. Futurism reported that the company has cited the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) as the motive behind the mass removal of fictional characters.

After users discovered that the platform's beloved Harry Potter characters had disappeared, rumors circulated of a dispute with Warner Bros. Discovery. However, Character.AI did not confirm that any dispute prompted its decision.

This will likely be an ongoing struggle for a platform that supports user-generated content. After all, where there are barriers, there are vulnerabilities. For example, a Character.AI chatbot called 'the boy who lived' survived the initial sweep of 'Harry Potter' characters. Given the massive fandom appeal of immersive AI platforms, it's understandable that users would be frustrated by the new limitations.

While the DMCA-protected name may no longer exist on the platform, it seems there are still other sources of entertainment on Character.AI, including historical figures, bots designed to educate you on specific topics, and now games. Beyond that, we don't know what Character.AI will do next. For example, if the games are successful, the platform may design more and make them free for users.

Jessica Tanner

Update 22 January 2025