This iPhone game uses AI to build the world and characters around you

Andromeda Mysteries
(Image credit: Future/ iMore)

The Andromeda Mysteries, a new game for iPhone that uses AI in a variety of different ways, has just launched on the App Store today (April 5).

Available for iPhone and iPad, it's a murder mystery game with a sci-fi setting. The Andromeda Mysteries uses a generative AI, similar to ChatGPT to make for what creator Cephalopod Studios calls 'endless play'.

Characters are created on the fly by the game, allowing for a much smoother creation process and making sure that each playthrough is completely different. The idea is to make a game with infinite replayability.

However, developer Matt Waller says that there is a clear ending to each game, so you're not in an endless loop, and you can freely talk to the characters you encounter, creating depth as you go.

Detective AI at your service

The Andromeda Mysteries is now out for the best iPhones, and the game itself is super interesting, using AI to generate the art and scenarios. The character's sprites are all AI generated with different prompts, making sure that you'll never meet the same character more than once.

The story and the mysteries are all AI generated as well, again meaning that each playthrough will be different. It's a text base whodunit with those AI-generated sprites.

It's almost a throwback to the text adventure games of old, such as The Hobbit and Spider and the Web, but updated for 2023. The app is well-made, with an attractive UI and great artwork to help the procedural AI shine and helps to be more believable as you play on your iPhone or iPad.

It's an interesting development and one that might not be all that welcome in game development and art as a whole. If none of the stories are written by a human being, then they might seem slim, and anemic.

Similarly, AI art has a history of lacking a degree of humanity often coming across as cold and unfeeling. It's an interesting idea that allows for a much smaller team to create a game, but it also bodes for an interesting, if slightly concerning future for the production of mobile games.

Tammy Rogers
Senior Staff Writer

As iMore's Senior Staff writer, Tammy uses her background in audio and Masters in screenwriting to pen engaging product reviews and informative buying guides. The resident audiophile (or audio weirdo), she's got an eye for detail and a love of top-quality sound. Apple is her bread and butter, with attention on HomeKit and Apple iPhone and Mac hardware. You won't find her far away from a keyboard even outside of working at iMore – in her spare time, she spends her free time writing feature-length and TV screenplays. Also known to enjoy driving digital cars around virtual circuits, to varying degrees of success. Just don't ask her about AirPods Max - you probably won't like her answer.