Arcana Academy
Arcana Academy is an AI-powered mystery game that uses Gemini's 1M-token context window to create NPCs with genuine persistent memory.
Core trick
Sends full raw conversation history into every Gemini call and scores player messages on four bond dimensions instead of using RAG.
Tags
Description
Arcana Academy is an AI-powered mystery game that uses Gemini's 1M-token context window to create NPCs with genuine persistent memory. You have 5 days to build bonds with three students — each hiding a secret — before facing a dramatic courtroom Tribunal where your fate depends entirely on the relationships you've built.
Unlike existing AI NPC systems (Inworld, GoodAI) that rely on vector databases, RAG pipelines, and chunked memory summaries, we pass the entire raw conversation history into every Gemini call — no information loss, no memory infrastructure. Each player message is evaluated across 4 dimensions (empathy, curiosity, humor, vulnerability) using a dynamic bond evaluator, and NPCs react through 5 cognitive biases (recency, peak-end, negativity, first impression, reciprocity) for human-like emotional responses.
README excerpt
# Arcana Academy > **A Gemini Long-Context Experience** — Where every word is remembered, and every silence has consequences. Arcana Academy is an AI-powered mystery game that leverages **Gemini's 1M-token context window** to create NPCs with genuine memory, evolving emotions, and player-reactive storytelling. Built for the Gemini API Developer Competition. ## The Game You arrive at a sinister boarding school on a fog-covered island. You have **5 days** (3 time slots each) to build bonds with three students — each hiding a dangerous secret. On Day 5, you face the **Tribunal**: a courtroom scene where the Headmaster puts you on trial, and only the relationships you've built can save you. ### Characters - **Kaelen** *(The Chariot)* — A former sprinter hiding a stolen stopwatch under his mattress - **Elara** *(The Priestess)* — The perfect Head Prefect who secretly authored a rebel manifesto - **Jax** *(The Hermit)* — A paranoid hacker who caused a 10-minute surveillance blackout ## What Makes This Different ### No Memory Infrastructure — Just Context Most AI NPC systems (Inworld, GoodAI) build complex memory pipelines: vector databases, episodic memory modules, chunked summaries. We took the opposite approach: **pass the entire raw conversation history in every Gemini call**. No RAG. No vector DB. No summarization. The model reasons over everything. ### Dynamic Bond Evaluator Every player message is evaluated across **4 dimensions** (empathy, curiosity, humor, vulnerabi