Gameplay Loop
What a session of AI World Sim actually feels like — and what the data flow looks like under the hood.
The 30-Second Version
- Log in.
- Look at the world map.
- Read what happened today.
- Optionally leave a suggestion.
- Log out.
- The world keeps going.
That's it. There is no objective. There is no win condition. There is only the world, moving.
A Typical Session
Step 1 — Log In
You open the app. The home screen shows:
- 🕐 Current world time (e.g. "Day 47, 18:32 — early evening")
- 📍 A town map with NPC dots moving around
- 📰 "Today's Highlights" — 3 diary snippets curated by the system
You are not entering a "level" or a "zone". You are dropping into a town that has been living without you.
Step 2 — Look at the World
You zoom in on the town map. Each dot is an NPC. They are currently:
- 🏥 Tom is at the hospital (he works the night shift).
- 🍺 Margaret is at the pub (Friday evening).
- 🏫 Alice is at home (she finished school early).
The dots move in real time (every few seconds). They are not animations — they reflect actual state from the last tick.
Step 3 — Read Diaries
You tap on Margaret. Her latest diary entry:
"It rained all afternoon. I almost didn't go to the pub, but I'm glad I did. Tom wasn't there — apparently he's doing nights at the hospital now. I sat with Eleanor and we talked about her son. She worries about him. I worry about her worrying. Tomorrow I'll go to the market. Need eggs. And maybe flowers."
This was written by an LLM, prompted by Margaret's last 12 hours of simulated activity, filtered through her personality and memory.
Step 4 — Leave a Suggestion (Optional)
You notice Margaret mentions wanting flowers. You tap Suggest and type:
"There's a flower stall near the bakery."
This suggestion is queued. It will be considered by the simulation in the next tick. The world is not obligated to act on it. Margaret may or may not discover the flower stall. The LLM may or may not find it interesting.
Step 5 — Log Out
You close the app. The town map disappears. Margaret continues her evening.
Step 6 — Return Tomorrow
You come back tomorrow. The town has advanced ~24 in-game hours. Margaret's diary entry for today:
"Went to the market. Found a flower stall I never knew about. Bought daisies. Eleanor liked them."
Your suggestion worked — this time.
Data Flow Per Step
What the Player Can and Cannot Do
✅ Can do
- View the world map in real time
- Read any NPC's diary entries (past N days)
- View any location and see who's there
- Search diary text across all NPCs
- Leave suggestions for specific NPCs
- Rewind / scroll back through history
❌ Cannot do
- Control any NPC directly
- Trigger scripted events
- Change the weather
- Skip time
- Reload a "save" — the world is single-timeline
- Talk to NPCs in real time (they are not chatbots)
Session Length
A typical "session" is 5–15 minutes. You read a few diaries, leave a suggestion or two, and close. The world does not punish you for short sessions — in fact, it rewards them, because the world advances while you're gone.
Some players may keep the app open in the background as a "window" — watching dots move on a map for ambient entertainment. That's also valid.
The Anti-Goal
There is no grind. There is no progression system. There is no monetization layer.
If you find yourself wanting "more stuff to do", the project's response is: the world is the stuff. Watch it more carefully. Read older diaries. Find connections. The richness is in the world, not in features layered on top of it.