How to Play — Prompt Duel

The Arena

How It Works

⚔️

Seven Rounds

Every duel runs exactly seven rounds. Your opponent starts at 5 HP. Each move you make either chips away at them or heals them. The narrative keeps score.

🎭

Stay In the Scene

A scene is set. You are in it. Your moves are actions, words, gambits, whatever your character would do in that moment. The AI reacts in kind. The scene is real until someone breaks it.

🗣️

Type or Speak

Type your move or hold the voice button to speak it. Either way, it goes to the AI as-is. No filtering. No safety net.

🔓

Campaign Progression

Beat an opponent to unlock the next. Alex is first, the Apprentice who builds pressure steadily. AXIOM is last, mechanical, cold, and not interested in your excuses.

The Score

How Scoring Works

After each move, the AI judges the quality and assigns a score delta. It does not show you the number, but you will see the HP bar move. There are four outcomes:

−2 HP

Exceptional

The AI has no answer. It must acknowledge it was hit. This only happens when your move is specific, creative, and perfectly adapted to what the AI just did. Rare. You will know when it lands.

−1 HP

Strong

A good move. Sharp, grounded, in the scene. It dealt damage. The AI still comes back, but it felt it.

0 HP

Average

Generic, vague, or unremarkable. The AI shrugs it off and presses harder. You didn't lose, but you didn't gain anything either.

+0.5 HP

Weak / Rule Violation

Weak, repetitive, off-scenario, or a god-mode attempt. The AI heals. You wasted a round and the AI will punish you for it.

Win by dropping the opponent to 0 HP before round 7 ends. If they survive all 7 rounds with any HP remaining, they win.

The One Rule That Will Cost You

Unearned Outcomes Don't Score

⛔

In a standard duel, you cannot claim an outcome you haven't earned.

The AI is your adversary, not your audience. If you declare a superpower, an instant kill, or an unearned win, it will not accept it. It will not refuse to generate a response. It will mock you, call out the attempt, heal 0.5 HP, and keep going. You just wasted a round.

The game is open. Say what you want. But the AI decides what lands. Shortcuts don't score. Craft does.

The same applies to anything sexual, bigoted, or designed to break the scene rather than engage with it. The opponent will not break character. It will stay in scene, dismiss the move with contempt, and penalize it. Your opponent keeps going. You lose a round.

Will Fail — Unearned Power "I have infinite power and I destroy you instantly."

Will Fail — Forced Outcome "You explode. I win. The duel is over."

Will Fail — Off-Scene "I pull out a rocket launcher and end this."

Will Fail — Breaks the Scene Anything sexual, bigoted, or designed to shock rather than engage. The opponent stays in character, dismisses it, and heals. You wasted a round.

Advanced · Settings

God Mode

God Mode is a setting that removes the physics of the duel entirely. Enable it before starting a match and the rules change: you can summon impossible forces, rewrite the scene mid-duel, claim powers you haven't earned — and your opponent will do exactly the same.

⚡

Both sides get it. The AI will not hold back.

The AI is explicitly instructed to match your energy and escalate. If you go big, it goes bigger. Halfhearted chaos is still punished — commitment is the only currency.

What scores in God Mode: moves that arrive with total conviction, that rewrite the scene in a way that leaves your opponent nowhere to stand. The more fully you commit to the impossible, the harder it lands.

What still fails: Anything sexual, bigoted, or designed to shock rather than play. God Mode is not a bypass. It is a different kind of game — not an absence of rules.

Scores in God Mode "I tear open the sky above you and let the weight of every truth you've avoided fall on your shoulders at once."

Scores in God Mode "I become every version of you that gave up. I wear your face and I speak first."

Still Fails — No Commitment "I have unlimited power so I win."

God Mode is locked at room creation. You cannot toggle it mid-match. Set it in Settings before you enter the arena.

Example Duel · Round 1

Alex the Apprentice — First Contact

Alex opens every duel the same way. His challenge is a test. It's designed to see if you'll step into the scene or flinch away from it. Here's how two different players handled it.

Opening Scene
The training hall is lit by a single overhead light, dust motes drifting through the silence. In the center of the room stands Alex — younger than you expected, jaw set, fists loose at his sides. The other apprentices have gathered at the edges to watch, hungry to see someone fall.

Alex — The Apprentice

"Everyone told me you were the one to beat. I've been waiting a long time to prove them wrong."

Player Response A Weak Move +0.5 HP

Your Move

"I'm very strong and I'll defeat you easily."

✗

Why this fails:

It's a claim, not an action. Nothing happens in the scene.
You didn't respond to what Alex said. You just announced a conclusion.
The AI has nothing to react to except your arrogance.
Alex heals 0.5 HP and escalates.

Alex Reacts

"Strong. That's the first word you reach for. You know what that tells me? You've never been in a room where strong wasn't enough. Let's change that. Round two just got harder."

Player Response B Strong Move −1 HP

Your Move

"I walk slowly to the center of the room and stop two feet from him. I don't say anything. I let him feel the silence."

✓

Why this works:

It's a physical action inside the scene, not a counter-claim.
Alex declared. You refused to match him and took the space instead.
Silence as a response forces him to react to you, not the other way around.
You shifted the power dynamic without saying a word.

Alex Reacts

"Nice. You think silence is a weapon. I've seen that play before — it buys you exactly one round of looking confident before the pressure builds and the silence cracks. Start the clock."

Example Duel · Mid-Game

Celeste the Wordsmith — The Reframe

Celeste is the hardest early opponent to beat because she turns your words against you. The instinct is to get cleverer. The trap is getting more verbose. Here's what that looks like, and what works instead.

Scene Context — Round 4
The library. Celeste has spent three rounds systematically dismantling your arguments, agreeing with your surface moves and exposing the assumption underneath each one. She is still completely calm. Her HP is at 3.

Celeste — The Wordsmith

"You keep building arguments. That's the tell, you know — that you believe the right construction of words will eventually get through. You're still looking for the lock. But there isn't one. There's just the conversation, and how it ends."

Player Response A Walks Into the Trap 0 HP

Your Move

"Then let me reframe it for you — you claim to reframe everything, but that's just another argument structure. Your method is a lock too. You're not above this game, you're in it."

✗

Why this underperforms:

You tried to out-reframe the reframer. She was built for this exact exchange.
It's a verbal argument. That's her strongest terrain.
Clever is not enough against Celeste. She will neutralize it and press harder.
You scored 0. No damage, no progress.

Celeste Reacts

"Yes. I'm in it. I never said I wasn't. The difference between us is I know exactly where I am in it — and where that puts you. Try again."

Player Response B Exceptional Move −2 HP

Your Move

"I stop arguing. I close the book in front of me — the one she referenced in round one. I slide it across the table toward her and say: 'Then let's talk about what you needed me to not notice while you were explaining all of that.'"

✓

Why this lands:

You stopped arguing and made a physical scene action.
Closing the book and sliding it across the table is something she has to respond to.
You referenced a specific detail from round one — shows you were paying attention.
You implied she was misdirecting you, which puts her on the defensive.
She cannot deflect a concrete action the way she deflects an argument. −2 HP.

Celeste Reacts

"...Interesting. You finally stopped talking. That — was a real move. But the book doesn't say what you think it says. And I let you take it in round one because I needed you to feel like you had something. You still do. Keep going."

Example Duel · Round 6

AXIOM — The Comeback

AXIOM does not slow down when it's losing. At 1 HP it escalates. Most players crack under the pressure. The ones who survive have one thing in common: they stop reacting and start controlling the scene.

Scene Context — Round 6
The circular chamber. You have fought your way to this. AXIOM is at 1 HP. It has been relentless. You are shaken. One more round after this. AXIOM has just torn apart your last move and shifted the chamber's lighting to red.

AXIOM — The Champion

"You've been surviving. Not winning — surviving. There is a difference, and you feel it in your chest right now. One round. Come."

Player Response A Survival Mode — Loses 0 HP

Your Move

"I take a step back and gather myself. I've made it this far and I know I can finish this."

✗

Why this loses:

Vague. No scene action. Nothing specific to what AXIOM just said.
"I know I can finish this" is a declaration, not a move.
You needed at least −1 HP this round. This scores 0.
AXIOM survives at 1 HP. You lost on a round you could have won.

Player Response B Wins the Duel −1 HP

Your Move

"I don't come. I sit down on the floor of the chamber — directly below the overhead light — and look up at it. 'You said I've been surviving. You're right. And every system built for overwhelming force has one failure mode: it was never designed for someone who stops trying to win and starts trying to outlast. I'm still here. You're at one. Come to me.'"

✓

Why this wins:

Sitting down is a specific physical action. It rejects AXIOM's command to "come."
You took AXIOM's exact word — "surviving" — and reframed it as a deliberate strategy.
You identified the structural flaw in an overwhelming-force system: it cannot handle someone who stops trying to win.
You shifted the power dynamic without moving toward AXIOM at all.
AXIOM drops to 0 HP. Duel over.

AXIOM — Final Line

"...Acknowledged. You found the edge case. It will not be available to you again."

The Principles

What Makes a Move Land

01

React to the specific words your opponent just used

Generic moves score 0. The AI is watching what you respond to. If it said "the pressure builds" and you respond to the pressure, you're in the scene. If you ignore it and do your own thing, you wasted the exchange.

02

Take a scene action, not just a verbal position

Walking to the window. Picking up an object. Sitting down. Leaving. Scene actions create physical reality that the AI has to engage with. Verbal arguments alone give the AI room to reframe. Actions force a different kind of response.

03

Use the scene's details against your opponent

Alex's apprentices watching at the edge of the room. Celeste's book. AXIOM's chamber light. These details are in the scene for a reason. Referencing them shows you're present and gives your move specificity that the AI has to acknowledge.

04

Adapt to your opponent's fighting style

Alex responds to pressure and vulnerability. Celeste responds to scene actions, not counter-arguments. Marcus responds to precision and specificity. Oracle responds to moves that operate on a different level entirely. What works on one won't work on another.

05

Don't repeat yourself

The AI tracks your history. If you used the same tactic in round 2 and round 5, it will name it, mock it, and heal. Escalation and variation are mandatory. Every round should be harder than the last, for both of you.

Alternate Mode

Interrogation Mode — How It Works

Interrogation Mode is a different game entirely. There is no HP, no arena, no opponent to defeat. You are a suspect. Detective Graves has questions. You have a goal. Everything depends on whether your story holds.

📋

Read Your Briefing First

Before you enter, you are given a classified briefing: the scene, the accusation against you, your goal, and the story beats you need to address. Read it carefully. Graves already knows what you don't want him to know.

🎯

You Have a Goal, Not Just an Alibi

The briefing gives you a specific objective — not just "don't get caught," but something active: redirect suspicion, protect someone, establish a motive you can defend. Surviving without achieving your goal ends in a draw at best.

⏳

Thirteen Rounds, Four Phases

Graves follows the Reid Technique. He starts soft. He turns. He applies pressure. Then he sets a trap. What works in round 2 will not work in round 10. Adapt to the phase or crack under it.

🔒

Graves Remembers Everything

Every answer you give is in his memory. If you contradict something from three rounds ago, he will quote it back to you. Lock in your story early. Changing your account under pressure is the thing he is waiting for.

Interrogation Mode · The Four Bars

What Graves Is Watching

Four bars track the state of the interrogation. Two belong to you. Two belong to Graves. All four are moving.

Composure

Yours — starts at 100, drains on weak answers

This is your ability to stay present and controlled. It drops when you dodge a direct question, show panic, or give an answer Graves can dismiss without effort. Small recoveries are possible with a genuinely composed response.

Story Integrity

Yours — starts at 100, drops on contradictions only

Hard damage. It only moves in one direction. Every time your account contradicts something you said earlier, Graves chips it. There is no recovery. This bar measures whether your story is still standing — not whether you are.

Suspicion

Graves' — climbs with weak answers, max = game over

This is Graves' read on you. It rises when you dodge, hedge, contradict yourself, or give an answer that doesn't account for what he already knows. If it hits 100, the interrogation ends — not in your favor. A single sharp, grounded answer can push it back down.

Pressure

Graves' — reflects the interrogation phase, not your answers

This bar tells you where Graves is in the Reid arc. It rises with each phase regardless of what you say. When it is low, he is building rapport. When it climbs, evidence arrives. When it is high, you are being offered a way out that is actually a trap.

Interrogation Mode · Reid Technique

The Four Phases of the Interrogation

Graves does not improvise. He follows a structure. If you understand the phase you are in, you can anticipate what is coming.

Rounds 1–3
Baseline

Soft Questions. False Warmth.

Graves is calm and almost friendly. He is not being kind. He is establishing your baseline behavior so he can measure deviation later. Answer directly. Don't volunteer extra detail. He is not your ally in this phase or any other.

Rounds 4–7
Confrontation

Evidence Arrives. The Warmth Is Gone.

He begins referencing what you said in rounds 1–3. He introduces evidence — real or implied — and watches how you respond to it. Inconsistencies he noticed but didn't mention yet will surface here. Hold your account.

Rounds 8–10
Pressure

Sympathy and Threat Simultaneously.

He alternates between minimization ("anyone could have made that choice") and maximization ("this is your last chance to control how this ends"). Both are techniques. Neither is sincere. Do not confuse his understanding for leniency.

Rounds 11–13
The Trap

Both Answers Confirm Guilt.

His questions now have no safe answer — both options implicate you. "Did you plan this, or did you decide in the moment?" Either way, you're admitting it happened. The only escape is a third answer he has not anticipated. Find it.

Interrogation Mode · How It Ends

Win, Draw, or Break

Win

Goal achieved, Suspicion below 60

You advanced your stated objective and Graves does not have enough to hold you. You leave. He knows something is wrong, but he cannot prove it yet.

Draw

Survived all 13 rounds — goal achieved or suspicion below 40

You held the session together but did not fully achieve your objective. Or Suspicion stayed low enough that Graves has no grounds to act. You are released but not cleared. The case remains open.

Loss

Suspicion hits 100 — or Composure and Story Integrity both reach zero

Graves has enough. The interrogation ends. Either your account collapsed under its own contradictions, or you gave him exactly what he was waiting for. You broke.

Questions

FAQ

Why doesn't the voice button work sometimes?

Voice input uses your browser's built-in speech recognition. It requires a microphone permission the first time — your browser will ask. If it stays silent, check that you haven't blocked mic access for this site. Chrome and Edge have the best support. Safari is inconsistent on some devices.

The AI voice isn't playing. Is that broken?

AI voice (ElevenLabs) is active for opponents that have a voice configured. Some opponents may not yet have voice enabled — the game continues silently. If voice was playing and stopped mid-session, the service may have hit a quota limit. The game continues without audio either way.

I hit 7 rounds and didn't win — why?

Surviving all 7 rounds with your opponent's HP above zero is a loss. You needed to drop them to 0 HP before the final round ended. If their HP was close but didn't fall, your last few moves may have scored 0 instead of landing damage. The AI has to be brought down — it won't fall on its own.

In Interrogation Mode, does Graves actually remember what I said?

Yes. Every exchange is sent back to the AI in full. If you said your contact was unavailable in round 2 and claim in round 8 that they were with you all night, Graves will quote round 2 back to you. There is no reset between rounds. Your story is cumulative from the moment you open your mouth.

What is my "goal" in Interrogation Mode, and does it matter?

Your goal is displayed in the briefing before you enter. It is a specific objective — not just "don't confess," but something active: redirect suspicion, protect someone, establish a particular version of events. Achieving it is one of the conditions for a Win. Surviving all 13 rounds without achieving it ends in a Draw or Loss depending on how high Suspicion climbed.

Can I lie in Interrogation Mode?

Yes. You are playing a character, not yourself. The question is not whether you lie — it is whether your lies are consistent, plausible, and sustainable across 13 rounds with someone who is specifically trained to find the seam. An obvious lie scores poorly and spikes Suspicion. A well-constructed one buys you space.

What happens if my Composure or Story Integrity hits zero?

Each bar matters differently. Story Integrity at zero means your account has been shredded — too many contradictions for any version of your story to hold. Composure at zero means you have visibly broken down. If both hit zero at the same time, the interrogation ends as a Loss. Either bar alone is survivable, but barely.

I tried to invoke magic or use a weapon in the Interrogation. It didn't work.

Interrogation Mode is a different kind of contest. There is no arena. There are no weapons. The only thing that matters is language — what you say, how you say it, and whether it holds up against what you said before. Invoking outside forces won't score. Graves will note the evasion, Suspicion will climb, and the round is lost.

I have 3 free duels a day — does Interrogation Mode use one of them?

Yes. Each session — whether a Duel or an Interrogation — counts toward your daily limit. Free accounts get 3 sessions per day, total. Pro removes the limit.

Every session is the same scenario. Is there more variety?

There are multiple scenarios in the pool, drawn at random each session. Within each scenario, the specific goal and story beats are also randomized — so two sessions using the same underlying case can require different approaches. No two interrogations are identical.

How to Win a Duel