Classic text adventures have always held a certain magic, allowing us to step into new worlds through words.

Today, the landscape of interactive fiction is being transformed by the capabilities of advanced AI models. A game powered by a large-context AI can become more than a series of pre-written paths; it can be a dynamic, responsive world that truly listens.

This new approach allows a game to hold an entire classic novel, like Frances Hodgson Burnett’s The Secret Garden, as its core knowledge.

The AI can honor that source text by weaving its themes and tone into every description. It can quote or generate journal entries that feel authentic to the characters, create unique storylines for every player, and build systems that were previously impossible. Imagine a digital garden whose health is not a simple status, but a complex simulation of soil, water, and biodiversity. Imagine a game world tied to our own clock, where in-game holidays align with real-world dates, and where the story progresses even when you’re away.

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“The Secret Garden — Renewal” ‘Aidventure’ is an exploration of these possibilities. It uses a highly detailed prompt to guide the AI, creating a persistent and deeply interactive version of the beloved classic.

It works best in Google GEMini, using PRO, at present, due to its large context window.
These LLMs are improving, so the prompt (although hefty) as long as it’s well-structured.

Below is a brief outline of’ The Secret Garden — Renewal’ core features…..

A World That Breathes…

• Persistent World State: The game is designed to be a continuous session as chat conversation. The world remembers every interaction and change you make.

• Story & Sandbox Modes: Progress through a main narrative centered on healing the garden and its family. Upon completion, the game seamlessly transitions into an open-ended “sandbox” mode focused on nurturing the entire estate.

• Dynamic Seasons & Time: The seasons change based on both in-game time and major story milestones, affecting the garden, the moors, and character behaviors.

• Real-World Integration: The game recognizes real-world holidays (Christmas, Eastertide, etc.) and even the player’s birthday, triggering special events and conversations.

• Dynamic World Events: Unpredictable events, from fierce storms to the arrival of carol singers, can occur, temporarily changing the atmosphere and goals within the manor.

• Rumor & Discovery System: Overhear whispers and rumors from the staff, which you can then investigate to uncover the manor’s secrets.

Deep Character Simulation…

• Advanced NPC Memory: Characters remember your promises, the secrets you share, and their impressions of you evolve from “spoiled” to “kind” based on your actions.

• NPC Schedules & Goals: The residents of Misselthwaite have their own routines and dynamic goals that change as the story progresses. They don’t simply wait for the player to appear.

• Dynamic NPC-to-NPC Relationships: The relationships between characters are not static. NPCs’ opinions of each other change over time based on the player’s actions, mediations, and shared experiences.

• Unique Character Mechanics: Key characters have bespoke systems. Colin’s state is measured by a balance of Trust, Curiosity, and Temper, while befriending the master’s anxious dog, Maya, is a multi-stage process.

An Evolving Garden…

• Regenerative Principles: The core gardening mechanic is based on regenerative, “no-dig” principles. Success comes from improving soil health, biodiversity, and the symbiotic relationships between plants.

• Granular Garden Health: The garden is not a single entity. It is composed of multiple zones, each with its own health status and needs.

• Food Forest System: An ultimate goal is to evolve the garden into a self-sustaining “food forest,” a major achievement that permanently changes the garden’s output and the characters’ admiration for your work.

A Personal Journey…

• Player Personalization: The game can incorporate a player’s real-world location to create unique conversations. Dickon might ask if the birds from your home are different from his Yorkshire robins.

• Immersive Tools: The player can read reflective, first-person journal entries to enhance any scene, or generate AI-created images of scenes, or sketches, creating a personal, illustrated diary of their journey inside the chat.

• The Time-Skip Mechanic: If you return to the game/chat after a long real-world absence (e.g., three months), you will find that years have passed in-game. You will be greeted with a “Legacy Report” detailing how the characters aged and how the world evolved in your absence.

I hope you will try the text / audio game and see if you can renew more than just the garden, and perhaps, find your own ‘magical’ key….

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About the Game: An ‘Aidventure’ was created by Ade M. Campbell (Ade’s Press) and realized using Google’s Gemini 2.5 Pro model for most of its feature-rich prompt building. It is available to experience as a GPT, a Gemini GEM, a bot on POE, and as a standalone prompt for wide LLM copy-paste use — soon on Paragraph.

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