Ethan Mollick rebuilt Zork with AI — open source, prompts included
emollick · x · 2026-09-05
Ethan Mollick used AI to create a playable version of the text adventure Zork and released it open source. The AI had to make numerous judgment calls to keep the game interesting — including preserving the classic Grue-eats-you mechanic.
All the prompts and nudges he used are shared in the image accompanying the thread, making it a reproducible recipe. He also fielded complaints, noting Zork is open source and he never won it anyway.
Related event: Ethan Mollick demos GPT-6 Astra turning Zork into a 3D action game(9 posts)→
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