Old-school gamers will remember the classic text-based adventure Zork, and even a modern take of sorts with Feardemic’s Buddy Simulator 1984. DreadXP and developer LUAL Games KIG are bringing that gameplay back while examining what it really means to be “human” with [I] Doesn’t Exist. This modern text adventure that explores themes of control, isolation, and mental health will arrive on September 12, 2023, with a demo available now on Steam.

[I] doesn’t exist is described as “a love letter to the origins of narrative-focused gaming”, and takes the text adventure genre to the next level through the use of conversational text recognition in combination with surreal pixel art and unconventional, intrapersonal themes. In the game, players awake in an unfamiliar forest populated with illogical scenery and oddities like friendly, talking mushrooms. As they command their in-game avatar and contemplate the solution to puzzles (and the meaning of their own existence) to escape the seemingly innocuous forest, the façade begins to show its cracks to reveal something far more sinister.

Utilizing a combination of 2D and 3D perspective through optical illusion, the game gives off a dreamlike experience. The visuals and text-based narrative design, supported by modern “Natural Language Processing” technology allow players to creatively answer in-game prompts without sticking to a set of specific terms. And in case anyone’s wondering, [I] doesn’t exist and doesn’t rely on AI-generated text when it comes to the answers.