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Science fiction

Under the ice: an AI sci-fi text RPG

Twelve kilometres of ice. A drill that broke through. And a sound beneath the floor that answers.

Illustration of Under the ice: Twelve kilometres of ice. A drill that broke through. And a sound beneath the floor that answers.

How your story begins

Nacre Station

You are Kaia, a scout stationed in Nacre Station, a research outpost buried beneath the ice of the moon Nix. Above you, kilometres of frozen crust press down on the station; below, the drill’s new bore opens into an ocean no one has mapped. Since the breakthrough, something has answered the hull with measured blows. The mothership has gone silent, and Commander Venn has locked the station logs away.

Your first move: tap one, or type your own.

Play Under the ice free

No account, no card. Your first five turns start at once.

How it plays

Real dice

When it gets risky you throw a d20 yourself. The game shows what you need and what is at stake.

Danger that ticks

Threats grow as time passes and when you fail. When the clock is full, the consequence stays.

A world that remembers

Your items, money, wounds and the map are kept by the rules, not by the storyteller's memory.

People with a memory

Who trusts you, who owes you, whose patience runs out: it counts when you try to persuade them.