How to play an RPG with ChatGPT or Claude
ChatGPT and Claude make good storytellers, so it's natural to ask one to run a role-playing game or a murder mystery. There are two ways to do it: prompt the chatbot on its own, or give it a game engine to play with.
Option 1: just prompt it
Start a new chat and describe the game you want, for example:
You are the game master of a short fantasy dungeon adventure. Describe each scene, ask me what I do, roll a d20 for risky actions and track my HP and items.
This works for a few turns. The trouble starts later, because the chatbot is inventing the game as it writes:
- It forgets. Items you picked up, a door you unlocked or a clue from an hour ago quietly disappear.
- It fudges. "Dice rolls" land wherever the story wants them to.
- It has no fixed answer. In a mystery, the culprit is whoever fits your latest guess, and the solution can slip out in the first message.
- It drifts. The longer the chat, the further the world strays from where it started.
Option 2: give it a game engine
Games in Chat is a connector: a small set of game tools your chat can call. The adventure is written down on our server before you start, with its map, characters, items, clues and solution. When you say what you do, your chat's AI turns it into an action, our engine resolves it (with a fair d20 roll where needed) and returns what happened plus your full status. The AI narrates; it never sees a mystery's solution, so it can't spoil it.
Add it once, using this address:
- 1Add Games in Chat to Claude, or open Settings → Connectors → Add custom connector and paste the URL.
- 2Start a new chat and say “Let's play a murder mystery in Games in Chat.”
- 3Play by talking. Claude narrates; the engine decides.
- 1Settings → Apps & Connectors → Advanced settings → turn on Developer mode.
- 2Create a connector with the URL above and no authentication.
- 3In a new chat, pick Games in Chat from the tools menu and say “Let's play a murder mystery.”
Then just ask
In a new chat, say one of these:
Play by talking: "go to the conservatory", "search the desk", "ask the housekeeper about the cocoa". Each move is one action; you choose every move, and Claude or ChatGPT tells you what happened.
Questions
Is it D&D?
It's D&D-style: dungeon crawls with HP, items, enemies and d20 checks, plus murder mysteries. It doesn't use the official Dungeons & Dragons rules or settings.
Is it free?
Today's Daily Mystery and three adventures are free, with no account. Plus adventures and past daily cases ask you to sign in with a Plus plan.
Can I stop and continue later?
Yes. Every game has a save code; say "resume my Games in Chat game" with it in any later chat.
Which apps does it work in?
Claude (web and desktop, any plan) and ChatGPT (developer mode), plus any other chat app that supports MCP connectors. The technical details are in the connector docs.
Games to play in your chat · AI murder mystery game · AI RPG