150 points · 1 submission
with Zed
After Midnight is a late-night radio game built around a simple idea: every song is generated live from a real conversation. It recreates the feeling of old 3 AM radio — when you call in because you can’t sleep and someone actually listens — but turns it into an interactive experience. There are two game modes: In Caller Mode, you dial into a fictional station (WMID 88.7). An AI host (Kai, Luna, or Hank) picks up, talks with you, and after a short conversation writes and performs a 60-second original song using your words. The lyrics come directly from what you shared, so each song is completely unique and never repeated. In DJ Mode, the roles are reversed. AI callers (like a truck driver or a kid who just lost his goldfish) call into your show. You talk to them, understand their situation, and choose a track from three suggested vibes. Your voice is transformed in real time so you sound like a real radio host on air. Every generated song is saved into a shared library, organized by mood (e.g. Dusty Country, Synthwave Heartbreak, Cozy Lo-Fi). The game library of songs grows with every interaction, creating a persistent, communal radio experience. The core idea is that the conversation itself becomes the gameplay. Each interaction is a unique run, where players shape the outcome through what they say and how they respond. Two players can ask for the same kind of song, but end up with completely different results because the system adapts to the emotional signals and choices within each playthrough. We built this using ElevenLabs across the entire loop: * Conversational AI powers both the hosts and the callers in real time * The Music API generates full songs with vocals mid-conversation * Voice Changer lets the player become the DJ * Text-to-Speech was used for narration The app is built with Next.js and Zed IDE for managing the two gameplay flows, with all songs persisted into a shared library.
Submitted 30 Apr 2026