150 points · 1 submission
with Zed
FREQUENCY is a real-time hostage negotiation game where the bomber on the other end of the phone is a live AI. What we built: A browser game where every playthrough is unique. Claude API generates the bomber's responses in real time he has memory, emotional state, and will reach a natural ending based on how the player handles him. ElevenLabs Turbo v2 voices every single response live with dynamic voice parameters that shift based on his emotional state. Players can respond by voice using ElevenLabs Speech to Text, making it a true two-way voice conversation with an AI character. How ElevenLabs is core to the experience: ElevenLabs isn't background music it's the game mechanic. The bomber's voice changes with his emotional state. When he's calm, stability is 0.85. When he's desperate, it drops to 0.30. The trap state "resolved" outputs stability 0.90 but style 0.05, creating flat affect that sounds like calm but signals he's made his final decision. Players who only read the transcript fail. Players who actually listen to the voice win. How Zed is core to the build: The entire game was designed, architected, and built using Zed's AI features. From the system design documents loaded into context, to the milestone-by-milestone build driven by Zed AI agent, to the real-time iteration on every component. Zed wasn't the editor it was the co-developer. Stack: Bun + Hono backend, vanilla JS frontend, Claude Sonnet for the game master, ElevenLabs Turbo v2 TTS + STT for full voice loop, isometric pixel art scenes generated with GPT Image, animated with Seedance 2.0. The ending where he goes silent for 4 seconds before you find out if you saved him that silence is the whole game.
Submitted 30 Apr 2026