Volley Crafts Immersive Voice-AI Dungeon Adventures with Gemini 2.5 and Veo 2

Building on their successful Gemini 2.0 Flash-powered "20 Questions" prototype, Volley is again pushing the boundaries of interactive audio entertainment by developing a first-of-its-kind voice AI dungeon crawler game. This new venture showcases how Gemini 2.0 Flash’s image generation and Veo 2 are generating stunning in-game visuals, while the coding capability of Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview is revolutionizing the game development process itself, culminating in an unparalleled immersive adventure.

Volley has captivated millions with its voice-powered games. Their initial "20 Questions" prototype demonstrated Gemini 2.5 Pro’s potential for lightning-fast responses and engaging back and forth dialogue. Now, Volley is elevating a dynamic dungeon crawler experience by harnessing a powerful suite of Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview features and Google’s Veo 2 video generation model. The goal: an audio-first adventure where every interactive character is AI generated, dynamically creating rich in-game visuals.

This ambitious dungeon crawler prototype leverages specific Gemini model and Veo 2 advancements:

• AI-Driven Character Conception with Imagen 3: Cartwheel integrates Imagen 3 text-to-image capabilities, allowing creators to use text prompts to conceptualise and generate unique character visuals directly within the platform. These custom-designed characters can be animated using natural language, then exported fully rigged and ready for industry-standard 3D editing software like Maya or Blender, enabling integration into professional production environments.
• Assisting R&D and Optimization with Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview: The Cartwheel team uses Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview internally to support its engineering and research workflows:
  • Generating dynamic game imagery with Gemini 2.0 Flash & Veo 2: To complement the voice-first experience, Volley is tapping into Gemini 2.0 Flash’s image generation and the power of Veo 2 to create a vibrant visual dimension. Uses include generating concept art, character visuals, dynamic scene-setting images for key locations and events, and imagery for in-game items and environments, all designed to deepen player immersion.
  • Leveraging Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview as a game development tool: Volley is using the advanced reasoning and coding capabilities of Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview to streamline and enhance the development process. This includes accelerating the writing and debugging of game logic and quest systems, rapidly prototyping new game mechanics, and assisting in the generation of foundational narrative content, plot points, and character backstories for the development team to build upon.

This new dungeon crawler prototype embodies Volley’s vision for accessible and deeply immersive games by leveraging AI. The project aims to use the strengths identified in the "20 Questions" prototype–a fast, emotive, and natural conversational flow–and apply them within a more complex, visually-enhanced adventure.

By using the Gemini 2.0 Flash image generation and Veo 2 for visuals, and Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview to assist development, Volley is working towards a game where voice interaction drives the story, augmented by rich visuals.

As Volley Co-Founder and CEO Max Child previously stated, and which resonates even more strongly with this new endeavor, “LLMs and voice recognition technology are transforming games, breathing life into play through dynamic, interactive experiences. They enable players to immerse themselves in lively, engaging adventures where their voices truly drive the story." This dungeon crawler, with its AI-assisted creations, is a direct manifestation of that vision, promising a game where every spoken word shapes the path ahead.

Volley’s pioneering work showcases the potential of Google’s AI models for creating the next generation of innovative and engaging gaming experiences. Developers can harness the power of Gemini 2.0 Flash’s image generation, Veo 2 for stunning video and image generation, and Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview for advanced coding and content assistance, to build their own interactive worlds.

Ready to build? Explore the Gemini API documentation and get started with Google AI Studio today.

Volley is a participant in Google’s AI Futures Fund that invests in and collaborates with ambitious startups building what’s next in AI.