Listen up, you beautiful disasters. I’ve spent the last 48 hours exploring what might be the most confusing thing I’ve encountered since that time I tried to debug Python while finishing a bottle of Jack. They’re calling it Oasis, and holy hell, it’s like watching a computer have an existential crisis in real-time.
Here’s the deal: Some folks at a company called Decart (probably named after the philosopher who said “I think therefore I am,” which is ironically exactly what this AI is struggling with) decided to make a Minecraft clone. But instead of coding it like normal people, they fed an AI a bunch of Minecraft videos and told it to figure it out. And boy, did it figure something out, though I’m not entirely sure what.
You know how sometimes you wake up after a particularly rough night, and your apartment looks familiar but somehow… wrong? That’s Oasis in a nutshell. Every frame - every single goddamn frame - is generated by an AI that’s basically playing a game of “what comes next?” with itself. It’s like that friend who starts telling a story but keeps changing the details halfway through because they can’t remember what actually happened.
The best part? Nothing stays put. You look at a tree, look away, look back, and suddenly that tree’s decided it wanted to be a mountain instead. Or maybe it’s still a tree, but now it’s wearing what appears to be a disco ball for leaves. The whole thing is less stable than my relationship status, and that’s saying something.
And get this - you can upload your own images for the AI to work with. Some poor bastard uploaded a picture of their cat, expecting the AI to turn it into a playable character. Instead, the AI looked at that cat and thought, “You know what this needs? To be transformed into an entire landscape.” I haven’t seen this level of creative interpretation since my last blind date who listed “entrepreneur” on their profile but turned out to be selling essential oils from their garage.
The kicker? This thing has gone viral because people are finding ways to break it in increasingly creative ways. They’re calling it “speedrunning,” but let’s be honest - it’s more like “finding new ways to make the AI question its own existence.” Some players have managed to trick it into generating dark, moon-like landscapes that look like they were rendered by a graphics card having a nervous breakdown.
Now, the experts are weighing in. Some professor at NYU says it’s “impressive but an answer in search of a question,” which is exactly what my therapist says about my drinking habits. Another game design expert suggests it’s stuck in the uncanny valley, which is where I spend most of my weekends anyway.
Here’s what fascinates me, though: This isn’t just some half-assed attempt at making a game. This is a glimpse into a future where computers don’t just follow instructions - they interpret them like a drunk person interpreting dance moves. It’s beautiful in its own chaotic way, like watching a tornado made of ASCII art.
The real magic isn’t in what this game does right - it’s in what it does wrong. Every glitch, every misshapen sheep, every staircase that leads to nowhere is a reminder that even our most advanced AI still thinks like a freshman after their first bong hit. And there’s something weirdly comforting about that.
Bottom line: Oasis isn’t the future of gaming. It’s more like gaming’s fever dream, the kind you get when you fall asleep reading coding manuals with a bourbon chaser. But damn if it isn’t the most interesting train wreck I’ve seen in years.
And hey, at least it’s free. Which means you can experience this digital acid trip without spending the money you were saving for actual acid. Or in my case, more bourbon.
Until next time, you beautiful disasters. I’m going to go play some more Oasis until either the game starts making sense or I stop making sense. Whichever comes first.
P.S. Three keyboards were harmed in the writing of this article. The bourbon stains will never come out.
Source: The First Entirely AI-Generated Video Game Is Insanely Weird and Fun