Whispering Witches

Whispering Witches Official Logo
Seraphina the Witch
Evil Goblin
The All-Knowing Grimoire
Magical Potions
Leaf Spirit Liora
Blue Sprite Brumrik
Goat Guardian Tharos
Sword
Rock
Axe
Mace

Inspiration

We were inspired to create Whispering Witches by our shared love of fantastical games that immerse players in a magical world filled with adventure and mystery. At the same time, we wanted to challenge ourselves technically by experimenting with AI model implementation and using intelligent gaming engines that could make the world feel more dynamic and engaging. Beyond the simple gameplay, the rising global climate crisis deeply influenced our vision for this project. We chose to set the story in an apocalyptic, destroyed world to reflect real-world environmental concerns and to encourage players, especially young audiences, to think about sustainability, restoration, and their role in protecting the planet. Thus, by blending fantasy, technology, and engaging storytelling, we hoped to create an experience that is not only fun and imaginative, but also thought-provoking and environmentally relevant.

What it does

Whispering Witches is a magical adventure game where players restore destroyed villages by defeating the evil goblins using magical potions. This project aims to raise awareness about the risks for environmental pollution among the young players and encourage them to participate in restoration through the interactive gameplay of saving destroyed villages. This would highly induce pathos among the users as it bridges fantastical storytelling to actively promote real-world sustainability themes. Furthermore, by incorporating AI models, we try to create a more visually engaging and magical experience for the users.

How we built it

We built Whispering Witches using the Unity game engine as our primary development platform, combining C# for core gameplay mechanics and system logic with Python to support AI driven solutions. To create more immersive and intelligent interactions, we integrated the Gemini API to generate NPC dialogue based on the user’s quest questions, which allows the characters to respond contextually to the player rather than relying solely on prewritten text. We also used AI to enable goblins to navigate the environment properly to track the mage and react intelligently through AI-based pathfinding and decision-making systems.

Challenges we ran into

This being the third hackathon for us, we encountered a few problems in making this project. Faced with the limited timing of the hackathon, we were overwhelmed with the idea of working with Unity Engine to incorporate our AI models when some of our team members were more used with using Unreal Engine. We learned how to use that framework and pushed our limits to finalize the gameplay with a limited map size and fun magical objects. We initially faced trouble assembling the appropriate assets using Blender and displaying the walls in the game environment using brute force. Moreover, incorporating the API with AI was also one of the things we had issues working with for a long time. (PLS NOTE: DUE TO TIME CONSTRAINTS WE COULD NOT IMPLEMENT THE MAGICAL POTIONS IN THIS VERSION)

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We are proud that this project combines fantasy storytelling, environmental awareness, and AI-driven interaction into a solid prototype developed in a short hackathon timeframe. A key accomplishment was integrating the Gemini API for dynamic NPC dialogue and using AI for goblin navigation and tracking to create a more immersive and responsive gameplay experience. We also made original 3D assets like swords and potions with Blender and carefully shaped the story and features to meet the UGA Hacks 11 judging criteria. Beyond the technical work, we are especially proud of crafting a meaningful narrative that links a magical world to the urgent real-world issue of climate restoration. This encourages younger players to think about sustainability through gameplay.

What we learned

We learned how to combine AI-driven interaction, game design, and storytelling into a unified experience during a short hackathon. We gained hands-on experience with Unity, Blender asset creation, and smart navigation systems. We also recognized the importance of teamwork. We discovered our strengths in a challenging environment, overcoming bugs and time limits to deliver a solid prototype. Most importantly, we saw how games can raise awareness about sustainability and real-world environmental issues.

What's next for Whispering Witches

For the future of Whispering Witches, we plan to expand the game with multiple levels, tougher goblin enemies, and more villagers to rescue across diverse regions. Seraphina would level up by discovering new potions and increasing health and survival abilities. Already goblin cleansed areas like Whispering Pines will show restored environments and grateful villagers, reinforcing the impact of the player’s actions. Due to hackathon time constraints, we could not fully implement our initial advanced potion system and deeper Grimoire based progression, which we plan to include in future versions. The story will continue into a new region, the Fiery Alcove, bringing new magical threats, environments, and restoration challenges tied to environmental sustainability.