CARA

How to play

You play as Base: the expedition coordinator with the scan overlay and a phone line to Cara. You can steer her directly with the keyboard, or ring her and tell her what to do. Both work at the same time.

StartingControlsTraversalThe goalThe phonePlaying by voiceTroubleshooting

Starting the game

  1. Click Play (or Play fullscreen) on the home page. The jungle takes a few seconds to grow.
  2. Choose New expedition, or Continue if you have a save. Progress saves automatically in this browser.
  3. Click the game to capture the mouse. Esc releases it and opens the menu. F or the ⛶ button toggles fullscreen at any time.
The game must be served over http://localhost or https:// (not opened as a file) so that modules, the microphone and pointer lock work. See the README for a one-line server.

Controls

KeyAction
W A S D / arrowsMove, relative to the camera. Cara turns to face where she is going.
MouseOrbit the camera. Wheel zooms in and out. The camera drifts behind Cara while she runs (can be turned off in Settings).
ShiftSprint.
C / CtrlWalk carefully (good on logs and ledges).
SpaceJump. Jump at a ledge or a stone block to mantle onto it.
EInteract with the highlighted object: pick up, read, place, enter.
PShow or hide the phone. Hiding the phone does not end a call.
TJump straight to the call screen.
M J O IOpen the map, the journal, the objectives, or the items you have found on the phone.
V (hold)Push-to-talk during a call, if you chose that microphone mode.
FToggle fullscreen.
EscPause menu / release the mouse. Also closes the phone.
Keyboard with the game’s keys highlighted, and a mouse
The keys that matter. The Items app (I) arrived after this picture was drawn; it sits next to the Journal.

Traversal

Cara shown three times: running up, jumping, mantling onto a stone block
Run, jump, mantle: the sequence that gets her up the east cliffs.

Home: Marginalia (the prologue)

New players start on Cara’s narrowboat on the canal, the evening before she leaves (Start at home on the front page, or play.html?level=home). Nothing here can hurt you and nothing is timed. The objective card walks through the basics in eight optional steps, each with a tip underneath:

  1. Follow the towpath east to the humpback bridge (movement, running).
  2. Hop onto the bridge parapet (step-up and mantling).
  3. Walk west and cross Wootton Lock on a gate footboard (careful walking, C).
  4. Swim across to Arthur’s bench on the far bank (swimming, climbing out).
  5. Back on the boat, put the kettle on (E to interact).
  6. Read the first page of Mum’s notebook (the Journal).
  7. Open the phone (P) and, with a key, call Cara for a rehearsal of the sat-link.
  8. Turn in at the cabin door. The next morning is Chapter One.

Everything on the boat can be examined: the letter, the chess game with her dad, the ropes, the photo, the record, Benny’s postcard. Read them for the story, or skip straight to bed; the level is yours to wander.

The goal of Chapter One

  1. Read your mother’s notebook at the survey camp (south end, where you start).
  2. Find the three Sun Stones: on the Watcher’s ledge above the east cliffs, on the river island, and inside the ruined shrine in the west grove. Stelae (carved standing stones) near each one tell the legend; reading them fills your journal.
  3. Climb the temple stairs at the north end, next to the waterfall, and place the stones on the altar. The gate sinks into the floor.
  4. Walk through the gate onto the Sunken Stair. Six hidden jade tokens are scattered around the valley for the completionists.

The phone’s Map shows the scan overlay with landmarks, Sun Stones and Cara’s position; Objectives tracks the list; the Journal collects what she has read.

The phone

Cara also talks to herself: effort sounds when she climbs or lands, muttered remarks when she finds something, voice-diary entries when she reads her mother’s notes or a stela, and field-note readings for anything she has examined (phone → Items, or the ▶ buttons in the Journal). These recorded lines pause while you are on a call, and can be switched off in Settings.

Press P. The home screen has a big Call Cara button and the apps. During a call the screen shows a live transcript of both sides, a waveform, mute, the talk button, and End. You can hide the phone and keep playing; the call carries on and a small pill in the corner shows it is live. Cara’s speech is subtitled at the bottom of the screen (Settings → subtitles).

Playing by voice

Voice runs on Google’s Gemini Live API, straight from your browser to Google. You bring your own API key; nothing goes through any other server.

Diagram: a player at a laptop, a relay on a tree, Cara’s orange phone, Cara in the valley
Your microphone → Gemini Live → Cara’s phone. Nothing passes through any other server.

Setting it up

  1. Create a key at aistudio.google.com/apikey. The free tier is enough to try it.
  2. Press Call Cara (home page, or in-game phone). The first time, a dialog asks for the key. It is saved in this browser’s local storage only. You can view, change or remove it later via ⚙️ Settings.
  3. Allow the microphone when the browser asks.
  4. She answers. Talk normally. She will interrupt herself if you start speaking (open-mic mode).
Speakers without headphones? If Cara keeps hearing herself, switch Settings → Microphone to Push to talk and hold V (or the talk button on the phone) while you speak.

Model and voice

The default is Gemini 3.1 Flash Live, Google’s newest native audio-to-audio model, which sounds the most natural and supports Cara’s actions. Settings also offers the Gemini 2.5 native-audio previews and the half-cascade Live 2.5 Flash model (very robust with actions), plus Cara’s voice. If Google retires a preview model, pick another from the list or type any model id.

What you can say

Cara understands plain language. Behind the scenes, these map to actions she can take in the world. Some examples:

You wantTry saying
Move“Walk forward ten metres.” “Go left a bit.” “Head north.” “Run!” “Stop.”
Navigate“Go to the river.” “Head for the temple.” “Take me to the camp.” “Go to the waterfall.” “Walk to the stela.”
Look“What can you see?” “Where are you?” “Look around.” “Which way is the temple?”
Inspect“Inspect the surroundings.” “Have a look at that stela.” “What’s on the altar?” “Check the notebook.”
Interact“Pick it up.” “Read it.” “Place the stones.” “Go through the gate.”
Jump / climb“Jump.” “Climb that block.” “Jump onto the ledge.”
Turn“Turn left.” “Face north.” “Turn around.”
Status“How are you doing?” “What’s the objective?” “How many stones have we got?”
Pace“Walk from now on.” “Sprint everywhere.”
Camera“Let me see your face.” “Give me a wide shot.” “Reset the camera.”
Just talk“Tell me about your mum.” “Why did you leave the university?” “What do you make of this place?”

Calling from the home page

The Call Cara button on the home page rings her off duty, the evening before the descent. No actions there, just conversation: the expedition, her mother’s notebooks, climbing, her narrowboat, whatever you like.

Troubleshooting