As the boundaries between traditional storytelling and interactive entertainment continue to blur, TILKI, an AI-powered game creation platform, is set to enable consumers to build video games without coding. TILKI announced its successful completion of a £1.6m pre-seed funding round, led by specialist first-cheque AI fund Twin Path Ventures and with participation from Atlas AI^VB, XTX Ventures, and SFC Capital.
TILKI empowers all creators - from imaginative children to accomplished novel writers and professional game designers - to craft immersive and evolving game worlds without the constraints of traditional coding. TILKI-created games are constructed in real-time and designed around players' choices.
Because every interaction and decision meaningfully impacts a players’ environment, TILKI’s AI-powered model can expand far beyond the potential of traditional pre-made game experiences.
TILKI's approach represents a fundamental paradigm shift: moving from retrofitting AI into existing game engines to building an AI-first creation and distribution platform from the ground up.
In a TILKI game, non-player characters (NPCs) move freely throughout the world, make autonomous decisions that carry meaningful consequences, and have persistent effects on the environment. This creates dynamic storytelling experiences rather than the static, pre-scripted interactions that have long characterised traditional gaming. For example, an innkeeper NPC might gladly take payment for a night’s stay if that were all a player wanted. However, (with the right persuasion) they could also ignite a rebellion, whispering the call to arms to nearby NPCs, who spread it from villager to villager until the entire town rises in fury.
The TILKI team of 17 people is a combination of video game developers, AI researchers and machine learning engineers who've built games for Atari, Sony, Microsoft & NVIDIA.
Members of TILKI’s senior team were also previously involved in creating a user-generated content platform for 14 million players, in addition to founding a number of other AI startups. The team are all avid DnD players and many are also published creative writers.
The funding will be used to build the company’s closed beta (which will launch in six months) and a subsequent open beta set to launch within one year. As part of this, TILKI plans to create an accessible marketplace where players can share strategies and components, and collaborate on game elements.
