The Parlor | Real-time Multiplayer Murder Mystery Game
Team consisting of an XTX Markets AI Software Engineer (NLP, Transformers, PyTorch) and a Grab Software Engineer, exploring ElevenLabs voice AI.
Project Description
The Parlor is a multiplayer voice-narrated murder mystery game where two detectives interrogate an
AI narrator to solve a 1920s crime. Players speak questions into their phones, and Mrs. Hartwell
responds with dramatic ElevenLabs-powered voice acting — creating a shared theatrical experience
that brings people together.
Core Flow: Host displays the game on a laptop; players join on their phones. They take turns asking
voice questions (via Web Speech API), Claude generates in-character responses, and ElevenLabs speaks
them aloud. Correctly accuse the killer to win!
Judging Criteria
| Criterion | How We Meet It |
|---|---|
| Working Prototype | Fully functional: voice input, AI responses, real-time sync across |
| devices, complete game flow | |
| Technical Complexity | Integrates Pusher (real-time), Web Speech API (STT), ElevenLabs (TTS), |
| Claude (LLM), and 9-state game logic | |
| Innovation & Creativity | Novel multiplayer voice AI experience — not a chatbot, but shared social |
| theater | |
| Real-World Impact | Pattern applies to escape rooms, interactive education, |
| accessibility-first interfaces | |
| Theme Alignment | Voice-first design — ElevenLabs TTS is the heart of the experience |
Tech Stack
Next.js 14, TypeScript, Tailwind CSS, Pusher Channels, Web Speech API, ElevenLabs TTS (Turbo v2.5),
Anthropic Claude, Vercel
Demo Steps
git clone https://github.com/cancodecodes/the-parlor.git
cd the-parlor && npm install
# Add API keys to .env.local (ElevenLabs, Pusher, Anthropic)
npm run dev
# Open /game (display), connect phone 1 and phone 2!
# Ask: “Who saw Eleanor last?” → “Check fingerprints” → “I accuse Dr. Webb!”
Prior Work
Nothing. Everything was built from scratch in the hackathon!