Still don't have any ideas for your game? I got you covered.
Keep in mind that the following is only my own interpretation of the theme and what I personally can come up with. It's by no means a complete list. You are free to interpret the theme in whatever way you want, so don't let the following ideas limit what you can or cannot do. These are just meant as some examples or starting points to get your mind going.
Co-Pilot
I think there is a lot of potential in co-pilot like games where you collaborate with the AI to control a vehicle or a character or a spaceship or anything really. Maybe you do the jumping in a platformer and the AI does the walking. Or you do the walking and the AI does the attacking. Or both you and the AI do the walking and the input is averaged between where you want to go and where the AI wants to go. Controlling a single entity together is a cool challenge. How does it feel when you do it with an AI?
Auto-Pilot
These are games where an AI basically plays the game for you and you can only indirectly impact what's happening either by helping the AI or by giving it instructions. Maybe a platformer where the player character is entirely AI controlled and you have to protect it from falling. Or maybe a strategy game where the AI builds a base and defends it from attacks and all you do is give it some high level commands like "focus on economy" or "focus on defense" etc. Or there could be some sort of AI controlled system like a mail delivery system and you have to help the AI to make it more efficient. Or a topdown shooter game that plays itself and all you can do it buy upgrades on a skill tree. How about a racing game where you don't control the cars, but the racing track? There is a lot that can be done with systems that "play themselves". Go wild!
NPC Co-Op
Any multiplayer game that can be played with other players can probably also be played wih an AI as a team mate. You could make a puzzle game where your team mate can only mimic what you already did before, you could make a co-op topdown shooter or tower defense game where you fight side to side with an npc companion, or a cooperative platformer where you can swap bodies with your npc partner. Basically anything you can play with other players is something you can also play with an AI. It's different when you play it with an AI and I'd love for you to explore in which ways it is different and in which ways it might even be more interesting that playing with a real human? What if you can give your AI teammate instructions? What if you can teach it? What if their AI is intentionally bad and they're almost more of a nuisance than an assistance? Lots of interesting stuff to explore here.
Sandbox
Games do not always need goals. Just building or creating stuff together can be a great joy. Maybe make some kind of creative sandbox game where an AI either helps you to build something or even directly builds something with you. Maybe a sandbox city builder where the AI places buildings with you. Or a little music beat maker game where you and the AI take turns with placing notes? Or an abstract art maker where you and the AI take turns with placing shapes on a canvas? Or maybe a Minecraft like game where the AI tries to figure out what you wanna build and helps you out? Sandbox games can either be super minimalist and simple or super complicated and huge. As sandbox games are so scaleable they can make for a great jam game.
Communication
Communication based co-op games are usually my favorites when playing with real humans. Keep Talking And Nobody Explodes or We Were Here Together are examples of such games. Everybody has information the other has not and the only way to succeed is to share information with each other efficiently. How could such communication based games look like when playing with an AI? Maybe the AI has a map and gives you directions? Or maybe you have the map and have to give the AI directions? Maybe the communication channel between you and the AI could be limited? Or there could be another weird restriction like you and the AI are only allowed to communicate using emojis? What other kinds of communication could there be? What other kinds of puzzles and challenges are there that require a lot of communication? Making a game about communicating with an AI is a touch challenge, but if you do it right you definitely have a great chance of making a true gem of a game. Do it!
Coopetition
Coopetitions are games where you collaborate and compete at the same time. For example you are both fighting against the same opponent and trying to keep each other alive, while at the same tine trying to score more points than your partner. This can make for some really interesting games. Think a topdown shooter where you collaborate with two or three npcs to protect a tower in the middle of the map. If the tower is destroyed, you all lose, but only the player or AI with the most amount of health wins when the game is over. There are tons of other coopetitions in all kinds of game genres. Maybe a horror game, where you and 10 other AI character need to escape a maze inhabited by monsters. You need to cooperate but only a few of you can make it out. Coopetitions make for really interesting "social dynamics". It could be very interesting to see how that works when AI characters are involved.
Narrative
If you can't figure out how to make AI fit into the gameplay of your game, you can surely figure out how to fit it into the narrative or the story of your game. This is an easy way out if you just want to create something specific, give it a story or setting that involves AI and you're more than good. ;)
Workflow
Instead of applying the game idea to your game you can also just apply it to how you make the game. You could use AI image generators like MidJourney or Artbreeder to create some art for your game. You could use AI text generators like Smodin to write some texts for your game or even to come up with a game idea. You can use AI tools like Musenet to make your music. Or you can use one of many AI based plugins from the Unity Asset store. There is stuff that just uses AI to make something cool e.g. this real time water simulation and then there also your very classical AI plugins like ML Agents that allow you to teach and train your own neural networks (might be a bit rough to get into for a 3 day game jam, though). So just by playing in experimenting with some new AI tools, you basically get a free card to make whatever game you want. Take it as a learning opportunity, cause AI based tools are here to stay! :)
Simplicity
If you're specifically looking for something small or simple, worry not. You can totally make a one button platformer where you jump and the AI places platforms to catch you when you're about to fall. Or a match three game where your goal is to guess how many turns it's gonna take an Ai to win the level. Or a one button flappy bird like game where the AI can move the "doorways" in the level up and down to help you out. Maybe a simple match 4 or chess like strategy game where the AI suggests three moves for you and you have to pick one of them. There are lots of options to keep even this difficult theme super imaginable and small. Keep it zimple. Do only one thing and do one thing well.
What ideas do you have? If you have any leftover ideas you're not gonna use, make sure to post them in the comments below! :)
