One thing I love about AI is how it can turn boring digital spaces into places that feel more alive. When I decided to build an agent for Telex, instead of choosing a business utility tool, I went with something playful. I wanted something that sparks curiosity and gives users a break from productivity — something that makes you think and smile.
That idea became Riddler.
Riddler is a lightweight AI game agent that generates riddles, gives hints, and reveals answers. Every prompt brings a new puzzle, and the agent remembers which riddle you’re on so it always replies correctly when you ask for help. The goal was simple: make Telex a little more fun.
Why a riddle bot?
Riddles are timeless. They challenge logic, they surprise us, and there’s a moment of satisfaction when the answer finally clicks. They also fit perfectly into chat-based flows. You ask, you think, you reply. That rhythm is natural and engaging.
Telex agents don’t have to be purely transactional. They can entertain too.
How I built it
I used FastAPI for speed and simplicity, plus Google Gemini for generating riddles and hints. The key challenge was keeping track of state per task session so users could request a hint or answer without losing context. I solved that by using the Telex task ID as the memory key, storing the riddle, hint, and answer in a lightweight in-memory structure.
If the user sends "H", the hint appears. If they send "A", the answer comes. Anything else triggers a new riddle. And if the request body is empty, it still responds with a fresh puzzle — because why not give a brain teaser when someone knocks at your door?
Deployment & integration
The agent runs on Railway, and once deployed, I plugged it into Telex through the A2A node. The A2A integration experience was smooth once JSON-RPC formatting was correct. Watching Telex respond back with riddles in real time was a satisfying moment. It felt like the platform suddenly had personality.
What I learned
AI agents don’t always need to do serious work. Sometimes engaging experiences matter more. Telex’s agent framework is flexible enough to support playful concepts, and Gemini’s language capability made riddle generation surprisingly strong.
The biggest win here was realizing how easy it is to give work tools a little humanity — one riddle at a time.
Try Riddler yourself
If you want to experience it, connect to the agent and send a message like:
“Give me a riddle”
Then ask for help with “H” or solve it with “A”. See how long you can last before you crack
This is only the beginning. Next steps might include leaderboards, categories like science or movies, or even multiplayer challenges inside Telex.
Agents can be smart. They can also be fun. Riddler is proof you don’t always have to choose.
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