Akinator


Akinator is a computer game and mobile app by French company Elokence.com. During gameplay, it attempts to determine what fictional or real-life "character" the player is thinking of by asking a series of questions. It uses an artificial intelligence program that learns the best questions to ask through its experience with players.

Gameplay

To begin the questionnaire, the user must press the play button and think of a popular character, object or other things that frequently come to mind. Akinator, a cartoon genie, begins asking a series of questions, with "Yes", "No", "Probably", "Probably not" and "Don't know" as possible answers, to hack down the potential character. If the answer is narrowed down to a single likely option before 25 questions are asked, the program will automatically ask whether the character it chose is correct. If the character is guessed wrong three times in a row, then the program will prompt the user to input the character's name, to expand its database of choices.

Critical reception

L'Express rated Akinator a 5 out of 5 on their list of iPhone Apps of the Week for September 9, 2009. Excite France stated that Akinator "is just that interactive. It is revolutionary, attractive, and entertaining."
In Europe, the game reached its peak popularity in 2009.