For those who fret that their hard earned money might be wasted on a dud computer game, help could soon be at hand. A new breed of game aims to suit everyone by adapting to an individual’s playing style.

Computer games have had an element of adaptability for decades, says julian Togelius at the IT University of Copenhagen, Denmark. “If you play well the game gets harder and if you are lousy it might get easier,” he says. Togelius and colleague Georgios Yannakis want to take this adaptability one step further by creating games that “learn” to identify whether an individual is a fun-junkie or a challenge-seeker, and then tailor later sections to suit these tastes. Two people might ultimately play very different versions of the game – but both should be satisfied by the experience.

To investigate the idea, the researchers altered the game Super Mario Bros, varying parameters such as the number and type of enemies and the size of gaps between platforms in response to how the players fared. The game also records a player’s moves, including how often they run and jump, and the time spent standing still.

Volunteers then played two slightly different versions of the game and were quizzed about which Version they found more challenging or predictable, fun or frustrating. The researchers used algorithms to identify which particular suite of parameters is associated with different gaming experiences.