Akinator .

Summary

Do guys remember that popular "Guess who I am" party game? Well, it's still being actively played and was given a publicity boost by an epic scence from Tarantino's "Inglorious Basterds".

Here's how the game works: Every person sticks a post-it note with the name of a real or fictional person to their forehead. This lets you see everyone else's identity, while remaining in the dark about your own. The aim of the game is to guess what name is stuck to your forehaed using only "yes" or "no" questions.

A difficult, yet extremely entertaining game! Things can get even crazier if your host comes across the wonderful idea of having everyone take a drink after every failed guess.

If your into this type of fun or would simply like to challenge your this program's artificial intelligence, check out our test report below.

Akinator isn't a real game, but still totally absorbing! So let me break the game down to you...

In Akinator you have to face a psychic genie straight out of the bottle. Think of any known real person or fictional character - just make sure he or she is relatively well-known! With this person in your mind, you can now start playing. Let's say you're thinking of Albert Einstein and pooof! - the genie starts his interrogation process:

1. Is your character a female? No!
2. Is your character American? No!
3. Has your character ever been married? Yes!
4. Is your character into politics? No!
5. Is your character European? Yes!
6. Is your character linked with sports? No!
7. Is your character a singer, or does he work with a singer (as a songwriter, producer, musician...)? No!
8. Is your character sill alive? No!
9. Has your character lived in the 20th century? Yes!
10. Is your character a scientist? Yes!
11. Does your character have a funny haircut? Yes!
12. Has your character ever been an exchange student? No!
13. Does your character have a moustache? Yes!
14. Has your character made a discovery in the laws of physics? Yes!

With a snap of the figure, the genie responds with: ALBERT EINSTEIN (picture included).

Not bad, eh? And it actually took the program longer than usual with this person. When I tested the app, the genie had an amazing 100% record of guessing the person I was thinking of in record-breaking time. 

I let a couple of other people test out the app and they came up with slightly different results. They really pushed Akinator to the limit by thinking of very obscure and exotic figures, which definately scewed their results. If the program fails to guess correctly, you can enter in the figure's name and it will be added to the server. By increasing its database, the Ankinator will keep on getting smarter and smarter. Creepy.

Bottom Line:

I was totally blown away by this program. Keep in mind that the program needs an internet connection in order to access all the questions and answers from the server. It still amazes me how well the app works, even though I can't  judge how technically complex it really is. I recommend all of you to try it out - hours of addictive entertainment guaranteed!

The graphics are pretty childish; the genie looks like something straight out of a cheap children's book. In my opinion, they should seriously consider pimping up the look of this program.

In general, the game is very intuitive and self-explanatory. Forget about the crappy graphics, it's the game's genius idea that makes it so irresistibly awesome.

BTW: A cool test video is coming soon! Keep your eyes peeled!

 

Akinator won't work without a stable internet connection. A slow or patchy connection may cause the program to run extremely slowly.

Akinator costs € 1.59 (roughly $2.19 or £1.4).