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 Yannakakis want to take this adaptability one step further by creating games that “learn” to identify whether an …