The Restaurant Game is a game created at the MIT Media Lab that will blend gameplay experiences using algorithms for research purposes.
What's great about playing The Restaurant Game is that every player will be credited as a Game Designer, which means you can earn Game Designer credentials easily. But, it's important to note that not all contributions are equal. Designers will be ranked based on their performance and how well they play their assigned roles to accomplish objectives. The credits will be divided into a Lead Designer, Game Designers, and Assistant Game Designers. The ranking is determined computationally and factors in quality based on performance.
The game itself takes around 10 minutes to play, and it automatically partners you up with someone after joining a server. It's encouraged to play multiple times, but to make the project successful, data from over 1,000 to 10,000 gameplay sessions are needed. Hence, the developers advise players to spread the word and play often or early on.
The Restaurant Game aims to address two frustrations that game developers experience: it's difficult to model human behavior with existing AI systems, and playtesting by individuals outside the development team comes too late. The Restaurant Game aims to create AI behaviors that conform to the way players interact with characters and the environment that are convincingly human and realistic.
In terms of requirements, the game runs on Mac OS X 10.1 or later, and a G4 or better processor. Overall, The Restaurant Game is a unique and exciting experience that combines AI with gameplay to create a wholly new and user-driven kind of game.
Version 1.9.1: N/A