Four to Find

On the latest GA Blog post, Ben Shackell talks about his 'Four to Find' game and the story behind its development.

Ben says:

Each place gets four clues. The first should leave plenty of possibilities open. The next ones should narrow things down bit by bit, using the landscape, local character, history or a landmark. By the fourth clue, I want somebody with a reasonable knowledge of the UK to have a fair chance of getting it.

I use AI to help generate the clue sets within those rules. The AI is not deciding how the game works. I set the structure: what sort of information should appear at each stage, how quickly the answer should narrow, and the basic rule that a clue should make you picture somewhere rather than just remember a fact.

What I like is that it is not only about whether you guessed the name. Sometimes you know the place straight away. Sometimes the name is familiar but, if somebody handed you a map, you would hesitate. And sometimes it is somewhere you have never really thought about before.

That is where the family part comes in. One answer reminds somebody of a holiday. Another brings up a school trip, or a town where a relative once lived. The game itself is brief. The conversation afterwards does not have to be.

I want it to move around the whole UK too, not just the obvious tourist places. A former industrial city can be as interesting as a small coastal town. So can a castle, an island or a village. There is plenty to choose from.

Getting a place you know is satisfying. Finding somewhere new can be just as good.

Try it here...