I’ve been tinkering with the IFDB database to try to figure out how to improve game recommendations. In today’s exciting episode, instead of trying to customize game recommendations for a particular user, I’m trying to figure out how to find “games you might like if you like Game X” with the specific goal of not always recommending super-popular games.
I’m nicknaming the current version “Magic 8-Ball” because it seems to be about that reliable, i.e. emphasis on might like. Here are some examples…
[EDIT: Note that it is being improved based on feedback from this thread, so you might want to look at the latest batches near the bottom of the thread to judge its utiity.]
Zork I
+-----------+--------------------------------+
| FROM_GAME | TO_GAME |
+-----------+--------------------------------+
| Zork I | Blue Lacuna |
| Zork I | Zork III |
| Zork I | She's Got a Thing for a Spring |
| Zork I | Lost Pig |
| Zork I | Mountains of Ket |
| Zork I | Wumpus 2000 |
| Zork I | The Hobbit |
| Zork I | A gálya |
| Zork I | The Galleon |
| Zork I | The Elysium Enigma |
+-----------+--------------------------------+
Blue Lacuna
+-------------+--------------------------------+
| FROM_GAME | TO_GAME |
+-------------+--------------------------------+
| Blue Lacuna | A Change in the Weather |
| Blue Lacuna | She's Got a Thing for a Spring |
| Blue Lacuna | Zork III |
| Blue Lacuna | Daytime Never Had a Chance |
| Blue Lacuna | Counterfeit Monkey |
| Blue Lacuna | A Matter of Heist Urgency |
| Blue Lacuna | Zork I |
| Blue Lacuna | The Elysium Enigma |
| Blue Lacuna | Grimnoir |
| Blue Lacuna | Pale Blue Light |
+-------------+--------------------------------+
Counterfeit Monkey
+--------------------+----------------------------+
| FROM_GAME | TO_GAME |
+--------------------+----------------------------+
| Counterfeit Monkey | Earl Grey |
| Counterfeit Monkey | Inside Woman |
| Counterfeit Monkey | PARANOIA |
| Counterfeit Monkey | Bellclap |
| Counterfeit Monkey | 9:05 |
| Counterfeit Monkey | Bronze |
| Counterfeit Monkey | Checkpoint |
| Counterfeit Monkey | Blue Lacuna |
| Counterfeit Monkey | The Gostak |
| Counterfeit Monkey | The Lost Islands of Alabaz |
+--------------------+----------------------------+
9:05
+-----------+--------------------------------------------+
| FROM_GAME | TO_GAME |
+-----------+--------------------------------------------+
| 9:05 | PARANOIA |
| 9:05 | Counterfeit Monkey |
| 9:05 | I-0 |
| 9:05 | The Wizard Sniffer |
| 9:05 | Shade |
| 9:05 | The Phoenix Move |
| 9:05 | La Noche del Ensayo |
| 9:05 | Galatea |
| 9:05 | Photopia |
| 9:05 | Fingertips: The Day That Love Came To Play |
+-----------+--------------------------------------------+
The Wizard Sniffer
±-------------------±----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| FROM_GAME | TO_GAME |
±-------------------±----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| The Wizard Sniffer | Toby’s Nose |
| The Wizard Sniffer | Toilet Quest: In Which a Goblin Has an Adventure on the Way to the Bathroom |
| The Wizard Sniffer | Violet |
| The Wizard Sniffer | A Midsummer Night’s Choice |
| The Wizard Sniffer | 9:05 |
| The Wizard Sniffer | Renegade Brainwave |
| The Wizard Sniffer | Lost Pig |
| The Wizard Sniffer | Midnight. Swordfight. |
| The Wizard Sniffer | Illuminismo Iniziato |
| The Wizard Sniffer | Tale of the Starweavers |
±-------------------±----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Illuminismo Iniziato
+----------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| FROM_GAME | TO_GAME |
+----------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| Illuminismo Iniziato | The Wizard Sniffer |
| Illuminismo Iniziato | How Prince Quisborne the Feckless Shook His Title |
| Illuminismo Iniziato | Curses |
| Illuminismo Iniziato | Foo Foo |
| Illuminismo Iniziato | The Only Possible Prom Dress |
| Illuminismo Iniziato | Once and Future |
| Illuminismo Iniziato | A Walk Around the Neighborhood |
| Illuminismo Iniziato | Risorgimento Represso |
| Illuminismo Iniziato | The Dragon Diamond [modern versions] |
| Illuminismo Iniziato | Go West |
+----------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
Curses
+-----------+---------------------------------------------------+
| FROM_GAME | TO_GAME |
+-----------+---------------------------------------------------+
| Curses | Adventure |
| Curses | Bronze |
| Curses | Mrs. Pepper's Nasty Secret |
| Curses | Spiral |
| Curses | City of Secrets |
| Curses | Tristam Island |
| Curses | Once and Future |
| Curses | Trinity |
| Curses | Jigsaw |
| Curses | How Prince Quisborne the Feckless Shook His Title |
+-----------+---------------------------------------------------+
How Prince Quisborne the Feckless Shook His Title
+---------------------------------------------------+--------------------------------+
| FROM_GAME | TO_GAME |
+---------------------------------------------------+--------------------------------+
| How Prince Quisborne the Feckless Shook His Title | Cómo Proteger Algo |
| How Prince Quisborne the Feckless Shook His Title | The Only Possible Prom Dress |
| How Prince Quisborne the Feckless Shook His Title | Curses |
| How Prince Quisborne the Feckless Shook His Title | Foo Foo |
| How Prince Quisborne the Feckless Shook His Title | Illuminismo Iniziato |
| How Prince Quisborne the Feckless Shook His Title | The Wizard Sniffer |
| How Prince Quisborne the Feckless Shook His Title | Once and Future |
| How Prince Quisborne the Feckless Shook His Title | A Walk Around the Neighborhood |
| How Prince Quisborne the Feckless Shook His Title | Shuffling Around |
| How Prince Quisborne the Feckless Shook His Title | Low-Key Learny Jokey Journey |
+---------------------------------------------------+--------------------------------+
Low-Key Learny Jokey Journey
+------------------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| FROM_GAME | TO_GAME |
+------------------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| Low-Key Learny Jokey Journey | How Prince Quisborne the Feckless Shook His Title |
| Low-Key Learny Jokey Journey | Shuffling Around |
| Low-Key Learny Jokey Journey | The Only Possible Prom Dress |
| Low-Key Learny Jokey Journey | A Matter of Heist Urgency |
| Low-Key Learny Jokey Journey | Blighted Isle |
| Low-Key Learny Jokey Journey | Enlightenment |
| Low-Key Learny Jokey Journey | Future Boy! |
| Low-Key Learny Jokey Journey | Little Blue Men |
| Low-Key Learny Jokey Journey | Not Just an Ordinary Ballerina |
| Low-Key Learny Jokey Journey | Return to Ditch Day |
+------------------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
A Matter of Heist Urgency
+---------------------------+----------------------------------+
| FROM_GAME | TO_GAME |
+---------------------------+----------------------------------+
| A Matter of Heist Urgency | Plundered Hearts |
| A Matter of Heist Urgency | The Lost Islands of Alabaz |
| A Matter of Heist Urgency | Cheesed Off! |
| A Matter of Heist Urgency | Mlp love is magic! |
| A Matter of Heist Urgency | Little Girl In Monsterland |
| A Matter of Heist Urgency | Nocked! True Tales of Robin Hood |
| A Matter of Heist Urgency | Who Shot Gum E. Bear? |
| A Matter of Heist Urgency | composites |
| A Matter of Heist Urgency | Guess the Verb! |
| A Matter of Heist Urgency | A Thousand Thousand Slimy Things |
+---------------------------+----------------------------------+
The Lost Islands of Alabaz
+----------------------------+-----------------------------------+
| FROM_GAME | TO_GAME |
+----------------------------+-----------------------------------+
| The Lost Islands of Alabaz | A Matter of Heist Urgency |
| The Lost Islands of Alabaz | Guess the Verb! |
| The Lost Islands of Alabaz | Counterfeit Monkey |
| The Lost Islands of Alabaz | The Libonotus Cup |
| The Lost Islands of Alabaz | Coloratura |
| The Lost Islands of Alabaz | Mother Loose |
| The Lost Islands of Alabaz | Superluminal Vagrant Twin |
| The Lost Islands of Alabaz | The Chasing |
| The Lost Islands of Alabaz | Within a circle of water and sand |
| The Lost Islands of Alabaz | The Sleeping Princess |
+----------------------------+-----------------------------------+
Mother Loose
+--------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| FROM_GAME | TO_GAME |
+--------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| Mother Loose | The Lost Islands of Alabaz |
| Mother Loose | The Chasing |
| Mother Loose | Chlorophyll |
| Mother Loose | The Sleeping Princess |
| Mother Loose | Earth and Sky 2: Another Earth, Another Sky |
| Mother Loose | Harmonia |
| Mother Loose | Winter Wonderland |
| Mother Loose | Counterfeit Monkey |
| Mother Loose | Snack Time! |
| Mother Loose | The Grumpy Cricket (And Other Enormous Creatures) |
+--------------+---------------------------------------------------+
What do you think? Is it working?
- working well
- mostly working
- half-working
- working a little
- not really working at all
Ask the Magic 8-Ball about other games! (… by mentioning them on this thread)