Akinator

Think of someone and let the genie guess

Akinator is a guessing game: choose a real or fictional character in your mind, answer the genie’s questions, and see whether it can identify them. The questions narrow down the possibilities one by one. It suits people looking for a quick game to play alone or with others, especially fans of character trivia.

More than character guessing

The game also offers guessing rounds about subjects such as animals, films and objects. That gives you options when you want a change from thinking of a person or character. Some rounds may be easier than others, depending on how familiar the subject is and how specific your choice is.

A simple format with room for repeat rounds

Most of the play comes down to reading a question and choosing an answer, such as yes, no or “I don’t know.” You do not need to learn a complicated set of controls before starting. Akinator can be a light social challenge, too: take turns choosing something for the genie to guess, then see whether it gets closer on another round.

The appeal is in testing the game’s guesses against your own knowledge. Common characters may be easier to identify; an unusual choice makes for a tougher challenge. It is a casual entertainment app rather than a deep strategy game, so it is best suited to short sessions.

The listing at a glance

Elokence SAS makes Akinator. Its Google Play rating is 4.65 out of 5, based on about 4.86 million ratings, and the listing shows more than 100 million installs. Those figures offer a sense of how other players have rated and tried the app; whether its guessing game suits you is your call.