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[Albert Lai]

I've been meaning to make a Robotron/Match-3 game for forever now, I'm just too lazy to piece together the engine and the AI. The engine (spawn two blocks, increment timer, move blocks down, etc.) I can probably handle myself. The AI, though, is gunna be confusing, and, since the Match-3 part of the game is going to be completely handled by the AI, well, it's a bit of a problem for me.

Preferably it'd be Java or Java-based code, but all object-oriented languages are virtually the same, so it doesn't really matter.

Please? >_>

[BenH]

A Robotron... match-3 game?

Are you making this in a secret laboratory with bits of old dead games you found laying around? 

[Derek]

What the HELL is a Match-3 AI?

[Bebop]

Yes I have the same question as Mister YU

[Jimbob]

If we come up with a computer to play Match-3 then that would be the ultimate in casual gaming... WATCH SOMEONE PLAYING MATCH-3!

You don't even have to click...

[BenH]

Sounds like the perfect game for Real Arcade 

[Albert Lai]

You guys. Judging just because of it's highly strange genre category.

Yeah - a Match-3 AI would be a computer that plays Match-3 somewhat half-way competently.

The premise that I'm working off of is that you, the player, are controlling a ship (or some other vehicle of destruction) in the foreground. In the background is a continuous Match-3 game going on. But you are pissed because people just keep cranking out Match-3 games and people, like the computer, keep buying them and playing them.

Your mission becomes that of thwarting and preventing the computer AI from successfully completing Match-3 by destroying blocks. (Each block will have a center that will be able to be hit). However, the computer really wants to play some damn match three, and blocks begin to spawn with the ability to shoot/increased defense/shift between colors/explode on death/etc/combination of two or three/ etc.

[Derek]

That's kind of an awesome idea.

Will there be a space beaver in it?

[Oddbob]

I want to play this game now!

Thats genius on a stick

[DanDanger]

Hehe great idea!

How about this idea of the top of me head:

Play the game backwards:

1: Start with empty board.
2: Add blocks using the rules for taking blocks away (ie: add 3 red squares vertically , 4 blue ones horizontally etc..)
3: Swizzle the newly generated blocks with a game move (in revers probably)
4: Keep generating blocks and swizzling until your board fills up.
5: Replay the generated moves backwards.
6: Add space beaver.

[Johan Peitz]

Couldn't you do a simple min-max AI? Try setting the current block at all possible places and assign scores to each slot depending on "how good it was". This can be repeated several times to get a simple AI that "thinks ahead". Even if it's mostly for 2 player games like chess etc it works equally well in a single player game if you just find a good way of implementing it.

[BenH]

You could have the AI play the match-3 game like I tend to play them; click all over the place until something happens

[Dan MacDonald]

You know, it's almost kind of funny. For how stupidly easy match 3's are to play it's kind of tricky to make the computer play them...

[Alec]

A* might work.