Automatic puzzle level generation : a general approach using a description language

Abstract

In this paper, we present a general technique to generate and evaluate puzzle levels made by Puzzle Script. Puzzle Script is a videogame description language created by Stephen Lavelle for scripting puzzle games. We propose a system to help in generating levels for Puzzle Script without any restriction on the current game rules. Two different approaches are used with a trade off between speed (Constructive approach) and playability (Genetic approach). These two approaches use a level evaluator that calculates the scores of the generated levels based on their playability and challenge. The generated levels are assessed by human players statistically, and the results show that the constructive approach is capable of generating playable levels up to 90%, while genetic approach can reach up to 100%. The results also show a high correlation between the system scores and the human scores.