This is how Akinator works, the "genius" who guesses who you're thinking of

Akinator is a game that guess almost everything. He knows most of the famous people in the world, both real and fictional, even cartoons and superheroes. Akinator will guess who you are thinking about with some clues, answer the questions he asks you so you can see how he will guess the character you chose in your mind.

It was in 2007 when Akinator debuted, the "genius" who with 20 questions is able to guess who you are thinking about. These queries are based on location, traits, experiences, relationships; etc., of the incognito character, the ones that guide Akinator to solve the enigma. To answer, the user has the options "Yes", "No", "I don't know", "Probably" or "Probably not".

Created by Frenchmen Jeff Deleau and Arnaud Magret and launched as a web platform more than a decade ago, the site quickly gained fame in the years that followed. But how does the page manage to read your mind and guess the characters? As explained in its FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) section, the algorithm that allows Akinator to find the precise identity is a secret.

Akinator

However, as stated in the Verne section of El País, the platform learns based on defeats: when it cannot hit a character, it asks the user to enter their name. After these suggested results are validated by a moderator, they are added to the page's database.

It should be noted that Akinator offers the possibility of adding new questions in order to have a better chance of getting it right in the future. In other words, it is not the genius who guesses the user characters, but rather the players themselves who enrich the database.

This is a fairly extensive record, especially if we consider that up to the publication of this note, 414,197,158 games have been played.

Akinator is also available as an application for Android, iOS and Windows Phone, in a mode that allows you to collect points according to the riddles of the game and the daily challenges.