Combining Gameplay Data with Monte Carlo Tree Search to Emulate Human Play

Abstract

Monte Carlo Tree Search (MCTS) has become a popular solution for controlling non-player characters. Its use has repeatedly been shown to be capable of creating strong game playing opponents. However, the emergent playstyle of agents using MCTS is not necessarily human-like, believable or enjoyable. AI Factory Spades, currently the top rated Spades game in the Google Play store, uses a variant of MCTS to control non-player characters. In collaboration with the developers, we collected gameplay data from 27,592 games and showed in a previous study that the playstyle of human players significantly differed from that of the non-player characters. This paper presents a method of biasing MCTS using human gameplay data to create Spades playing agents that emulate human play whilst maintaining a strong, competitive performance. The methods of player modelling and biasing MCTS presented in this study are generally applicable to digital games with discrete actions.