“Space Station Invaders,” the handiwork of an AI called Angelina, can create a simple video game almost entirely from scratch.

Angelina creates games using a technique known as cooperative co-evolution. The system separately designs different aspects, or species, of the game.

Angelina creates a level by randomly selecting from a list, then scattering enemies and power-ups throughout the level. Enemy movements and combat behaviors are also randomly selected from a list, while the effects of the power-ups are also random.

It then combines the species and simulates a human playing the game to see which designs lead to the most fun or interesting results. Combining these simple elements can produce surprisingly nuanced effects. The games can easily match the quality of some Facebook or smartphone games, with little human input.

If you want to know what it is like to play a game designed by an artificial intelligence you can try your hand at Space Station Invaders, which was created especially for New Scientist.