Human-Computer Interaction

Perlentaucher 1 - The Original

Level types

The game comprises different variants of the TSP:

  • a set of points is given, the starting point can be chosen by the players (Level 1-8)
  • a set of points and the starting point are given (Levels 9-16)
  • the points have different colors, starting point is sometimes given, sometimes free to choose (Levels 17-24)

The levels are explained in more detail in this document.

Level specifications

The levels are specified in TSPLIB format, with some additions using commentary fields to indicate starting points and regions. For convenient creation of TSP instances (in the size that fits into the Perlentaucher game), we have developed a freely available editor.

Game data

To protect the privacy of the players, we collect no personal data. The following data are provided for each finished level:

  • timestamp
  • the chosen path
  • the length of this path
  • the time it took to complete the path
  • level played
  • User ID

The data for download is updated daily. Please be aware that this is not a controlled experiment, so the data is noisy (for example, we do not know if players are doing other things while playing).

Further Information