Patent US 11,839,817

A gaming platform is provided in which players control player characters to interact with other player characters controlled by other users as well as with non-player characters (NPCs) controlled by NPC engines. Players are tasked to identify which of the other characters within the game are controlled by other players (i.e., controlled in real time by humans) and which of the characters are NPCs controlled by NPC engines. Interactions between the players and between the players and the NPCs may include verbal communications, typed communications, physical communications, other types of communications, and any combinations thereof. The gaming platform is able to receive non-standardized NPCs and NPC engines from third-party developers and subsequently standardize them for inclusion in the gaming platform.