Washington, July 29 - A new computer game prototype combines work and play to help solve a fundamental problem underlying many hardware design tasks. Called FunSAT, it could help integrated circuit designers select and arrange transistors and their connections on silicon microchips, among other applications.

Designing chip architecture for the best performance and smallest size is an exceedingly difficult task that's outsourced to computers these days.

But computers simply flip through possible arrangements in their search. They lack the human capacities for intuition and visual pattern recognition that could yield a better or even optimal design. That's where FunSAT comes in.

Developed by University of Michigan (U-M) computer science researchers Valeria Bertacco and Andrew DeOrio, FunSAT is designed to harness humans' abilities to strategise, visualise and understand complex systems.

'Computer games can be more than a fun diversion,' said Bertacco, associate professor in computer science and engineering.

The board consists of rows and columns of green, red and grey bubbles in various sizes. Around the perimeter are buttons that players can turn yellow or blue with the click of a mouse.