THE rules of Happy Hour are deceptively simple. You are a bartender. Your challenge is to tell what sort of drink each of a swelling mob of customers wants by the expressions on their faces. Then you must make and serve each drink and wash each used glass, all within a short period of time. Play this video game well and you might win a tantalising prize: a job in the real world.

Unveiled to the public on May 28th, Happy Hour?is one of several video games developed by a start-up?Israeli entrepreneur. The games include a version of Happy Hour in which sushi replaces booze, Words of Wisdom (a word game) and Balloon Brigade (which involves putting out fires with balloons and water). They are designed to test cognitive skills that employers might want, drawing on some of the latest scientific research. These range from pattern recognition to emotional intelligence, risk appetite and adaptability to changing situations.

A pilot now under way with students at Yale combines the results of games with academic grades. As little as ten minutes of play can yield enough data to predict performance.

Happy Hour combines three fashionable trends: gaming, the use of massive amounts of data and the application of behavioural insights from science. The games have huge advantages over traditional recruitment tools, such as personality tests, which can easily be outwitted by an astute candidate. Many more things can be tested quickly and performance can’t be faked on the games. The two biggest challenges are ensuring the games are fun to play and convincing recruiters, who typically make no attempt to measure cognitive skills, to pay attention to these new data.

滬江英語快訊：近日，以色列某游戲公司發(fā)布了一款新游戲“快樂時光（Happy Hour）”。這是一款既有娛樂功能，又能幫助求職者找工作的游戲。游戲者扮演酒吧的酒保，要在規(guī)定的時間里通過辨別客人的表情來給他們提供相應的飲料，還要負責清洗打掃。在游戲中順利過關的人，有機會獲得實實在在的工作機會。招聘人員可以根據求職者操作游戲的情況來判斷他是否合適改職位。求職者也可以做到休閑求職兩不誤。