Patent ID: 8449396

Claim:
A computer-implemented method comprising: determining, using at least one processor of a machine, whether a number of friends available to join an instance of a computer-implemented game of a player using social network information associated with the player exceeds a number of friends required for the instance of the computer-implemented game; using a social graph from the social network information associated with the player to generate a prioritized list of friends of the player available to participate in the computer-implemented game when the number of friends available to join exceeds the number of friends required for the instance of the computer-implemented game; identifying a player outside a social network of the player when the number of friends available to join is less than the number of friends required for the instance of the computer-implemented game; determining, using at least one processor of a machine, a selected friend from the prioritized list of friends of the player the determining comprising: accessing player profile information associated with the player and the available friends of the player from the prioritized list; analyzing the player profile information to determine a game compatibility factor between the player and the available friends from the prioritized list of the player; and identifying a game compatible friend of the player from the prioritized list having a game compatibility factor exceeding a predetermined game compatibility threshold value; and forming an instance of the computer-implemented game with the player and the selected friend, using the at least one processor of the machine.