The present invention is directed to a method to search for a solution to a problem in a domain. The method may comprise obtaining a plurality of agents each operable to produce one or more numerical bids and to propose one or more actions and a plurality of nodes each representing a state of the domain; automatically selecting a respective agent and a respective node based on a bids from the plurality of agents; and automatically adding a new node representing a new state which is obtained by applying to the state represented by the selected node an action proposed by the selected agent. The plurality of nodes may each have a depth associated therewith and the respective agent and the respective node may be selected regardless of the depth associated with the selected node.