Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with theory and game

A taxonomy of GAMES / game types?

0bvious — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 08:39:08 -0800

Types of Games: I have come across various attempts to catalogue the possible varieties of stories that exist. The basic assumption being that all plots (narratives?) can be be boiled down to one among only a few types e.g. Hero leaves the kingdom; Hero steals fire, etc. I am looking for a similar classification system for GAMES, that is: how many fundamental types/kinds of game are there? Note: when I say 'game' I mean everything from checkers, through hide n' seek, pool and soccer up to and including Tower Defence, Super Mario or Halo. I know this might be too broad, but I don't want to limit my enquiry at this stage.

I know a bit about game-theory, but what I want is more taxonomical than this. A taxonomy perhaps of possible game structures / directions / goals / rule organisations that can be applied across game types.

Has there been such an attempt at categorising games? Is it even possible, or should I be thinking about the question in an entirely different way?

Thanks in advance

How to simultaneously exchange information?

deadweightloss — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 14:27:13 -0800

How to simultaneously exchange information? Say a friend and I want to exchange pieces of information, but it is very important that we reveal the information at the same time (equivalently: neither of us know the other's info at the time we commit to our own announcement). if we are in the same room, this is easy, we both write our information on slips of paper and then exchange slips. If we are not in the same room, there is no obvious analogue. For example, simultaneously sending emails does not work, as he could get my email, view my information, alter his announcement, and then send his email all in a few seconds.

If an example would help, say that we are both to name positive whole numbers, and if the sum of our numbers is odd, I have to do an unpleasant task, while if it is even, he has to do the task. Obviously if he can see my information before committing to his announcement, the interaction is trivialized. So we want to find a way to randomize who gets the task using this method.

So how can we do this if not in the same room (presumably over the Internet)?

One thing reducing the difficulty of the problem: we are friends, so we will not get caught lying to each other (and if we are, a suitable punishment can be arranged). However a solution that would allow him to lie without my knowing won't work.

Theory and Practice Agree in Theory but not in Practice

jasonhong — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 10:58:01 -0800

In what cases is game theory a good model of actual human behavior? I'm curious as to the extent that game theory has been empirically validated as being a good model of human behavior, in terms of theories and domains. If you know of any specific theories or domains that have been validated, or any good survey papers or introductory material, I'd really appreciate it.

For example, (I'm making these next statements up) "game theory turns out to be surprisingly effective for modeling dating behavior among high school students" or "the predicted results of Prisoner's Dilemma based on game theory highly correlates with our user studies".

I'm familiar with the basics of game theory (minimax, nash equilibria) and basics of behavioral economics (the ultimatum game, Kahneman and Tversky's Prospect Theory,
The Paradox of Choice, some of George Loewenstein's work).

Demand: Law. Gravity: Just a theory.

johannahdeschanel — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 16:44:38 -0800

How would you go about proving that the law of demand does not exist? Just out of curiouisity. Yes, it is something I think about on a Saturday night.

How can apply game theory to help me negotiate a better deal?

matholio — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 22:45:47 -0800

How can apply game theory to help me negotiate a better deal? I've handed in my notice, I have a new job to go to.
I gave 4 weeks notice, but on reflection it's going to be a while before I can take an anual leave, I'd like to take my last week as leave (I have accrued enough time)

This is week 2 or 4 of my notice period.

I really don't want to work the last week, I want to spend time with my family.

Management does not want to give me the time off, they want me to use the time dumping my knowledge, and handing over to a contractor who starts next week.

I have a lot of local knowledge of my domain, and losing that knowledge presents a businiess risk, so they want to keep me as long as possible.

Denying me the last week off, demotivates me, so maybe the hand over will be low quality.

If the handover is considered bad, they can give me a unfavorable reference.

They have no way of knowing if the handover is good.

I could do a great handover and they may perceive it to be not good enough.

I have been a hard working, loyal employee, I have agood relationship with the C-Level leaders, I don't want to sour it.

The remaining time is not really enough time to do a great handover anyway.

If I work the last week, they have to pay out my accrued annual leave, if I go early they don't.

I could spend my last week, reading metafilter.

-------------------------------------------

How might I attempt to model that data, and use game theory to assess various outcomes ?

I would think they would opt to motivate me to do a good hand-over in less time and let me go early, saving some money.

Thanks

What's that Word

Student of Man — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 12:44:41 -0800

What is the word or Phrase for a situation where competing persons become emroiled in a "sub game "? A different level of competition, so to say. Relates to game theory somehow. It may or may not include the word "pareto". Thanks.

Help me use game theory to better understand my workplace

brandnew — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 04:12:46 -0800

Help me use game theory to better understand the seemingly irrational behavior at my workplace I have a fascination with trying to understand the behaviors of my co-workers in the context of game theory. I love the workplace - it's a wonderful zoo of seemingly odd, irrational, and puzzling human behavior. I have my own anecdotal theories about why things play out as they do, but I'm looking for more solid scientific evidence and theories. Basically I want to understand the rationality behind my co-workers' seemingly irrational behavior.

For example, one curiosity I have had lately is for those co-workers who voluntarily dilute their salaries by working long hours. Interestingly, they often seem to be the same people who nit pick about their starting salaries down to the hundredth dollar. I remember reading long ago about a game theory called something like "jackpot theory". Supposedly a reason workers work long hours is in anticipation of obtaining their bosses' salaries. However, often, like the casino games, the odds are largely against them.

What are some sites or books I can use to better understand workplace game theory? Who are the major research bodies for this area of research? What are some of the more interesting game theories that have emerged recently? How does one use this information to "game" the system?

BTW I have a science and math background, so I'm not afraid to read research papers, if necessary.

mathematics chess book?

randomizer — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 16:21:49 -0800

is there a book on the mathematics of chess? i've been looking for a book that deals with the mathematics or/and game theory of chess, but i'm not having much luck. is there a chess book that deals with the mathematics/game theory?

Modeling the Dating/Marriage market

sk381 — Mon, 16 Jan 2006 02:09:08 -0800

Dating/Marriage market and game theory I'm looking for online papers, journal articles, websites etc. that try and model/study the dating/marriage market from a game theory or similarly mathematical point of view. Any suggestions?

What are some good business books?

geoff. — Sat, 01 Oct 2005 13:06:41 -0800

I'd like some good business (commodities, economics, markets, etc.) book to read. I'm tired of all the, excuse my French, BS books I've come across. I don't want a get-rich quick or anything motivational. I've read the summer reading standard Freakonomics and The World is Flat as of late, feeling the same way level of beach book dissapointment I did when I broke down and read The DaVinci Code. The former was entertaining, though somewhat useless and the latter just was boring and repetitive after say -- chapter 2. I've been paticularly interested in game theory lately and how it can be applied... There must be good business books out there with some interesting theories or actual applications. I'm an International Business major so I have my fill of case studies and dry textbook material. I have not formally studied game theory but what I've read on the Internet seems really interesting. I've been searching across Amazon and most game theory texts were actual college textbooks which I wouldn't mind reading except for the absurdly high college textbook prices.

Really anything business-oriented has interested me lately -- broad economics (I should say as a business major I've had all the primers, so I'm not really looking for an intro) and perhaps even economic history really interest me. I'm not really kean on reading a bunch of mathematical proofs unless they're shown in context or in someway relevant so I can grasp them.

I guess I might have a hard time explaining what I like because I've never come across it. I always feel fufilled or at least even more curious after philosophy texts or other intellectual reading, but business books seem somewhat aimed for the "Who Cut the Cheese?" crowd (which I haven't read but the length, title and comments from people who've read it lead me to believe it's middle-management motivational stuff). I hate walking away from these business books and going "Well duh" or having no other information I could have gleaned if the book had been cut down to a few lines without the anecdotes of all the rich, powerful people the author met. Sorry to be so picky, but you guys are great at picking out good books.