23
votes
Accepted
In two-player games with perfect information, if both players play optimally, will the game always end in a draw?
Accurding to Zermelo's theorem, in finite two-player games of perfect information in which the players move alternately and no affect of chance, one of those three possibilities is true:
First player ...
- 3,809
20
votes
How important is game theory in Dominion?
One of the clearest examples of game theory in Dominion shows up quite frequently in 2 player endgames, and it's called the Penultimate Province Rule (PPR). Basically, you should avoid buying the ...
- 3,181
16
votes
Accepted
Is it correct to infer a second, third etc place in board games with a score?
Tl;dr: Players' meta-goals do affect gameplay. And unless all players have the same goals, the entire concept of "best player" isn't well defined, let alone "second best", etc.
First a bit of game-...
- 11.1k
10
votes
Why should a player call "cheat" and risk taking the entire stack of cards?
Because if you're only ever going to call "cheat" when I play my last card, I'll cheat like crazy on every turn other than my last card and do everything in my power to make sure that I'm not cheating ...
- 9,378
9
votes
Why should a player call "cheat" and risk taking the entire stack of cards?
You're correct in that it's usually better to let other people call cheaters out, since there's a personal risk but no personal reward. However, imagine the case where it's about to be my turn, there'...
- 3,181
9
votes
In two-player games with perfect information, if both players play optimally, will the game always end in a draw?
No - there need not always be a tie in the general case. Even in games of perfect complete information there may still be a bias towards one player. For example the game of nim cannot end in a tie, ...
- 9,293
7
votes
How did makers of "Gwent" set scores for each card?
Playtesting. Playtesting. More playtesting. And then once you're done with that, some more playtesting.
Any TCG which is complicated enough to be interesting for human players is far too complicated ...
- 9,378
7
votes
Accepted
Why should a player call "cheat" and risk taking the entire stack of cards?
You can call "cheat" even when you aren't 100% positive someone is lying to keep the fear of being called out real. Like @PhilipKendall said, if you are only going to call "cheat" when you can prove ...
- 5,502
6
votes
How important is game theory in Dominion?
Some cards are very dependent on the actions your opponents, and some are not.
e.g. buy Tribute if you see your opponent to the left buy lots of different cards, don't buy it if they are not.
...
- 190
5
votes
Accepted
Identify this game with 4 players, each have 2 choices
This is what game theory would term a 4-player symmetric game. Based on the payoff matrix, it seems most similar to being a 4-player version of Chicken (A.K.A. Hawk-Dove). The key to Chicken is that ...
- 17.5k
4
votes
4 Color Burn + Dark Confidant decktech
This isn't a good idea for several reasons. I'll focus on the main one:
Burn decks don't want to play a grindy game where card advantage is paramount. Burn decks want to end the game as soon as ...
- 12.5k
3
votes
What is the justification of the card type Tribal in Magic the Gathering?
I don't know if you'd consider these "rules issues" or not; they're certainly not as bad as an instant on the field, but the rules as currently worded don't allow for subtypes to be ...
- 3,082
3
votes
Accepted
Are games like Alquerque solved? Are they fair games with perfect play?
While I cannot find a formal proof, Alfonso X's "Libro de los Juegos" offers an anecdotal report that the solution to the game is a tie:
if both players known how to play it, they can both ...
- 17.5k
2
votes
Why should a player call "cheat" and risk taking the entire stack of cards?
From a game theory perspective, you'd have to analyze this in more concrete scenarios. Yes, if someone says "one ace" on the first turn where everyone else has the same card holding and nobody ...
- 3,863
2
votes
Early game bidding as Greyjoy
The answer to this question will be very heavily dependent on your group, and their groupthink. In my experience, often bidding 3 on the blade would not result in getting it (I would probably be 2nd ...
- 644
1
vote
In two-player games with perfect information, if both players play optimally, will the game always end in a draw?
You are missing a couple of important factors in your question that make it impossible to answer as it stands. Mainly that a game with perfect information available to both players doesn't mean that ...
- 13.9k
1
vote
Is it correct to infer a second, third etc place in board games with a score?
In a game where there is a scoring function, one can always rank players beyond the winner into 2nd, 3rd, etc. The real question is whether positions beyond first have any value. That question ...
- 17.5k
1
vote
Why should a player call "cheat" and risk taking the entire stack of cards?
This is actually a variation on the Game Theory problem The Volunteer's Dilemma. Essentially, there is a cost to you calling cheat (The chance of being wrong and taking cards), and a benefit to all ...
- 438
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible