List of games in game theory - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Game theory

Game theory is a mathematical method for analyzing calculated circumstances, such as in games, where a person’s success is based upon the choices of others...

studies strategic interaction between individuals in situations called games. Classes of these games have been given names. This is a list of the most commonly studied games.

Explanation of features

Games can have several features, a few of the most common are listed here.

Number of players: Each person who makes a choice in a game or who receives a payoff from the outcome of those choices is a player.
Strategies per player: In a game each player chooses from a set of possible actions, known as strategies. If the number is the same for all players, it is listed here.
Number of pure strategy Nash equilibria: A Nash equilibrium is a set of strategies which represents mutual best response
Best response
In game theory, the best response is the strategy which produces the most favorable outcome for a player, taking other players' strategies as given...

s to the other strategies. In other words, if every player is playing their part of a Nash equilibrium, no player has an incentive to unilaterally change his or her strategy. Considering only situations where players play a single strategy without randomizing (a pure strategy) a game can have any number of Nash equilibria.
Sequential game
Sequential game
In game theory, a sequential game is a game where one player chooses his action before the others choose theirs. Importantly, the later players must have some information of the first's choice, otherwise the difference in time would have no strategic effect...

: A game is sequential if one player performs her/his actions after another, otherwise the game is a simultaneous move game.
Perfect information
Perfect information
In game theory, perfect information describes the situation when a player has available the same information to determine all of the possible games as would be available at the end of the game....

: A game has perfect information if it is a sequential game and every player knows the strategies chosen by the players who preceded them.
Constant sum: A game is constant sum if the sum of the payoffs to every player are the same for every set of strategies. In these games one player gains if and only if another player loses. A constant sum game can be converted into a zero sum game by subtracting a fixed value from all payoffs, leaving their relative order unchanged.

List of games

Game	Players	Strategies per player	Number of pure strategy Nash equilibria	Sequential Sequential game In game theory, a sequential game is a game where one player chooses his action before the others choose theirs. Importantly, the later players must have some information of the first's choice, otherwise the difference in time would have no strategic effect...	Perfect information Perfect information In game theory, perfect information describes the situation when a player has available the same information to determine all of the possible games as would be available at the end of the game....	Zero sum
Battle of the sexes Battle of the sexes (game theory) In game theory, battle of the sexes , also called Bach or Stravinsky, is a two-player coordination game. Imagine a couple that agreed to meet this evening, but cannot recall if they will be attending the opera or a football match. The husband would most of all like to go to the football game. The...	2	2	2	No	No	No
Blotto games Blotto games Blotto games constitute a class of two-person zero-sum games in which the players are tasked to simultaneously distribute limited resources over several objects...	2	variable	variable	No	No	Yes
Cake cutting	N N-player game In game theory, an n-player game is a game which is well defined for any number of players. This is usually used in contrast to standard 2-player games that are only specified for two players... , usually 2	infinite	variable	Yes	Yes	Yes
Centipede game Centipede game In game theory, the centipede game, first introduced by Rosenthal , is an extensive form game in which two players take turns choosing either to take a slightly larger share of a slowly increasing pot, or to pass the pot to the other player...	2	variable	1	Yes	Yes	No
Chicken (aka hawk-dove)	2	2	2	No	No	No
Coordination game Coordination game In game theory, coordination games are a class of games with multiple pure strategy Nash equilibria in which players choose the same or corresponding strategies...	N N-player game In game theory, an n-player game is a game which is well defined for any number of players. This is usually used in contrast to standard 2-player games that are only specified for two players...	variable	>2	No	No	No
Cournot game	2	infinite	1	No	No	No
Deadlock Deadlock (game) In game theory, Deadlock is a game where the action that is mutually most beneficial is also dominant. This provides a contrast to the Prisoner's Dilemma where the mutually most beneficial action is dominated...	2	2	1	No	No	No
Dictator game Dictator game The dictator game is a game in experimental economics, similar to the ultimatum game. Experimental results offer evidence against the rationally self-interested individual concept of economic behavior, though precisely what to conclude from the evidence is controversial.-Description:In the...	2	infinite	1	N/A	N/A	Yes
Diner's dilemma Diner's dilemma In game theory, the Unscrupulous diner's dilemma is an n-player prisoner's dilemma. The situation imagined is that several individuals go out to eat, and prior to ordering they agree to split the check equally between all of them. Each individual must now choose whether to order the expensive or...	N N-player game In game theory, an n-player game is a game which is well defined for any number of players. This is usually used in contrast to standard 2-player games that are only specified for two players...	2	1	No	No	No
Dollar auction Dollar auction The dollar auction is a non-zero sum sequential game designed by economist Martin Shubik to illustrate a paradox brought about by traditional rational choice theory in which players with perfect information in the game are compelled to make an ultimately irrational decision based completely on a...	2	2	0	Yes	Yes	No
El Farol bar El Farol bar problem The El Farol bar problem is a problem in game theory. Based on a bar in Santa Fe, New Mexico, it was created in 1994 by W. Brian Arthur.The problem is as follows: There is a particular, finite population of people. Every Thursday night, all of these people want to go to the El Farol Bar. However,...	N N-player game In game theory, an n-player game is a game which is well defined for any number of players. This is usually used in contrast to standard 2-player games that are only specified for two players...	2	variable	No	No	No
Example of a game without a value Example of a game without a value In game theory, and in particular the study of zero-sum continuous games, it is commonly assumed that a game has a minimax value. This is the expected value to one of the players when both play a perfect strategy ....	2	infinite	0	No	No	Yes
Guess 2/3 of the average Guess 2/3 of the average In game theory, Guess 2/3 of the average is a game where several people guess what 2/3 of the average of their guesses will be, and where the numbers are restricted to the real numbers between 0 and 100, inclusive. The winner is the one closest to the 2/3 average.- Equilibrium analysis :In this...	N N-player game In game theory, an n-player game is a game which is well defined for any number of players. This is usually used in contrast to standard 2-player games that are only specified for two players...	infinite	1	No	No	Maybe
Kuhn poker Kuhn poker Kuhn poker is a simplified form of poker developed by Dr. Harold W. Kuhn. It is a zero sum two player game. The deck includes only three playing cards, for example a King, Queen, and Jack. One card is dealt to each player, then the first player must bet or pass, then the second player may bet or pass...	2	27 & 64	0	Yes	No	Yes
Matching pennies Matching pennies Matching pennies is the name for a simple example game used in game theory. It is the two strategy equivalent of Rock, Paper, Scissors. Matching pennies is used primarily to illustrate the concept of mixed strategies and a mixed strategy Nash equilibrium....	2	2	0	No	No	Yes
Minority Game	N N-player game In game theory, an n-player game is a game which is well defined for any number of players. This is usually used in contrast to standard 2-player games that are only specified for two players...	2	variable	No	No	No
Nash bargaining game	2	infinite	infinite	No	No	No
Peace war game Peace war game An iterated game originally played in academic groups and by computer simulation for years to study possible strategies of cooperation and aggression. As peace makers became richer over time it became clear that making war had greater costs than initially anticipated...	N N-player game In game theory, an n-player game is a game which is well defined for any number of players. This is usually used in contrast to standard 2-player games that are only specified for two players...	variable	>2	Yes	No	No
Pirate game Pirate game The pirate game is a simple mathematical game. It illustrates how, if assumptions conforming to a homo economicus model of human behaviour hold, outcomes may be surprising. It is a multi-player version of the ultimatum game.-The game:...	N N-player game In game theory, an n-player game is a game which is well defined for any number of players. This is usually used in contrast to standard 2-player games that are only specified for two players...	infinite	infinite	Yes	Yes	No
Prisoner's dilemma Prisoner's dilemma The prisoner’s dilemma is a canonical example of a game, analyzed in game theory that shows why two individuals might not cooperate, even if it appears that it is in their best interest to do so. It was originally framed by Merrill Flood and Melvin Dresher working at RAND in 1950. Albert W...	2	2	1	No	No	No
Rock, Paper, Scissors Rock, Paper, Scissors Rock-paper-scissors is a hand game played by two people. The game is also known as roshambo, or another ordering of the three items ....	2	3	0	No	No	Yes
Screening game Screening game A screening game is a two-player principal–agent type game used in economic and game theoretical modeling. Principal–agent problems are situations where there are two players whose interests are not necessarily at ends, but where complete honesty is not optimal for one player...	N N-player game In game theory, an n-player game is a game which is well defined for any number of players. This is usually used in contrast to standard 2-player games that are only specified for two players...	variable	variable	Yes	No	No
Signaling game	N N-player game In game theory, an n-player game is a game which is well defined for any number of players. This is usually used in contrast to standard 2-player games that are only specified for two players...	variable	variable	Yes	No	No
Stag hunt Stag hunt In game theory, the stag hunt is a game which describes a conflict between safety and social cooperation. Other names for it or its variants include "assurance game", "coordination game", and "trust dilemma". Jean-Jacques Rousseau described a situation in which two individuals go out on a hunt. ...	2	2	2	No	No	No
Traveler's dilemma Traveler's dilemma In game theory, the traveler's dilemma is a type of non-zero-sum game in which two players attempt to maximize their own payoff, without any concern for the other player's payoff....	2	N >> 1	1	No	No	No
Trust game	2	infinite	1	Yes	Yes	No
Volunteer's dilemma Volunteer's dilemma The volunteer's dilemma game models a situation in which each of N players faces the decision of either making a small sacrifice from which all will benefit, or freeriding....	N N-player game In game theory, an n-player game is a game which is well defined for any number of players. This is usually used in contrast to standard 2-player games that are only specified for two players...	2	2	No	No	No
War of attrition War of attrition (game) In game theory, the war of attrition is a model of aggression in which two contestants compete for a resource of value V by persisting while constantly accumulating costs over the time t that the contest lasts. The model was originally formulated by John Maynard Smith, a mixed evolutionary stable...	2	2	0	No	No	No
Ultimatum game Ultimatum game The ultimatum game is a game often played in economic experiments in which two players interact to decide how to divide a sum of money that is given to them. The first player proposes how to divide the sum between the two players, and the second player can either accept or reject this proposal. ...	2	infinite	infinite	Yes	Yes	No
Princess and monster game Princess and monster game In game theory, the princess and monster game is a pursuit-evasion game played by two players in a region. The game was devised by Rufus Isaacs and published in his book Differential Games as follows. "The monster searches for the princess, the time required being the payoff. They are both in a...	2	infinite	0	No	No	Yes

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