Britannica. com. Game theory, branch of applied mathematics that provides tools for analyzing situations in which parties, called players, make decisions that are interdependent. This interdependence causes each player to consider the other players possible decisions, or strategies, in formulating his own strategy. A solution to a game describes the optimal decisions of the players, who may have similar, opposed, or mixed interests, and the outcomes that may result from these decisions. Although game theory can be and has been used to analyze parlour games, its applications are much broader. In fact, game theory was originally developed by the Hungarian born American mathematician John von Neumann and his Princeton University colleague Oskar Morgenstern, a German born American economist, to solve problems in economics. In their book The Theory of Games and Economic Behavior 1. Neumann and Morgenstern asserted that the mathematics developed for the physical sciences, which describes the workings of a disinterested nature, was a poor model for economics. They observed that economics is much like a game, wherein players anticipate each others moves, and therefore requires a new kind of mathematics, which they called game theory. The diversity of the 21stcentury classroom creates numerous challenges for teachers who may not have known the same diversity themselves as students. The name may be somewhat of a misnomergame theory generally does not share the fun or frivolity associated with games. Game theory has been applied to a wide variety of situations in which the choices of players interact to affect the outcome. In stressing the strategic aspects of decision making, or aspects controlled by the players rather than by pure chance, the theory both supplements and goes beyond the classical theory of probability. It has been used, for example, to determine what political coalitions or business conglomerates are likely to form, the optimal price at which to sell products or services in the face of competition, the power of a voter or a bloc of voters, whom to select for a jury, the best site for a manufacturing plant, and the behaviour of certain animals and plants in their struggle for survival. It has even been used to challenge the legality of certain voting systems. It would be surprising if any one theory could address such an enormous range of games, and in fact there is no single game theory. Its not a secret that people are mean on the internet and, if you live your life online in any appreciable way, you are most likely going to experience some sort. A number of theories have been proposed, each applicable to different situations and each with its own concepts of what constitutes a solution. This article describes some simple games, discusses different theories, and outlines principles underlying game theory. Additional concepts and methods that can be used to analyze and solve decision problems are treated in the article optimization. Classification of games. Games can be classified according to certain significant features, the most obvious of which is the number of players. Thus, a game can be designated as being a one person, two person, or n person with n greater than two game, with games in each category having their own distinctive features. In addition, a player need not be an individual it may be a nation, a corporation, or a team comprising many people with shared interests. In games of perfect information, such as chess, each player knows everything about the game at all times. Poker, on the other hand, is an example of a game of imperfect information because players do not know all of their opponents cards. The extent to which the goals of the players coincide or conflict is another basis for classifying games. Constant sum games are games of total conflict, which are also called games of pure competition. Poker, for example, is a constant sum game because the combined wealth of the players remains constant, though its distribution shifts in the course of play. Players in constant sum games have completely opposed interests, whereas in variable sum games they may all be winners or losers. In a labour management dispute, for example, the two parties certainly have some conflicting interests, but both will benefit if a strike is averted. Test Your Knowledge. Galaxies and the Milky Way Fact or Fiction Variable sum games can be further distinguished as being either cooperative or noncooperative. In cooperative games players can communicate and, most important, make binding agreements in noncooperative games players may communicate, but they cannot make binding agreements, such as an enforceable contract. An automobile salesperson and a potential customer will be engaged in a cooperative game if they agree on a price and sign a contract. However, the dickering that they do to reach this point will be noncooperative. Similarly, when people bid independently at an auction they are playing a noncooperative game, even though the high bidder agrees to complete the purchase. Finally, a game is said to be finite when each player has a finite number of options, the number of players is finite, and the game cannot go on indefinitely. Chess, checkers, poker, and most parlour games are finite. Infinite games are more subtle and will only be touched upon in this article. A game can be described in one of three ways in extensive, normal, or characteristic function form. Sometimes these forms are combined, as described in the section Theory of moves. Most parlour games, which progress step by step, one move at a time, can be modeled as games in extensive form. Extensive form games can be described by a game tree, in which each turn is a vertex of the tree, with each branch indicating the players successive choices. The normal strategic form is primarily used to describe two person games. In this form a game is represented by a payoff matrix, wherein each row describes the strategy of one player and each column describes the strategy of the other player. The matrix entry at the intersection of each row and column gives the outcome of each player choosing the corresponding strategy. The payoffs to each player associated with this outcome are the basis for determining whether the strategies are in equilibrium, or stable. The characteristic function form is generally used to analyze games with more than two players. It indicates the minimum value that each coalition of playersincluding single player coalitionscan guarantee for itself when playing against a coalition made up of all the other players. One person games. Britannica Lists Quizzes. One person games are also known as games against nature. With no opponents, the player only needs to list available options and then choose the optimal outcome. When chance is involved the game might seem to be more complicated, but in principle the decision is still relatively simple. For example, a person deciding whether to carry an umbrella weighs the costs and benefits of carrying or not carrying it. While this person may make the wrong decision, there does not exist a conscious opponent. That is, nature is presumed to be completely indifferent to the players decision, and the person can base his decision on simple probabilities. One person games hold little interest for game theorists. Two person constant sum games. Games of perfect information. The simplest game of any real theoretical interest is a two person constant sum game of perfect information. Examples of such games include chess, checkers, and the Japanese game of go.