1.

7 Analyzing Puzzles and Games

Someone was sentenced to death, but since the king loved riddles, he
threw this guy into a room with two doors; one door leading to death,
one door leading to freedom. There are two guards, each one guarding
one door. One of the guards is a perfect liar, the other one will always
tell the truth. The man is allowed to ask one soldier, one yes-no
uestion and then has to decide, which door to take. !hich one
uestion can he ask to "nd the door to freedom#$
Game theory is a branch of mathematics that focuses on strategy.
Speci"cally, how can someone have success when their strategy
depends on the choices of another#
!hy do you think game theory is important to the study of economics,
social sciences and the military#
%sing reasoning to solve a pu&&le or win a game
'ames of darts have many di(erent rules. The standard game reuires
a player to work their way to &ero points from )*+. The last dart must
score a double. ,ach player has three darts per turn. -ere is a game
between .r. /ang and .r. 0urgess1
0urgess /ang
Score Score
Turn Score )*+ Turn Score )*+
+** 2*+ 3) 2+4
5) 6*4 3) 66+
+2* +44 +2* +5+
+6* 64 ++* 3+
!hat strategies would give .r.
0urgess a winning turn#
!hat strategies would give .r.
/ang a winning turn#
%sing deductive and inductive reasoning to solve a pu&&le.
-ow many ways can a mouse navigate this simple ma&e by only
moving down#
ST78T
9 : ;
9 : : ;
9 : : : ;
9 : : : : ;
; : : : 9
; : : 9
; : 9
<=>=S-
?id you use inductive or deductive reasoning @or bothA to establish the
pattern in the ma&e#
%sing deductive and inductive reasoning to determine a winning
strategy.
>im games are played between two players and involve some variation
of take away. These games have been a part of many di(erent cultures
for centuries. <or instance1
http199www.gamedesign.Bp9Cash9nim9nim.html
=n a simple variant, the winner is the person who takes the last piece.
%sing one pile you may take one or two pieces each turn. .r. 0urgess
and .r. /ang record their results as they play with an increasing pile of
coins. <inish their results for them and see if you can detect a pattern.
.r. 0urgess always goes "rst.
=s there a strategy .r. 0urgess can use to
make sure he wins#
!hich part of your strategy involved inductive
reasoning#
!hich part of your strategy involved
deductive reasoning#
D of
coins
!inner
+ 0
E 0
6 /
2 0
) 0
4 /
+2
+)