COPYRIGHT 2010 (9 DISEMBER 2010)

-SH.NURULJANNAH BT. SYED AMRAN-KEBERANGKALIAN DAN TEORI PERMAINAN 2-PERKHEMAHAN CUTI SEKOLAH PERMATAPINTAR-

Game theory is the study of how players should rationally play games. Each player no doubt would like to end any game that she or he plays with a huge outcome or at least a maximum outcome from the game. In short, we would all like to win the game we play. A game is defined to be any situation in which:
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There are at least two players (note: it could also be a country, a company) Each player has a number of strategies of his or her own, actions or plans he or she plans to follow in the game later. The strategies chosen by each player determine the outcome of the game Each player will receive an outcome, be it a positive or negative payoff.

Each players strategies influences the outcome of the game; not only our strategies. Upon this, a conflict and cooperation is presented. The two or more players could cooperate with each other to get an equal payoff each, but then, they also could cause a conflict if they decide to take a higher payoff than the rest.

Game tree is a directed graph whose nodes (vertex/connecting lines) are position in a game and whose edges are moves . The complete game tree for a game is the game tree starting at the initial position and containing all possible moves from each position. Basically, a game tree is used as a strategy in a game to decided moves. Suppose were playing a take-away chip game (which consists of 7 chips) between two person. Each person is only allowed to take a maximum three chips every round. We cant be sure how much the first player would take (assuming were the second player) and so, we make a simple game tree to determine the outcome, by writing every possible moves from the first player and all our possible moves.

1 1

A
A
2 1

1 2 1

B
B
2 3 1

1
1 2 2 1

A A
3

3 2 1

A B
1

B
1 3

A
A
3 2

3 2

A
3 2

A
1

A
1

A
2 2 3

A
1

B
1
2

B3
1 3 2 1

1 1 2

A
A B
3 1

B
1

B
1

B A

B B
2 1

B
2

1 2

A
3 1 1

A
1

A
1

A B
1

A
1

A
2

A
1

B
3

B
2 1

1 1

B
1

1 1

A
1 2

Player 1: A Player 2 (us): B

In the game tree shown before, both players have equal chances of winning. Player A, has 22 strategies that will allow him or her to won, the same goes for player 2 (in this case, us). But the outcome to the players depend on the first move Other games that could apply this similar concept are like the game tic-tac-toe, or X O. However, if we did try to use this concept in the game tic-tac-toe, there is a lot of nodes to be drawn. If it does turns out like this, the best solution is to wait until the game is already halfway through. This could save time and calculations.

x o x o x o x x o x o x o x o x o x x o

x x o x o x o

x x o o x o x o

x x o x o x o o

x o o x o x x o

x o o x o x x o

x x x o x o x o o

x o x o x o x x o

Player 1 (computer): X Player 2 (us): O

We picked up the game when it was Player 1s (computer) turn. After drawing the game tree, we could see that player 2 (us), only has two strategies, compared to player 1 (computer) 3 strategies. This maybe because we picked the worst possible moment for us to draw a game plan. Things might have been different if we had calculated from start, but that would take too long. In conclusion, it doesnt really matter which player starts first. There is always a strategy and possibility opened up along the play. What really influence our game and payoff is the strategies we pick. A wise, or a not so wise one. This is actually how a computer operates when going against a human player. Online games, or computer games versus computers are vastly known to use the game tree. For every move we make, the computer would record it and programmed it like a game tree drawing. Some might wonder why computers still lose sometimes even though they have memory of our strategies. This is because computers doesnt actually know what kind of level the human its playing against is in.

To put it simply, computers always assume us to be smart beings, as such, we would only make wise choice, and so does the computer to match our strategies. In some cases, humans wins against a computer because of a better strategy that the computer failed to conceive. Sometimes, it's just because the human player is a natural less smart person that does not play according to strategies but just luck.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE REFER TO:

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Game Theory and Strategy (Philip D. Straffin) Cikgu Huda and Cikgu Yanti (Instructor and T.A KTP 2)

CS 61B LECTURE 16: GAME TREES (youtube.com), University California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley), Professor/Instructor Jonathan Shewchuk

COPYRIGHT 2010 (9 DISEMBER 2010)

-SH.NURULJANNAH BT. SYED AMRAN-KEBERANGKALIAN DAN TEORI PERMAINAN 2-PERKHEMAHAN CUTI SEKOLAH PERMATAPINTAR-