The Board Game Scholar

Welcome to The Board Game Scholar!

Hello and Welcome! The Board Game Scholar is a blog all about using computer science, math, and game theory to analyze board games. We analyze games from simple pen and paper games to significantly more complex war games and everything in between.

Twilight Imperium and Equilibrium in Games

Abstract: In this post we introduce the concept of Nash equilibrium, a fundamental concept in game theory. We then apply this idea to a small decision in the game Twilight Imperium. Following this, a discussion on how equilibrium fit as a solution concept and how the relate to game metas. Over the past year, I…

Cosmic Encounter and the Iterated Prisoners Dilemma

Abstract: In this post we look at the classic example for analyzing games, the Prisoners Dilemma, specifically in the context of Cosmic Encounter. We then look at the various strategies from the “iterated” version of the Prisoners Dilemma. Perhaps one of the most impactful analog games of all time, Cosmic Encounter is a game for…

Examples of VCG Mechanism and The Clarke Pivot Rule – Mini Post 3

Abstract: In this post we look at the Clarke Pivot Rule, and how it applies and then two examples of how this mechanism can be used. As mentioned in the previous post we use a function which we call h_i. Because this function depends only on the other valuations of the bidders, we can…

Vickrey–Clarke–Groves auction/mechanism – Mini Post 2

Abstract: In this post, we look at the Vickery-Clarke-Groves auction and discuss its implications. We also look at the generalized VCG-mechanism. In our last post, we looked at how one would run a sealed bid auction with one item if one would want to maximize social utility. However what if we have more than one…

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The Board Game Scholar is written Freddy Reiber, an undergraduate computer science student at University of California – Irvine. Freddy has a interest in Computational Complexity Theory, Algorithmic Game Theory and Graph Theory. For more on Freddy, go to his website: https://freddyreiber.info/