Game Theory: A Simple Introduction

by K.H. Erickson

Game A Simple Introduction offers an accessible and enjoyable guide to the basic principles and extensive applications of game theory.Understand a game matrix, prisoners’ dilemma, dominant and mixed strategies, zero-sum games, Pareto efficiency, the Nash equilibrium, and see the power of asymmetric information.Calculate payoffs and find outcomes in games involving characters such as Jack and Jill, or Frodo and Gollum. Look at the effects of altruism and hatred on games, and see how games can change over time.Explore examples looking at gang members, free riders, global governance, a long-term relationship, competing corporations, advertisers and their customers, along with familiar hawk-dove and chicken games.See game players use every trick in the book to get what they want, with over 50 images to guide through the steps they use to play the game.

Genres: Science, Nonfiction, Mathematics

102 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 1, 2013

Reviews

[Joris Gillet · Rating 1 out of 5]

I searched this out because I saw a copy of it in the background of the current Apple+ tv series 3 Body Problem... I teach game theory and am always interested in reading more text- and introduction-to books. This one is very disappointing. My copy ran fewer than 100 pages and it is basically only about the Prisoner's Dilemma Game. Now the PDG is an essential element of game theory but there's much more. And it is not even that the book does the PDG in a particularly interesting or insightful way. If this was my first formal introduction into game theory I probably wouldn't continue with the subject.

Another big issue I have with the book is that it uses the phrase 'mixed strategy' incorrectly. In game theory a mixed strategy is a form of playing the game where you randomly pick between your available actions with a particular probability (like how, in rock-paper-scissors, your best strategy is to play each option unpredictably with a 33% probability). In this book mixed strategy refers to any strategy that isn't a dominant strategy. Strategies where the optimal action depends on what the player thinks the other player will do. Since this book will, see above, make it unlikely that the reader will continue their explorations of the field of game theory, this doesn't really matter, but still it annoyed me.

Oh and yeah, calling the two prisoners in the main example Bubba and Tyrone is also not a good look.

[Owen Carey · Rating 2 out of 5]

Perhaps my expectations were too high for this book but simple is an understatement. The concepts explained in the book are very basic. I was hoping for some intro to the basic mathematic notations used but there isn’t any. It basically just a few variations on the prisoners dilemma which to be honest isn’t much more detailed than the Wikipedia page on the prisoners dilemma. Explanations of altruism and hatred seem to fall foul of the concept that people behave in service to what they perceive as their best interests, not what their best interests might objectively be (if these two concepts are possible to extricate from each other) despite demonstrating in previous examples that manipulation can lead players to perceive different pay offs to the reality. If you have never heard of the prisoners dilemma then this book might be of use, although probably not of interest. If you have heard of it then this book will probably be of interest but not of use

[Sowro Siddique · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yes, I also found this from the Netflix adaptation of the Three Body Problem series. Big surprise.

An easy-to-understand introduction to game theory, this book explains the Prisoner's Dilemma (Tyrone and Bubba? Really? Couldn't think of a non-obviously-black name for prisoners?) and some of its variants.

That being said, it doesn't cover much else. And while I appreciate it being A Simple Introduction, at less than a 100 pages, it's an extremely short introduction to just one part (albeit a very major one) of the Game Theory.

[Daniel Stefan Friend · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent introduction to Game Theory

Game Theory is such a complex subject its a delight to find a book like this that simplifies it and explains it clearly.. I also liked the fact it's a relatively short book ; all the main points are covered and discussed however.

[Andrew Knapp · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is exactly what the title says, a simple introduction to game theory. If that's what you want, then that's what you'll get. No profound revelations, but an interesting read if you're curious about what game theory actually is.

[Larry Marquardt]

A classic example of 'the map is not the terrain' massively oversimplified pseudo reasoning.