What Is Game Theory?
A game is an activity that has rules and a goal. It can be competitive, as in chess or association football, and may have social elements, as in hide-and-seek or tag. Game can also be non-competitive, as in jigsaw puzzles or solitaire. It may involve an artistic layout, as in Mahjong or some video games. Game is an integral part of human culture, from work (such as professional players of spectator sports and games) to playtime (including leisure activities like gardening or playing with a pet). It is a form of entertainment for the benefit of participants.
Video games are the most common type of game. The gaming industry is now larger than the film industry, and millions of people worldwide report playing video games. As the world’s most popular form of interactive entertainment, video games are also an important social and learning tool. They can provide a positive way for young people to explore complex ideas and to develop problem-solving skills, and they have been shown to improve cognitive functioning. They can also promote social interaction and help children develop healthy relationships with peers.
Many of the principles behind games are applicable to other activities, and game theory is widely used in a variety of contexts, including war, biology, business strategy, economics, and politics. It is also a significant part of educational psychology and anthropology.
Game theory examines how different strategies can impact a situation. It is commonly used in business to represent strategic interactions, in which one company’s outcome depends on the actions of other companies or products. It is also useful for analyzing real-world events, such as negotiations or competitions. Its roots are in the mathematical research of John von Neumann and Oskar Morgenstern in the 1940s, and mathematician John Nash is credited with the first significant extension of their work.
A key aspect of game theory is the notion that a player’s payoff depends on his or her own strategy. This allows for analysis of cooperative and non-cooperative games, zero-sum and nonzero-sum games, simultaneous and sequential games, and many other types.
In practice, a game is defined by the rules that the participants establish, the goals of the activity, and the nature of the action. The game must have a clear set of rules and must not have any significant effect on the players’ daily lives: winning at chess is not the same as losing your house; and participating in a race or a tug-of-war is not the same as falling in love.
Video games require a significant amount of player attention and engagement. However, the vast majority of studies that measure player engagement rely on self-reports, a method that is inherently inaccurate and biased. Studies that use objective measures of play time should help resolve these issues and allow for more accurate and reliable conclusions about the effects of video games on well-being. Several researchers have used server logs to collect this type of data, but more efforts are needed to incorporate these methods into the literature.
