Multiplayer game
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A multiplayer game is a game which is played by several players.[1] The players might be independent opponents, formed into teams or be just a single team pitted against the game. Games with many independent players are difficult to analyse formally in a game-theoretical way as the players may form coalitions.[2]
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[edit] Game Theory
John Nash proved that games with several players have a stable solution provided that coalitions between players are not allowed. He won the Nobel prize for economics for this important result which extended von Neumann's theory of zero-sum games. Such a stable strategy is called a Nash equilibrium.[3]
If cooperation between players is allowed, then the game is more complex. Many concepts have been developed to analyse such games. While these have had some partial success in the fields of economics, politics and conflict, no good general theory has yet been developed.[3]
In quantum game theory, it has been found that the introduction of quantum information into multiplayer games allows a new type of equilibrium strategy which is not found in traditional games. The entanglement of players's choices can have the effect of a contract by preventing players from profiting from betrayal.[4]
[edit] Types
Examples of the types of such games include:
- Charades - a party game in which the players mime and guess titles.[5]
- Contract Bridge - a card game played by two teams of two players.[5]
- Halo - a video game played by individuals or teams.[6]
- Diplomacy - up to seven players negotiate the fate of Europe.[7]
- Lord of the Rings - a board game in which players cooperate and even sacrifice themselves to destroy the Ring.[8]
- Monopoly - a board game about property trading and rental.[9]
- Poker - a gambling game usually played with about seven players.[10]
- Risk - a wargame of global conflict.[11]
- Scrabble - a word game in which the players build a crossword.[12]
- Shadowfist - a collectible card game which is especially good with four players.[13]
- World of Warcraft - a massively multiplayer online role-playing game.[14]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford University Press. 2008. "Designed for or involving more than two (esp. many) players or participants"
- ^ K. G. Binmore (1994). Game Theory and the Social Contract. MIT Press. ISBN 0262024446. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=HZ1hC1MLPeoC.
- ^ a b Laszlo Mero, Anna C. Gosi-Greguss, David Kramer (1998). Moral calculations: game theory, logic, and human frailty. New York: Copernicus. ISBN 0387984194. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=kqQjX-S1idsC.
- ^ Simon C. Benjamin and Patrick M. Hayden (13 August 2001), "Multiplayer quantum games", Physical Review A 64: 030301, doi:, http://prola.aps.org/abstract/PRA/v64/i3/e030301
- ^ a b R. Wayne Schmittberger (1992). New Rules for Classic Games. New York: Wiley. ISBN 0471536210. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=3sQ9dVz3jMEC&pgis=1.
- ^ Erik Bethke (2003). Game Development and Production. Plano, Tex.: Wordware Pub.. ISBN 1556229518. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=m5exIODbtqkC.
- ^ Richard Sharp (1978). The Game of Diplomacy. London: A. Barker. ISBN 0213166763. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=smVFAQAACAAJ.
- ^ Ernest Mathijs (2006). The Lord of the Rings: Popular Culture in Global Context. London: Wallflower Press. ISBN 1904764827. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=I8mxughWAOEC.
- ^ Philip E. Orbanes (2006). Monopoly: The World's Most Famous Game - and How It Got That Way. Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Press. ISBN 0306814897. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=VLnTGGeokR4C.
- ^ Gary Carson (1999). The Complete Book of Hold 'Em Poker. Secaucus, N.J.: Carol Pub. Group. ISBN 0818406054. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=xuG9egFLh_wC.
- ^ Ehsan Honary. Total Diplomacy: The Art of Winning Risk. ISBN 1419661930. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=VCKe_q8Sk0AC.
- ^ Joe Edley, John D. Williams, John D. Williams Jr. (2001). Everything Scrabble. New York: Pocket Books. ISBN 0671042181. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=2TRWuPktkuoC.
- ^ John Jackson Miller, Joyce Greenholdt, Jason Winter (2003). Scrye Collectible Card Game Checklist & Price Guide. Iola, Wis.: Krause. ISBN 087349623X. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=DgWsAAAACAAJ.
- ^ Scott Jennings, Alexander Macris (2006). Massively Multiplayer Games for Dummies. Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley. ISBN 0471752738. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=gGcqAAAACAAJ.
