Related papers: Exploring Tetris as a Transformation Semigroup
In this piece, we examine one variant of the infamous 15 Tile Puzzle and develop a mathematical backing behind why it is unsolvable. Using concepts of permutations, bijectivity, and cycle transpositions, we not only prove how to model this…
Dots-and-Boxes is a child's game which remains analytically unsolved. We implement and evolve artificial neural networks to play this game, evaluating them against simple heuristic players. Our networks do not evaluate or predict the final…
Most approaches to the synthesis of reactive systems study the problem in terms of a two-player game with complete observation. In many applications, however, the system's environment consists of several distinct entities, and the system…
We study the applicability of quantum algorithms in computational game theory and generalize some results related to Subtraction games, which are sometimes referred to as one-heap Nim games. In quantum game theory, a subset of Subtraction…
Decades of research have been invested in making computer programs for playing games such as Chess and Go. This paper focuses on a new game, Tetris Link, a board game that is still lacking any scientific analysis. Tetris Link has a large…
Consider a variant of Tetris played on a board of width $w$ and infinite height, where the pieces are axis-aligned rectangles of arbitrary integer dimensions, the pieces can only be moved before letting them drop, and a row does not…
The space of finite games can be decomposed into three orthogonal subspaces [5], which are the subspaces of pure potential games, nonstrategic games and pure harmonic games. The orthogonal projections onto these subspaces are represented as…
We present a new multiplayer game model for the interaction and the flow of information in a distributed system. The players are tokens on a Petri net. As long as the players move in independent parts of the net, they do not know of each…
Subtraction games are a class of impartial combinatorial games whose positions correspond to nonnegative integers and whose moves correspond to subtracting one of a fixed set of numbers from the current position. Though they are easy to…
A transitive permutation group is semiprimitive if each of its normal subgroups is transitive or semiregular. Interest in this class of groups is motivated by two sources: problems arising in universal algebra related to collapsing monoids…
The Krohn-Rhodes Theorem proves that a finite semigroup divides a wreath product of groups and aperiodic semigroups. Krohn-Rhodes complexity equals the minimal number of groups that are needed. Determining an algorithm to compute complexity…
Segerman's 15+4 puzzle is a hinged version of the classic 15-puzzle, in which the tiles rotate as they slide around. In 1974, Wilson classified the groups of solutions to sliding block puzzles. We generalize Wilson's result to puzzles like…
The online semi-random graph process is a one-player game which starts with the empty graph on $n$ vertices. At every round, a player (called Builder) is presented with a vertex $v$ chosen uniformly at random and independently from previous…
A Subtraction-Division game is a two player combinatorial game with three parameters: a set S, a set D, and a number n. The game starts at n, and is a race to say the number 1. Each player, on their turn, can either move the total to n-s…
In this thesis, we survey techniques and results from the study of Complexity Theory and Games. We then apply these techniques to obtain new results for previously unstudied games. Our contributions in the games Hexiom, Cut the Rope, and…
Combinatorial Game Theory is a branch of mathematics and theoretical computer science that studies sequential 2-player games with perfect information. Normal play is the convention where a player who cannot move loses. Here, we generalize…
A sequence S is nonrepetitive if no two adjacent blocks of S are the same. In 1906 Thue proved that there exist arbitrarily long nonrepetitive sequences over 3 symbols. We consider the online variant of this result in which a nonrepetitive…
Consider a game played on a simple graph $G = (V,E)$ where each vertex consists of a clickable light. Clicking any vertex $v$ toggles the on/off state of $v$ and its neighbors. One wins the game by finding a sequence of clicks that turns…
A Turmit is a Turing machine that works over a two-dimensional grid, that is, an agent that moves, reads and writes symbols over the cells of the grid. Its state is an arrow and, depending on the symbol that it reads, it turns to the left…
We initiate the study of simple games from the point of view of combinatorial topology. The starting premise is that the losing coalitions of a simple game can be identified with a simplicial complex. Various topological constructions and…