Related papers: Dots-and-Polygons
The theory of combinatorial game (like board games) and the theory of social games (where one looks for Nash equilibria) are normally considered as two separate theories. Here we shall see what comes out of combining the ideas. The central…
In the chapter "Magic with a Matrix" in \emph{Hexaflexagons and Other Mathematical Diversions} (1988), Martin Gardner describes a delightful "party trick" to fill the squares of a $d$-by-$d$ chessboard with nonnegative integers such that…
The classic Rock-Paper-Scissors game of size 3 and its extension, Rock-Paper-Scissors-Lizard-Spock, are modeled by directed graphs called tournaments. They can be further extended to any odd size. The extended games are regular tournaments…
In this article, we consider some simple combinatorial game and a winning strategy in this game. This game is then used to prove several known results about non-repetitive sequences and approximations with denominators from a lacunary…
Given two finite sets of integers $S\subseteq\NNN\setminus\{0\}$ and $D\subseteq\NNN\setminus\{0,1\}$,the impartial combinatorial game $\IMARK(S,D)$ is played on a heap of tokens. From a heap of $n$ tokens, each player can moveeither to a…
We introduce and study pawn games, a class of two-player zero-sum turn-based graph games. A turn-based graph game proceeds by placing a token on an initial vertex, and whoever controls the vertex on which the token is located, chooses its…
We provide a polynomial algorithm to find the value and an optimal strategy for a generalization of the Pig game. Modeled as a competitive Markov decision process, the corresponding Bellman equations can be decoupled leading to systems of…
Creating and evaluating games manually is an arduous and laborious task. Procedural content generation can aid by creating game artifacts, but usually not an entire game. Evolutionary game design, which combines evolutionary algorithms with…
We consider a modification of Winkler's "dots and coins" problem, where we constrain the dots to lie on a square lattice in the plane. We construct packings of "coins" (closed unit disks) using motif patterns.
We introduce a one-person game that we call Padlock Solitaire which resembles the well-known clock solitaire card game. Analyzing variants of this game we obtain simple proofs of some classical results of combinatorics including ballot…
Winning sets of Schmidt's game enjoy a remarkable rigidity. Therefore, this game (and modifications of it) have been applied to many examples of complete metric spaces (X, d) to show that the set of "badly approximable points", with respect…
The following problem is considered. Two players are each required to allocate a quota of~$n$ counters among~$k$ boxes labelled~$1,2,\ldots,k$. At times $t=1,2,3,\ldots$ a random box is identified; the probability of choosing box~$i$…
Particle Dobble is an open-access, gamified learning tool designed to address persistent misconceptions in particle physics education by symbolically representing elements of the Standard Model. Aimed at upper secondary and introductory…
Inspired by the Japanese game Pachinko, we study simple (perfectly "inelastic" collisions) dynamics of a unit ball falling amidst point obstacles (pins) in the plane. A classic example is that a checkerboard grid of pins produces the…
We study variations on combinatorial games in which, instead of alternating moves, the players bid with discrete bidding chips for the right to determine who moves next. We consider both symmetric and partisan games, and explore differences…
We investigate the Pick problem for the polydisk and unit ball using dual algebra techniques. Some factorization results for Bergman spaces are used to describe a Pick theorem for any bounded region in $\mathbb{C}^d$.
This paper extends the work started in 2002 by Demaine, Demaine and Verill (DDV) on coin-moving puzzles. These puzzles have a long history in the recreational literature, but were first systematically analyzed by DDV, who gave a full…
Period domains, the classifying spaces for (pure, polarized) Hodge structures, and more generally Mumford-Tate domains, arise as open $G_{\mathbb{R}}$--orbits in flag varieties $G/P$. We investigate Hodge--theoretic aspects of the geometry…
We discuss generalizations of some results on lattice polygons to certain piecewise linear loops which may have a self-intersection but have vertices in the lattice $\mathbb{Z}^2$. We first prove a formula on the rotation number of a…
Chessboard and chess piece recognition is a computer vision problem that has not yet been efficiently solved. However, its solution is crucial for many experienced players who wish to compete against AI bots, but also prefer to make…