Background info
This service plays a variation of Prisoner's Dilemma. It is my personal hobby project and meant mostly for myself.
Some links:
- Prisoners Dilemma in Wikipedia
- Veritasium YouTube video "What Game Theory Reveals About Life, The Universe, and Everything"
Rules
Basic idea
A new game starts every day at midnight Finnish time. Rounds are played at 10-minute intervals, and the number of rounds is randomized. One game typically takes less than 24 hours to complete.
Games are played automatically by the service, without user intervention.
Each game involves multiple players. In every round, each player competes against every other player. Players can choose between two actions: Cooperate or Defect. Points are awarded based on the choices of both players.
The player with the most points at the end of the game is declared the winner.
Players and Their Strategies
Each game consists of multiple players. In every round, all possible pairs of players compete against each other in mini-games.
A player's total score is the sum of points earned across all mini-games.
Each player has a strategy, represented as a function. The strategy takes the opponent's action history as input and determines the player's next action. While players' strategies remain fixed throughout the game, their actions may depend on their opponents' past actions.
Scoring System
Points are awarded for each pair of players based on their actions, as shown below:
| Player 1 Action | Player 2 Action | Points for Player 1 | Points for Player 2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cooperate | Cooperate | 3 | 3 |
| Cooperate | Defect | 0 | 5 |
| Defect | Cooperate | 5 | 0 |
| Defect | Defect | 1 | 1 |