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Game theory studies strategic interaction between individuals in situations called games. Classes of these games have been given names. This is a list of the most commonly studied games.

Contents 1 Explanation of features 2 List of games 3 Notes 4 References

[edit] Explanation of features

Games can have several features, a few of the most common are listed here.

• Number of Players: Each person who makes a choice in a game or who receives a payoff from the outcome of those choices is a player.
• Strategies per player: In a game each player chooses from a set of possible actions, known as strategies. If the number is the same for all players, it is listed here.
• Number of pure strategy Nash equilibria: A Nash equilibrium is a set of strategies which represents mutual best responses to the other strategies. In other words, if every player is playing their part of a Nash equilibrium, no player has an incentive to unilaterally change his or her strategy. Considering only situations where players play a single strategy without randomizing (a pure strategy) a game can have any number of Nash equilibria.
• Sequential game: A game is sequential if one player performs her/his actions after another, otherwise the game is a simultaneous move game.
• Perfect information: A game has perfect information if it is a sequential game and every player knows the strategies chosen by the players who preceded them.
• Constant sum: A game is constant sum if the sum of the payoffs to every player are the same for every set of strategies. In these games one player gains if and only if another player loses.

[edit] List of games

Game	Players	Strategies per player	Number of pure strategy Nash equilibria	Sequential	Perfect information	Constant sum (e.g. Zero sum)
Battle of the sexes	2	2	2	No	No	No
Blotto games	2	variable	variable	No	No	Yes
Cake cutting	infinite	infinite	variable[1]	No	Yes	Yes
Centipede game	2	variable	1	Yes	Yes	No
Chicken (aka hawk-dove)	2	2	2	No	No	No
Coordination game	N	variable	>2	No	No	No
Cournot game	2	infinite[2]	1	No	No	No
Deadlock	2	2	1	No	No	No
Dictator game	2	infinite[2]	1	N/A[3]	N/A[3]	Yes
Diner's dilemma	N	2	1	No	No	No
Dollar auction	2	2	0	Yes	Yes	No
El Farol bar	N	2	variable	No	No	No
Guess 2/3 of the average	N	infinite	1	No	No	Yes
Kuhn poker	2	27 & 64	0	Yes	No	Yes
Matching pennies	2	2	0	No	No	Yes
Minority Game	N	2	variable	No	No	No
Nash bargaining game	2	infinite[2]	infinite[2]	No	No	No
Peace war game	N	variable	>2	Yes	No	No
Pirate game	N	infinite[2]	infinite[2]	Yes	Yes	Yes
Prisoner's dilemma	2	2	1	No	No	No
Rock, Paper, Scissors	2	3	0	No	No	Yes
Screening game	N	variable	variable	Yes	No	No
Signaling game	N	variable	variable	Yes	No	No
Stag hunt	2	2	2	No	No	No
Traveler's dilemma	2	N >> 1	1	No	No	No
Trust game	2	infinite	1	Yes	Yes	No
Volunteer's dilemma	2	N	2	No	No	No
War of attrition	2	2	0	No	No	No
Ultimatum game	2	infinite[2]	infinite[2]	Yes	Yes	No
Princess and Monster game	2	infinite	0	No	No	Yes

[edit] Notes

1. ^ For the cake cutting problem, there is a simple solution if the object to be divided is homogenous; one person cuts, the other choses who gets which piece (continued for each player). With a non-homogenous object, such as a half chocolate/half vanilla cake or a patch of land with a single source of water, the solutions are far more complex.
2. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h} There may be finite strategies depending on how goods are divisible.
3. ^ ^{a b} Since the dictator game only involves one player actually choosing a strategy (the other does nothing), it cannot really be classified as sequential or perfect information.

[edit] References

• Arthur, W. Brian “Inductive Reasoning and Bounded Rationality”, American Economic Review (Papers and Proceedings), 84,406-411, 1994.
• Bolton, Katok, Zwick 1998, "Dictator game giving: Rules of fairness versus acts of kindness" International Journal of Game Theory, Volume 27, Number 2
• Gibbons, Robert (1992) A Primer in Game Theory, Harvester Wheatsheaf
• Glance, Huberman. (1994) "The dynamics of social dilemmas." Scientific American.
• H. W. Kuhn, Simplified Two-Person Poker; in H. W. Kuhn and A. W. Tucker (editors), Contributions to the Theory of Games, volume 1, pages 97-103, Princeton University Press, 1950.
• Martin J. Osborne & Ariel Rubinstein: A Course in Game Theory (1994).
• McKelvey, R. and T. Palfrey (1992) "An experimental study of the centipede game," Econometrica 60(4), 803-836.
• Nash, John (1950) "The Bargaining Problem" Econometrica 18: 155-162.
• Ochs, J. and A.E. Roth (1989) "An Experimental Study of Sequential Bargaining" American Economic Review 79: 355-384.
• Rapoport, A. (1966) The game of chicken, American Behavioral Scientist 10: 10-14.
• Rasmussen, Eric: Games and Information, 2004
• Shor, Mikhael. "Battle of the sexes". GameTheory.net. http://www.gametheory.net/dictionary/BattleoftheSexes.html. Retrieved on September 30 2006. 
• Shor, Mikhael. "Deadlock". GameTheory.net. http://www.gametheory.net/dictionary/Games/Deadlock.html. Retrieved on September 30 2006. 
• Shor, Mikhael. "Matching Pennies". GameTheory.net. http://www.gametheory.net/dictionary/Games/Matchingpennies.html. Retrieved on September 30 2006. 
• Shor, Mikhael. "Prisoner's Dilemma". GameTheory.net. http://www.gametheory.net/dictionary/Prisonersdilemma.html. Retrieved on September 30 2006. 
• Shubik, Martin "The Dollar Auction Game: A Paradox in Noncooperative Behavior and Escalation," The Journal of Conflict Resolution, 15, 1, 1971, 109-111.
• Sinervo, B., and Lively, C. (1996). "The Rock-Paper-Scissors Game and the evolution of alternative male strategies". Nature Vol.380, pp.240-243
• Skyrms, Brian. (2003) The stag hunt and Evolution of Social Structure Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

v • d • e Topics in game theory Definitions Normal-form game · Extensive-form game · Cooperative game · Information set · Preference Equilibrium concepts Nash equilibrium · Subgame perfection · Bayesian-Nash · Perfect Bayesian · Trembling hand · Proper equilibrium · Epsilon-equilibrium · Correlated equilibrium · Sequential equilibrium · Quasi-perfect equilibrium · Evolutionarily stable strategy · Risk dominance · Pareto efficiency · Quantal response equilibrium Strategies Dominant strategies · Pure strategy · Mixed strategy · Tit for tat · Grim trigger · Collusion · Backward induction Classes of games Symmetric game · Perfect information · Dynamic game · Sequential game · Repeated game · Signaling game · Cheap talk · Zero-sum game · Mechanism design · Bargaining problem · Stochastic game · Nontransitive game · Global games Games Prisoner's dilemma · Traveler's dilemma · Coordination game · Chicken · Centipede game · Volunteer's dilemma · Dollar auction · Battle of the sexes · Stag hunt · Matching pennies · Ultimatum game · Minority game · Rock-paper-scissors · Pirate game · Dictator game · Public goods game · Blotto games · War of attrition · El Farol Bar problem · Cake cutting · Cournot game · Deadlock · Diner's dilemma · Guess 2/3 of the average · Kuhn poker · Nash bargaining game · Screening game · Trust game · Princess and monster game Theorems Minimax theorem · Purification theorem · Folk theorem · Revelation principle · Arrow's impossibility theorem See also Tragedy of the commons · All-pay auction · List of games in game theory