Decision Theory and Games
Definition 1 (courtesy of wikipedia.org)
The study and application of mathematical techniques which provide a rational grounds for choosing between alternative courses of action in situation of varying degrees of uncertainty.
Definition 2 (courtesy of indiainfoline.com)
Is an interdisciplinary area of study, related to and of interest to practitioners in mathematics, statistics, economics, philosophy, management and psychology. It is concerned with how real decision-makers make decisions, and with how optimal decisions can be reached.
Commonly in Decision Theory, decisions are thought of as occurring under one of four conditions:
1. Certainty: The states of the game are known. But you have the problems of:
a) determining the outcome that will result from each action
b) deciding what benefits of those outcomes are
c) resolving tradeoffs with one action better achieves objective A, and another action better achieves objective B.
2. Risk: The states of the game are unknown, but the probabilities are known. For example, I don’t know if the having the longest road vp in Settlers will result in a win, but I know that 30% (I made this percentage up) of players that obtain the longest road vp, win Settlers.
So in addition to the problems associated with decisions under certainty, we must also evaluate probabilities, and combine information about probabilities and outcomes.
3. Uncertainty: The states of the game are unknown, and even their probabilities are unknown. There may be no previous knowledge about the effectiveness of some actions, for example. Now we have all the problems of decisions under risk, but we must also estimate probabilities somehow.
4. Conflict: The states of the game also consists of outside choices (what your opponents choose to do). Your opponents choices may be influenced by your choices (or their beliefs about your choices) and vice versa.
We have all the problems of decisions under uncertainty, and we have to think about strategy - how to respond to or influence someone else's actions. The study of decision under conflict is usually called game theory, and is fascinating, but we will cover that in another part of this Theory Series.
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The topic is Decision Theory? Why?
As a game designer, I feel that understanding Decision Theory will help me to improve my games. So I figure it was worth my time and effort to bring the discussion to the forum, in hopes to make us all decide how we handle decision making in our game designs.
For me, I think that the idea of Decision Theory is a core part of any good game. I think it can make or break a game. Can you imagine the game of PR where players have no reason to decide on which role to select?
I feel that without decisions, players would have no reason to “figure out” the best strategy, or better yet, worry about the outcome of an uncertain choice.
So a few questions to get us all thinking,
1) Do you as a designer think about decision making while designing your games?
2) How do you incorporate decisions making aspects into your games?
3) Would a game be a game without some type of decision making?
4) To what depth should a game designer understand theories that influence game design?
5) Was this a useful post or did I waste my time? ;) (just checking to see if I should continue the Theory Series)
Here are my 2 bits:
1) Do you as a designer think about decision making while designing your games?
Absolutely. This may be the most important consideration when developing a game. Sure, the theme, a certain mechanic or even a genre may come first, but drafting rules, playtesting and fine tuning all come down to creating the best game experience possible.
For me, that hinges on the type, frequency and importance of the decisions the players make over the course of the game.
2) How do you incorporate decisions making aspects into your games?
It depends on the genre/theme and the design goal I first set out, but I prefer developing multi-tier decisions. In other words, decisions that can have more than one effect, or impact the game in more than one way.
If you're dealing with a bidding game, as an example, not only do you need to gauge an item's relative value to you, but also the value to the other players. Passing on an item is a decision that impacts the game by virtue of allowing another player to grab the item. Bidding and winning the item impacts the game as well, but in another way.
I also like items that can be used in several ways. A good example of this would be the cards in certain card-driven wargames like Hannibal: Rome Vs. Carthage. A single card could be used to recruit more units, expand your political influence, activate stacks of units, move by sea transportation or played as an event -- having several decisions wrapped into a key component adds strategic depth, replay value and some good brainfood.
3) Would a game be a game without some type of decision making?
Games with literally no decisions generally come down strictly to probability and chance. These sorts of games are excellent for children, where everyone can play on equal footing, without skill disparity affecting the outcome. Reiner Knizia's Monkey Madness is an excellent example of this - it is a social exercise, I'd argue, and not technically a game.
4) To what depth should a game designer understand theories that influence game design?
I think a designer should be familiar with concepts and theories he would like to work with, but strong experience with these theories (based on gameplay experience or discussions like these) are just as valuable as reading about the nuances of a particular theory.
That said, I think the broader the experience and knowledge base (either through first hand gameplay experience or through research), the better off the designer will be, being able to leverage knowledge of several different ideas, fine tuning them to fit his particular needs within a particular design. And the more familiar you are with a concept or theory, the more likely that tweaks and changes to the theory will remain balanced and workable, rather than fall apart.
5) Was this a useful post or did I waste my time? ;) (just checking to see if I should continue the Theory Series)
Great topic for a thread. These are the sorts of forum questions and content I find most interesting and useful as a designer. Well thought out, great supplemental information, and the questions should trigger some interesting discussions from folks.