VerifyMatrixGameStrategy

VerifyMatrixGameStrategy[mgame,strat]

verifies that the strategy profile strat is a Nash equilibrium for the matrix game mgame.

Details

  • A strategy is Pareto efficient if no action or allocation is available that makes one individual better off without making another worse off.
  • VerifyMatrixGameStrategy is typically used to verify if a given game strategy is a Nash equilibrium, or equivalently, if a given strategy is Pareto efficient.

Examples

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Basic Examples  (3)

Find if the defect/defect strategy is Pareto efficient in the Prisoner's Dilemma game:

Find if a given strategy is a Nash equilibrium in the Chicken game:

This is one of the three optimal strategies obtained by FindMatrixGameStrategies:

Find if a given strategy is a Nash equilibrium in the Hawk-Dove game:

Scope  (2)

Find if a given strategy is a Nash equilibrium in the Platonia Dilemma game:

Find a pure optimal strategy in the Battle of the Bismarck game by trial and error:

This is confirmed by FindMatrixGameStrategies:

Applications  (6)

Social Games  (2)

The Volunteer's Dilemma describes a situation where each player can either volunteer or defect. If at least one player volunteers, all other players marginally benefit from defecting. If no player volunteers, all players have a very low payoff. Generate a Volunteer' s Dilemma game with 4 players:

Confirm that a strategy is optimal if exactly one player volunteers:

The Discoordination game is a hybrid form of coordination and anti-coordination games, where one player's incentive is to coordinate while the other player tries to avoid this. Generate a Discoordination game with a volunteer and a detractor:

Find if a strategy of coordinated actions is Pareto efficient:

Economics Games  (1)

The Cournot Oligopoly game describes a situation where a group of firms produces the same good. Each firm must consider the production cost and the quantity the other firms are producing. Only the firms with the lowest price sell goods. Generate a Cournot Oligopoly game:

Find if the strategy where all players choose the second action is Pareto efficient:

This is intuitive when considering that, for all players, the payoffs are largest for the second action:

Military Games  (1)

The Colonel Blotto game describes a situation where officers (players) are tasked to simultaneously distribute limited resources over several objects (battlefields). The player devoting the most resources to a battlefield wins that battlefield, and the gain (or payoff) is equal to the total number of battlefields won. Generate a Colonel Blotto game:

Find if the strategy of spreading the resources is Pareto efficient:

This is intuitive considering the second player has more resources, thus, spreading the resources increases the number of battlefields where the player can win:

Recreational Games  (1)

Rock Paper Scissors is a zero-sum game, where either one player wins and the other loses, or there is a tie. Determine if the equiprobable strategy is Pareto efficient:

Symmetry in Games  (1)

Consider the difference between pure coordination and dangerous coordination games. Similar to Rock Paper Scissors, determine if the equiprobable strategy is Pareto efficient in the pure coordination game:

For symmetric games, the equiprobable strategy is often worth testing. Asymmetrical games are rarely Pareto efficient with this strategy. Determine if the equiprobable strategy is Pareto efficient in the dangerous coordination game:

Wolfram Research (2025), VerifyMatrixGameStrategy, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/VerifyMatrixGameStrategy.html.

Text

Wolfram Research (2025), VerifyMatrixGameStrategy, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/VerifyMatrixGameStrategy.html.

CMS

Wolfram Language. 2025. "VerifyMatrixGameStrategy." Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Wolfram Research. https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/VerifyMatrixGameStrategy.html.

APA

Wolfram Language. (2025). VerifyMatrixGameStrategy. Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Retrieved from https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/VerifyMatrixGameStrategy.html

BibTeX

@misc{reference.wolfram_2024_verifymatrixgamestrategy, author="Wolfram Research", title="{VerifyMatrixGameStrategy}", year="2025", howpublished="\url{https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/VerifyMatrixGameStrategy.html}", note=[Accessed: 15-January-2025 ]}

BibLaTeX

@online{reference.wolfram_2024_verifymatrixgamestrategy, organization={Wolfram Research}, title={VerifyMatrixGameStrategy}, year={2025}, url={https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/VerifyMatrixGameStrategy.html}, note=[Accessed: 15-January-2025 ]}