Games in Extensive Form

Abstract

All the games that we consider in this book have certain things in common. These are: There is a finite set of players (who may be people, groups of people, or more abstract entities like computer programs or “nature” or “the house”). Each player has complete knowledge of the rules of the game. At different points in the game, each player has a range of choices or moves. This set of choices is finite. The game ends after a finite number of moves. After the game ends, each player receives a numerical payoff. This number may be negative, in which case it is interpreted as a loss of the absolute value of the number. For example, in a game like chess the payoff for winning might be +1, for losing −1, and for a draw 0. KeywordsNormal FormDirected GraphChoice FunctionExtensive FormPerfect InformationThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.