This course will cover the mathematical theory and analysis of simple games without chance moves.
Overview
Syllabus
- Week 1: What is a Combinatorial Game?
- Hello and welcome to Games Without Chance: Combinatorial Game Theory! The topic for this first week is Let's play a game: Students will learn what a combinatorial game is, and play simple games.
- Week 2: Playing Multiple Games
- The topics for this second week is Playing several games at once, adding games, the negative of a game. Student will be able to add simple games and analyze them.
- Week 3: Comparing Games
- The topics for this third week is Comparing games. Students will determine the outcome of simple sums of games using inequalities.
- Week 4: Numbers and Games
- The topics for this fourth week is Simplicity and numbers. How to play win numbers. Students will be able to determine which games are numbers and if so what numbers they are.
- Week 5: Simplifying Games
- The topics for this fifth week is Simplifying games: Dominating moves, reversible moves. Students will be able to simplify simple games.
- Week 6: Impartial Games
- The topics for this sixth week is Nim: Students will be able to play and analyze impartial games.
- Week 7: What You Can Do From Here
- The topic for this seventh and final week is Where to go from here.
- Resources
Taught by
Tom Morley
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Reviews
2.7 rating, based on 3 Class Central reviews
4.3 rating at Coursera based on 208 ratings
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I took this course because I was curious as to how "Games Without Chance" could be analysed - many of the strategic courses I had taken previously had an element of chance. Prof Morley does very well in keeping things engaging and adding some sense of humour into his lectures.
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The maths in this course is somewhat interesting, but honestly I feel it is let down by a poor presentation. The content of the course jumps back and forwards very rapidly: some weeks some knowledge is assumed and then the next week the lecturer explains it. Even then there are some reasonably large gaps and 'obvious' questions unanswered. Despite the technology available, presentation is done using a camera filming the lecturer writing on paper as he goes: this is a very classic mathematic style but somewhat out of place for a MOOC.
