Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Probabilities in Monopoly

I just read some paragraphs in a book called "The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses" by Jesse Schell. It really is a very interesting book, analyizing the design of games from a rather theoretical standpoint but giving rules of thumb that can guide your designs.

Anyways, the paragraph I read was an introduction to probabilities for game designers. It was really well-written and a fun read. One thing I have to comment on, though, is the statement that it is "nearly impossible to calculate the probabilities of landing on a particular field in Monopoly using theoretical means" (in contrast to simulating a very, very long game). It actually can be done with good thought and knowledge of Markov Chains. Googling a bit, you will find really nice articles analyzing the game of Monopoly in this regard. This place might be a good start.

So now that I've given this one away, let me know whether you succeeded in the game by purchasing the most likely fields!

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