Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
next room over could betray us or keep silent. Keeping that in mind, the choices we
have before us can apply a 50% chance to each of the potential outcomes of that
choice. Using that logic, our choices now carry the following potential penalties.
Stay silent:
50% chance that we serve 6 months (if he stays silent as well)
50% chance that we serve 10 years (if he rats us out)
Betray our partner:
50% chance that we go free (if he stays silent)
50% chance that we serve 5 years (if he tells on us as well)
We are tempted to do a purely mathematical solution for this. By applying the
percentages to the time periods, we can reduce the unknown action of our cohort
to a single figure. In this case, staying quiet would amount to
Likewise, if we were to betray our partner, we would be facing
FIGURE 5.2
The decision matrix for Prisoner's Dilemma.
Depending on the actions of the two prisoners, a variety of results could occur.
