The math of strategic interaction, from Prisoner's Dilemma to mechanism design. Ten modules, a hundred worked problems, one capstone.
Game theory is the math behind every situation where what's best for you depends on what someone else is about to do. This course moves from the basic formalism — players, strategies, payoffs — through Nash equilibrium, extensive-form games, repeated games, Bayesian games, and mechanism design, to evolutionary dynamics. Worked problems, not watched lectures. The language stays medium — accessible to a curious reader, rigorous enough to survive a graduate seminar.
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Sign in to applyComplete all modules, then submit the required number of capstone projects. Each must earn a passing rating from an admin reviewer.
Pick a real, messy strategic interaction — a negotiation, a market structure, a policy debate, a game you actually play — and deliver a full game-theoretic analysis: formal model, solution concept(s) applied, prediction, sensitivity to assumptions, and a named failure mode where your model breaks. Ten pages, submitted as a PDF.
Free online. Rigorous graduate-level text. Read alongside Modules 3–6 of this course.
Undergraduate companion. Gentler than Osborne-Rubinstein. Pair with Modules 1–3.
Paste this into any AI chat. Fill in the bracketed parts with your context — you'll get back a straight answer on whether this belongs on your plate.
I'm considering a "Game Theory" course: Prisoner's Dilemma and Nash equilibrium, extensive-form games, mixed strategies, repeated games, Bayesian games, mechanism design, evolutionary dynamics. 100 worked problems, one capstone where I model a real strategic situation I care about. Context: 1. My field: [e.g. "product manager", "economist", "lawyer", "engineer", "student deciding a major"] 2. A strategic situation in my life right now: [describe it — a negotiation, a competitor dynamic, a pricing decision, a political choice, a hiring market] 3. Why I'm curious about game theory: [e.g. "decisions at work feel like chess with no rules", "I keep losing to the same opponent", "I want to think more clearly", "interview prep"] Answer: - Would game theory give me actual leverage on the situation I described in (2), or is it the wrong lens? Diagnose and give the right lens if so. - Name one specific concept from this syllabus (Nash, Bayesian, mechanism design, etc.) that would likely change how I act this month. - What's a common mistake people make after a game-theory course — applying it to situations where it doesn't fit? - Is 50 hours of my time worth spending on this vs. 50 hours on [something related: negotiation books, behavioural econ, statistics, microeconomics]? Which one wins for me, and why?
Less than a page. Read it. You'll understand why once you're done with Module 3.
Classic on repeated games. Read after Module 6 — tit-for-tat will feel different.