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Simple search methods for finding a Nash equilibrium

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  • Porter, Ryan
  • Nudelman, Eugene
  • Shoham, Yoav

Abstract

We present two simple search methods for computing a sample Nash equilibrium in a normal-form game: one for 2-player games and one for n-player games. Both algorithms bias the search towards supports that are small and balanced, and employ a backtracking procedure to efficiently explore these supports. Making use of a new comprehensive testbed, we test these algorithms on many classes of games, and show that they perform well against the state of the art--the Lemke-Howson algorithm for 2-player games, and Simplicial Subdivision and Govindan-Wilson for n-player games.

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  • Porter, Ryan & Nudelman, Eugene & Shoham, Yoav, 2008. "Simple search methods for finding a Nash equilibrium," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 63(2), pages 642-662, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:gamebe:v:63:y:2008:i:2:p:642-662
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