Tonight, a few of us are going to gather to participate in a movie and game night. The goal of which is to be entertained by both while also having it relate to what we study in political science.
Tonight's Agenda:
The movie for tonight is the classic The Princess Bride. The inspiration for having this headline our debut entertainment night is two-fold 1) we found someone in the department who has not seen the film 2) the game theoretic moments in the film are enjoyable and have been widely recognized:
Beyond the battle of wits, there is bluffing (to the pain!) and other elements that I should have links for.
The Game of the Night - Settlers of Catan. From boardgamegeek.com:
In Settlers of Catan, players try to be the dominant
force on the island of Catan by building settlements, cities, and
roads. On each turn dice are rolled to determine what resources the
island produces. Players collect these resources to build up their
civilizations to get to 10 victory points and win the game.
Multi-award-winning and one of the most popular games in recent history
due to its amazing ability to appeal to non-gamers and gamers alike.
Wikipedia is a bit more specific on player interaction:
There is no combat. Players may harm each other by moving the robber,
refusing to trade, cutting off building routes, taking the "longest
road" and "largest army" cards, and using certain development cards.
The layout of the board and restrictions on building allow for a player
to be boxed in through poor play or bad luck. Also, given the random
component of the board layout, it is possible for a player to gain a
monopoly on a certain resource, then demand steep trade rates from the
other players. Home games generally take between one and two hours to
complete.
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