Defining Games

The core of Tenet: expressing strategic games in clean, readable syntax.

Basic Structure

game GameName {
    players Player1, Player2
    strategies Strategy1, Strategy2
    
    payoff Player1 {
        (Strategy1, Strategy1): value
        (Strategy1, Strategy2): value
        (Strategy2, Strategy1): value
        (Strategy2, Strategy2): value
    }
    
    payoff Player2 {
        // Same structure
    }
}

Components

1. Game Declaration

game PrisonersDilemma {
    // ...
}

Game names should be:

  • PascalCase (recommended)
  • Descriptive of the strategic situation

2. Players

players Alice, Bob
  • Two or more players
  • Names are identifiers (no quotes)

3. Strategies

strategies Cooperate, Defect
  • Currently shared by all players
  • Names are identifiers

4. Payoff Blocks

payoff Alice {
    (Cooperate, Cooperate): 3
    (Cooperate, Defect): 0
    // ...
}

Each rule maps (MyStrategy, TheirStrategy) → PayoffValue.

Complete Example

game BattleOfSexes {
    players Alice, Bob
    strategies Opera, Football
    
    // Alice prefers opera, Bob prefers football
    // But both prefer being together
    
    payoff Alice {
        (Opera, Opera): 3       // Together at opera (Alice's preference)
        (Opera, Football): 0    // Apart
        (Football, Opera): 0    // Apart
        (Football, Football): 2 // Together at football
    }
    
    payoff Bob {
        (Opera, Opera): 2       // Together at opera
        (Opera, Football): 0    // Apart
        (Football, Opera): 0    // Apart
        (Football, Football): 3 // Together at football (Bob's preference)
    }
}

solve BattleOfSexes;

Next Steps