Game Theory (Bonanno)
Giacomo Bonanno · 2015
"Non-cooperative game theory formalizes strategic interaction — situations where your best move depends on what others do — starting from strategic-form games and building up to the equilibrium concepts that predict how rational agents behave under mutual interdependence."
Most decisions that matter aren't made in isolation — they're made against other people who are also deciding. Game theory is the formal language for that situation.
Bonanno's textbook builds from strategic-form (normal-form) games — where players choose actions simultaneously and payoffs depend on the combination chosen — toward the equilibrium concepts (like Nash equilibrium) that predict stable outcomes when every player is best-responding to everyone else. The core move is representing a strategic situation formally enough that you can reason about it rigorously instead of just intuiting it.
What does a 'strategic-form' (normal-form) game formally represent?
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The explanation above is written with AI assistance. These are the originals — go to them to check it.
- Game TheoryGiacomo Bonanno, UC Davis (open textbook)
Nash Equilibrium
"In any strategic game, a stable outcome exists where no player can improve their result by changing strategy alone — everyone is already playing their best response to everyone else."