Economics Challenge Series 2025 – Challenge 1: Game Theory (Most or Least)

6 days ago (Edited)

Hi Everyone,

Welcome to the Economics Challenge Series for 2025. For July and August, I am running an economics challenge series. The series consists of six challenges. All the challenges will commence in July and early August. I will publish and announce the results in August.

Five of the seven challenges from last year's Challenge Series return. The Auction Challenge is replacing the Complement vs. Substitute and Tax Game challenges. This year because of time constraints, I have reduced the number of challenges from seven to six. Below is the list of challenges.

Challenge 1: Game Theory Game
Challenge 2: The Buying and Selling Game
Challenge 3: Pick-a-Door
Challenge 4: Ice Cream Game
Challenge 5: Auction
Challenge 6: Even-to-Win

Each challenge could reward winners with as much as 60 Hive Power. The value of the prize will depend on the level of participation. For each new participant, the prize will increase by 4 Hive Power. This increase will continue until 60 Hive Power is reached (15 participants). The first 15 participants will also receive a 50% upvote from this account.

In addition to the prize money, the top few participants will be given points. These points will be used to determine the overall challenge series winner. This winner may receive as much as 80 Hive Power. The value of the prize will equal the sum of the number of participants across all challenges. This will continue until 80 Hive Power is reached.

Welcome to the Game Theory (Most or Least) Challenge

How to Play?

The Game Theory (Most or Least) challenge requires participants to select 5 out of 11 boxes. Each box has a monetary value; these values will be revealed later in this question. The value represented by each box will be shared equally across all participants who have selected that box. For example, if a box has a value of 80 and 5 participants have selected that box, each participant will be awarded a value of 16 (80/5).

All the information you need to know to play the game is provided in the question.

All entries must be made in the comments section of this post.

Each account is only permitted one entry.

Objectives of the Game

This game has several different win conditions. These win conditions depend on the values obtained by participants.

The participant who obtains the highest value wins the challenge if no other players’ obtain that same value.
If more than one participant shares the highest value, the participant with the lowest value wins if no other players’ obtain that same value.
If more than one participant shares the highest value and if more than one participant shares the lowest value, the first and second participants to enter the challenge will be joint winners of the challenge and will share the prize equally. This will occur regardless of the value they obtain from the boxes.

Below is an example of a game where participants choose 3 of 5 boxes. The GIF demonstrates how the game changes as more participants enter. In this example, Participant 2 is the winner. However, at different points in the game, different participants take the lead. For example, after Participant 3 entered, Participant 3 was winning. Watch the GIF to see how the game changes as more players enter.

Example of the Game Theory Challenge

Participants’ value is calculated as follows (using an example of selecting 5 out of 11 boxes):

Logic of the Objectives

The challenge tests participants’ ability to outmanoeuvre each other. The challenge contains both strategy and tactics. Entering early (first or second) provides the advantage of entering under a potential win condition. Entering later provides the advantage of being able to observe other participants decisions, therefore potentially creating opportunities to achieve the highest or lowest value. However, if another participant enters, some of this advantage is lost.

Challenge Prizes

The total prize for this challenge could reach as high as 60 Hive Power. The number of participants determines the value of the prize. For every entry, the prize is increased by 4 Hive Power until a value of 60 Hive Power is reached. For this challenge, the total value of the prize goes to the winner. The first 15 entries will be given upvotes. The winner of this challenge will also be given 40 points. These points will be tallied at the end of the challenge series to determine the overall winner.

Let the Challenge Begin!

Participants are required to select 5 out of 11 boxes. Each box has been allocated a value. The values of each of the eleven boxes are as follows:

Box 1: 72, Box 2: 54, Box 3: 98, Box 4: 45, Box 5: 66, Box 6: 80, Box 7: 102, Box 8: 68, Box 9: 48, Box 10: 88, and Box 11: 112

Entry Format

For this challenge, I expect to see entries made in the following format:

Boxes: …, …, …, and …

Example of Entry

Boxes: 2, 5, 8, 9, and 10

The closing date and time for this challenge is 6PM coordinated universal time (UTC) 21/07/2025. Responses after this time will not be accepted. The results of the challenge will be announced in a separate post.

I hope everyone has fun and enjoys the first challenge for this year’s series. If you have any questions, feel free to ask in the comments section. I look forward to your participation in the next challenge. It will be available in a few days.

The Sapien Loop Series

I am writing a trilogy of books titled Sapien Loop. The first in the series is Sapien Loop: End of an Era and the second is Sapien Loop: Frozen in Time. I published both of these books as ebooks on Amazon, and I have posted completed chapters to my @captainhive account. I anticipate publishing the third book in early 2027. I expect to title this book Sapien Loop: Worlds Collide. In 2025, I plan to write short stories about some of the characters and their adventures. I will post these to my @captainhive over the course of the year.

Brief Summary of Sapien Loop: End of an Era

This story is based on the fictional planet Sapia and its sole country, Sapey. Sapey is portrayed as a form of utopia for all its citizens. No poverty. No war. Almost no crime. Opportunities for all.

This was enough for most citizens, but not all. In one of the small regions, some of the citizens had become discontent. They felt something important was missing in their lives. Their discontent did not go unnoticed. Some of the Sapey elite wanted to weaponise this discontent to gain more power. This created more chaos than they anticipated. This led to further widespread social unrest.

On top of the chaos, ambition and greed provoked another enemy. This enemy was on a mission to settle both new and old scores.

Brief Summary of Sapien Loop: Frozen in Time

This story is based six years after the original story. The Downs Region is still suffering from a serious health crisis caused by the contaminated water. The main characters are desperately trying to find a cure for the illness that has been caused by the water.

One of the main characters has discovered frozen humanoids in hidden chambers. It appears they have been frozen for a long time. These chambers connect to a vast network of tunnels. While exploring the tunnels, one of the frozen humanoids disappears. It appears he has been stolen.

The story takes a step back in time to tell the story of the frozen humanoids. How and why were they frozen? This part of the story also explains the fall of ancient Sapey and the birth of the Sapiens. Can those from the past be able to coexist with those from the present?