Economics Challenge Series 2025 Results – Challenge 6: Even to Win

1 day ago

Hi Everyone,

It is time to reveal the results for the 2025 Economics Challenge Series. All six challenges have been posted. Below are the links to these challenges.

The challenge series has become an annual event held in July and August. The challenge series normally consists of seven challenges. This year because of some time constraints, it has been reduced to just 6.

The purpose of the challenge series is to enable participants to use their knowledge of basic economic concepts to help them to win. Concepts include demand and supply, game theory, expected value, and location theory.

The challenge series is set up to reward participation. The first 15 participants are upvoted, and the prize increases by 4 Hive Power with each participant until a maximum of 60 Hive Power is reached. There is also a prize for the overall winner. This prize increases by 1 Hive Power and can reach a maximum of 80 Hive Power. Potentially, a lot of Hive Power could be given away.

You can read about the challenge series in any of the challenge posts.

What is the Even-to-Win Game?

The ‘Even to Win’ Game requires participants to select a certain number of boxes (e.g., 7 out of 13 boxes). Each box has been assigned a value. The participant obtains that value if an even number of participants have selected that box. If only one participant selects the box, it does not award that value. If two participants select it, it offers the value stated in the question. If three participants select the box, it does not award that value.

Some boxes have limits to the number of participants that can select them. For example, a box might have a limit of three participants. Once the third participant has selected the box, new participants can no longer select that box. Any new selections of the boxes once they have reached their limit will not be considered in determining the participant’s total value. However, their remaining selections will still be considered.

The objective of the game is to obtain the highest combined value from the boxes selected. If two participants obtain the same value, the participant who entered first wins. If nobody obtains a positive value (e.g., all boxes are selected by an odd number of participants), the prize will be rolled over to the next challenge.

Responses to the challenge were made in the comments section of the challenge post. The total prize for this challenge is equivalent to 4 times the number of participants (e.g., if the challenge has 9 participants, the prize will be 36 Hive Power (4 × 9)). The maximum prize for this challenge is 60 Hive Power. The winner receives 2/3 of the prize and 40 points. Second place receives 1/3 of the prize and 20 points. Third place receives 5 points. In addition to the winning prize, the first 12 entries were given upvotes.

The format of the required entry is explained in detail in the challenge itself.

For a more detailed explanation, you can access the challenge post using the following link.

Results of the ‘Even-to-Win’ Challenge

Table 1 contains the boxes selected by each participant. The white boxes represent the selected boxes, the red boxes have been selected after the limit, and the black boxes were not selected.

Table 1: Boxes Selected by Participants

Table 2 contains the value of each box based on the number of selections made by participants (if even, the value of the box is awarded; if not, the box is worth zero) and the total number of selections for each box.

Table 2: Value of Boxes

Note: The dark green font represents boxes that reached their limit with an even number of participants. Red font represents boxes that reached their limit with an odd number of participants. Light green font represents boxes that boxes have an even number of participants. The white font represents boxes that have an uneven number of participants.

Table 3 contains the value each participant obtained from each box as well as the combined value of the boxes they selected.

Table 3: Combined Value of Boxes Selected by Each Participant

As the number of participants reached 15, the prize for this challenge is 60 Hive Power.

Congratulations to @bereal47 for winning the ‘Even-to-Win’ Game and a prize of 40 Hive Power and 40 points. Second place, @hatdogsensei wins 20 Hive Power and 20 points. Third place, @djbravo wins 5 points.

@bereal47 selected boxes 3, 5, 7, 9, 10, 11, and 12. Four of these boxes were selected by an even number of participants. The total value for these boxes was 191. Both @hatdogsensei and @djbravo obtained a total value of 182. However, @hatdogsensei is second based on the tiebreaker rule of entering earlier. Altogether, there were only five boxes with an even number of participants. These boxes were 1, 3, 7, 10 and 11.

Tips for Future ‘Even-to-Win’ Games

Winning this contest largely relies on luck, but participants can do a number of things to improve their chances of winning. Box selection and timing of entry can play an important role in increasing these chances. Selecting earlier offers an advantage to players as they can win tiebreakers and have a wider choice of boxes; the boxes with a limit on the number of selections are available.

Entering later enables participants to analyse earlier participants’ selections. However, the entrance of another participant could completely change the game as boxes switch between even and odd numbers of selections; thus, any previous analysis is no longer relevant.

The participant to enter last (not known until the game has closed) most likely has an advantage over other participants. This is most likely the case if few participants have entered before him or her. However, the last participant to enter may not have a possible path to victory (i.e., lost before even entering).

Selecting a box with a limit on the number of participants may or may not be a good decision. For this game, the limits for some boxes were set as even and some as odd numbers. For boxes with even number limits, once the limit has been reached, the box will permanently have the stated value. Boxes with an even limit are normally a good selection. The only risk is that it might not reach its limit if the limit is set high and the number of participants is low.

For boxes with odd number limits, once the limit has been reached, the box will permanently have a zero value. Therefore, boxes with odd participation limits should be avoided under most circumstances. If the limit is very high and the value of the box is very high, a box with an odd limit could still be a good selection as the limit might not be reached. There are no certainties in this game.

Overall Series Score

The Economics Challenge Series is over. The points can now be finalised, and a winner can be announced. Below is the final table.

Position	Participants	Points
1	Micheal87	80
2	Bereal47	55
3	Goshen	40
4	Hatdogsensei	35
5	Tortangkahoy	30
6	Temple93	30
7	Urrirru	20
8	Emeka4	15
9	Lee1938	5
10	Djbravo	5

The winner for the 2025 Economics Challenge Series is @micheal87. Well done on such an amazing performance. @micheal87 was the only participant to win two challenges. The total number of participants across all challenges was 98. Therefore, @micheal87 has won the maximum 80 Hive Power. This will be given out on the September Hive Power Up Day (HPUD).

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?