Old School Board Gamers Compete with Optimization

Today’s gamers aren’t always perched in front of a video console. They are increasingly sitting around a table rolling dice and moving pieces. And these modern games aren’t just the classic games like Monopoly and Yahtzee, they are innovative new games like the Settlers of Canaan and Qwirkle.

In case you missed the memo, board games are on the comeback, with sales increasing at a rate of 25 percent or higher annually the past four years. And this weekend, board game enthusiasts from around the globe will converge on the Hyatt Regency in San Francisco for the four-day KublaCon Game Convention. Many gamers will compete in the Optimal Board Game Tournament.

And while board games might be a throwback, the technology used to run the tournament isn’t. In fact, the organizers will be using FICO® Xpress Optimization Modeler. What makes this so cool is that most board game tournaments can only focus on a single game.  Multi-game tournaments are just too hard to organize. Here how it will work:

• Each player in the tournament will rank their preferences to play the 40 available games .
• Factors will be taken into consideration, such as knowledge of the rules, player preferences, and the number of players each game can handle.
• Once the pairings are made the games will begin. Each round will add additional constraints. Players that have won all their matches will be paired with each other. Players cannot play the same game or the same opponents during the tournament.
• By the final round, there will be a single table with all of the undefeated players. If there are less than 3 finalists, the top runner-ups will be invited to the championship table.