A small, growing collection of things I have found useful for learning and teaching game theory: a lecture course, some interactive tools, a few readings, and a list of books worth your time. It grows out of an undergraduate elective I teach at Azim Premji University, and I add to it as I come across material worth passing on.
A full undergraduate course, free with video and notes.
A playable explainer on the repeated prisoner's dilemma.
An interactive tool I built for mixed-strategy equilibria.
How auctions run the market for online advertising.
Oligopoly and price competition on India's soda shelves.
What common knowledge is, and why it underlies game theory.
In my course, each student reads one of these books and writes a review of it. They are accessible accounts that connect the formal material to real-world ideas, and a good place to start if you would like to read around the subject. The line under most of them is drawn from one of my students who reviewed it.
“To those who are unfamiliar with concepts of game theory, this book introduces it through real world situations that showcase the ability of game theory to model situations including environmental issues, barriers to education, or employment.” — Anandatara
“The book … succeeds in showing that behaviours which appear irrational reveal a deeper rationality when we view them from the perspective of evolutionary equilibrium.” — Mahima
“…despite it being nearly five decades since its publication, the topics and arguments in the book remain highly relevant; at times, it even feels as though Schelling anticipated many contemporary situations.” — Mahathi
“The main idea is that laws do not work because they exist, they work only when people believe in them.” — Vagdevi
“The book’s biggest lesson is that cooperation does not require altruism, trust, or central authority, but just the durability of a relationship with a large enough shadow of the future.” — Harsha
“The book may not be written for economics students, but it certainly will make you one.” — Mohini