What is The Evolution of Trust?
The Evolution of Trust is an interactive guide to the game theory of trust, made by Nicky Case and released in July 2017. It is built around one simple machine: if you both put in a coin, you both come out ahead, but if one of you cheats, the cheater gains and the other loses. You play rounds against different characters, then watch whole populations of strategies compete.
It is based mainly on Robert Axelrod's 1984 book The Evolution of Cooperation, and it shows why cheating can win in the short term but loses when people meet again and again, and how mistakes and miscommunication change the picture. Kotaku covered it as a game that explains why nobody trusts each other anymore. It takes about 30 minutes, has been translated by fans into many languages, and is in the public domain.
What You Can Do
- Play coin games against characters with different strategies
- Run tournaments and watch strategies compete
- Tweak rewards, mistakes and the number of rounds in a sandbox
- Learn the iterated prisoner's dilemma without any maths
- Play in many fan-made translations
How to Play The Evolution of Trust
- Open ncase.me/trust and pick your language.
- Click through the comic and play the coin game when asked.
- Watch the tournaments and try to predict the winner.
- Experiment in the sandbox at the end.
Is The Evolution of Trust Free?
The Evolution of Trust is free to play and released into the public domain. There is no sign-up or paid version.
Who Will Enjoy It?
- Students learning economics, psychology or game theory
- Teachers looking for an interactive lesson
- Anyone curious why people cooperate or cheat
- Fans of explorable explanations and thoughtful games
Websites Like The Evolution of Trust
- Absurd Trolley Problems: Another way to think about choices and ethics, with more jokes.
- Turing Test Live: A different kind of trust test: is your chat partner a human?
- Freerice: A learning game where each right answer helps others.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is The Evolution of Trust free?
Yes. It is free to play online and the work is in the public domain.
How long does The Evolution of Trust take?
It takes about 30 minutes to play through.
What is it based on?
It is based mainly on Robert Axelrod's 1984 book The Evolution of Cooperation and the iterated prisoner's dilemma.