Library / Games / Colonel Blotto
Colonel Blotto
Split forces across fronts with no pure best move — win by being unpredictable.
INTERACTIVE LAB
Tolerance sandbox (original recreation)
happy 76% • avg. similar neighbors 49% • red ring = wants to move
GAMES
When to use / misuse
Use → Campaigns, ad budgets, competitive bids.
Difficulty → Advanced
REDCAPE → Act · Design
agent: blotto-checker family: Games combine_with: [two other families] rule: state failure mode before acting
Free sources: Coursera M9 (Colonel Blotto)
Attach to a lattice — combines with
Different families, shared jobs. Click to open alongside.
LINEAR
Concavity & Diminishing Returns
Curved payoffs change optimal bets: diversify when concave, concentrate when convex.
SHARED JOBS: DESIGN · ACT
DECISIONSDecision Trees + Value of Information
Fold back probabilities; pay for information only if it changes the action.
SHARED JOBS: ACT · DESIGN
DIFFUSIONBass Diffusion (S-Curve)
Innovators plus imitators make the S-curve. Spend early on seeds, later on social proof.
SHARED JOB: DESIGN
More in Games
Prisoner's Dilemma + Cooperation
Solo incentives wreck the group; seven routes — repeat, punish, signal, sort — rebuild it.
Coordination & Culture
Pure coordination games plus memory harden into culture as equilibrium.
Mechanism Design / Auctions
Write rules so truth-telling wins despite hidden actions and hidden information.