Definition
A game is a structured interaction of at least two players. It consists of rules that set the institutional framework of possible moves. These lead to outcomes that are subject to individual preferences, which generate the incentives to play. If individual ends are incompatible, dilemmas develop, which make the underlying strategic interaction particularly visible.
Games and Science
Even before John von Neumann and Oskar Morgenstern (1944) merged mathematical and economic theory in their ground-breaking work Theory of Games and Economic Behavior, games were attracting interest in other fields. For instance, Johan Huizinga (1933) looked at games from a psychological perspective showing that they are a fundamental force and a formative element of culture as defined by philosophical anthropology. Games date back to a time before the development of humankind: Many creatures, especially primates, but also other mammals as well, show game-related behavioral patterns as an...
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Blum, U. (2021). Games. In: Marciano, A., Ramello, G.B. (eds) Encyclopedia of Law and Economics. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7883-6_185-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7883-6_185-2
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