Recommended Course Outline for Game Theory
This recommended course outline is an ordered list of topics and lecture videos that I follow in my game theory courses. Watching lecture videos in my channel with a proper order is key for effective learning because the concepts in each video is built over the ones that I introduce in previous videos.
Depending on your interest and objective, you may prefer to skip some of the videos. But be mindful of the order of watch. To make navigation of my channel more user-friendly I’ve tagged each video in this list by "Beginner," "Intermediate," and "Advanced."
If you have no college background (say, for example, you are a high school student) or a professional who finished college some years ago, and would like to get some intuition, then watching the videos that are tagged “Beginner” will most likely serve your needs. If you want more thorough understanding of the concepts of game theory (say, for example, you are a second-year college student), then you should watch videos that are tagged “Begginer” and “Intermediate”. Finally, if you want some challenge or if you are a third/fourth-year college student, then you should watch all the videos on that list, including the ones that are tagged “Advanced.”
If you are a masters or PhD level student, then the videos on this list would be perfect resources for refreshing your knowledge or for catching up with the rest of the class. We usually cover more detailed and advanced topics and examples in graduate level game theory courses. Graduate level course outline and advanced lecture videos will be coming up soon, be tuned.
Course Description and Objective
This course is an undergraduate level introduction to game theory and strategic thinking. It introduces the theory of non-cooperative games with emphasis on economic applications. Game theory is the study of multi-person decision problems where action of each decision maker (player) influences payoffs of others. In such environments, optimal decision may require strategic thinking; how one’s action will influence the incentives of other players and whether others are aware of this interconnection.
Success in this course requires strong analytical and logical thinking and the habit of drawing conclusions based on qualitative information. Although the course requires a working knowledge of calculus (e.g., functions of one or several variables, derivatives), probability (e.g., random variables, probability distributions, conditional probabilities, expectations) and optimization, we will review, to some extent, these notions in the first week.
At the end of the course, students should be able to
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formulate any strategic interaction as a game form,
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understand solution concepts in normal and extensive form games, and
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develop analytical and problem-solving skills to analyze games.
Suggested Textbooks
“Strategy: An introduction to Game Theory” by Joel Watson.
“An Introduction to Game Theory” by Martin Osborne
“Game Theory for Applied Economists” by Robert Gibbons
Course Outline
TOPIC 1: MATHEMATICS AND LOGIC REVIEWS (Intermediate-Advanced)
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BASIC CONCEPTS IN MATHEMATICS (Intermediate)
1. Part 1 (Intermediate)
2. Part 2 (Intermediate)
3. Part 3 (Intermediate)
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PROPOSITIONAL LOGIC (Intermediate-Advanced)
1. Section 1 (Intermediate)
2. Section 2 (Intermediate)
3. Section 2 - Example 2 (Intermediate)
4. Section 2 - Example 3 (Intermediate)
5. Section 2 - Example 4 (Intermediate)
6. Section 2 - Example 5 (Intermediate)
7. Section 3 (Intermediate)
8. Section 3 - Example 2 (Intermediate)
9. Section 3 - Example 3 (Intermediate)
10. Section 4 (Intermediate)
11. Section 4 - Example 2 (Intermediate)
12. Section 5 (Intermediate)
13. Section 5 - Example 2 (Intermediate)
14. Section 5 Theorems (Intermediate)
15. Section 5 Theorems - Example 2 (Intermediate)
16. Section 6 (Intermediate)
17. Section 6 - Example 2 (Intermediate)
18. Section 7 (Intermediate)
19. Section 7 - Example 2 (Intermediate)
20. Section 7 - Example 3 (Intermediate)
21. Section 7 - Example 4 (Intermediate)
22. Section 8 (Intermediate)
23. Section 8 - Example 2 (Intermediate)
24. Section 8 - Example 3 (Intermediate)
25. Review Questions - Part 1 (Intermediate)
26. Review Questions - Part 2 (Advanced)
27. Review Questions - Part 3 (Advanced)
28. Review Questions - Part 4 (Advanced)
29. Review Questions - Part 5 (Advanced)
30. Review Questions - Part 6 (Advanced)
31. Review Questions - Part 7 (Advanced)
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OPTIMIZATION (Intermediate)
1. Part 1 (Intermediate)
2. Part 2 (Intermediate)
3. Part 3 (Intermediate)
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PROBABILITY (Intermediate)
1. Probability (Intermediate)
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TOPOLOGY (Intermediate-Advanced)
1. Part 1 (Intermediate-Advanced)
2. Part 2 (Intermediate-Advanced)
3. Part 3 (Intermediate-Advanced)
4. Part 4 (Intermediate-Advanced)
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UNCERTAINTY AND EXPECTED UTILITY THEORY (Intermediate-Advanced)
1. Part 1 (Intermediate-Advanced)
2. Part 2 (Intermediate-Advanced)
3. A short review (Intermediate-Advanced)
4. An example (Intermediate-Advanced)
5. Another example (Intermediate-Advanced)
TOPIC 2: INTRODUCTION TO GAME THEORY (GAME THEORY PLAYLIST 1) (Beginner - Intermediate)
1. Introduction to Game Theory - Part 1 (Beginner)
2. Introduction to Game Theory - Part 2 (Beginner)
3. Introduction to Game Theory - Part 3 (Beginner)
4. Strategy in Games (Beginner)
5. Normal (Strategic) Form Representation of Games - Part 1 (Beginner)
6. Normal (Strategic) Form Representation of Games - Part 2 (Beginner)
7. Review Examples for Normal Form Representation - Example 1 (Beginner)
8. Review Examples for Normal Form Representation - Example 2 (Beginner)
9. Review Examples for Normal Form Representation - Example 3 (Beginner)
10. Beliefs & Mixed Strategies - Part 1 (Beginner-Intermediate)
11. Beliefs & Mixed Strategies - Part 2 (Beginner-Intermediate)
12. General Assumptions and Methodology (Beginner)
13. Efficiency in Games (Intermediate)
TOPIC 3: BASIC SOLUTION CONCEPTS AND APPLICATIONS: STRATEGIC DOMINANCE, BEST RESPONSE, AND RATIONALIZABILITY (GAME THEORY PLAYLIST 2) (Beginner - Intermediate)
1. Strategic Dominance (Beginner-Intermediate)
2. Best Response (Beginner-Intermediate)
3. Dominance versus Best response (Beginner-Intermediate)
4. A Review Example for Best Response and Strict Domination (Beginner-Intermediate)
5. A Review Example for Best Response and Strict Domination - Part 1 (Intermediate)
6. A Review Example for Best Response and Strict Domination - Part 2 (Intermediate)
7. Weak Dominance (Beginner-Intermediate)
8. Rationalizability & Iterated Elimination of Strictly Dominated Strategies (IESDS) (Beginner)
9. An application for Rationalizability and IESDS: Location Game (Beginner)
10. An Application for Rationalizability and IESDS: Partnership Game (Beginner-Intermediate)
11. A Review Example for Rationalizability and IESDS (Intermediate)
12. A Review Example for Rationalizability and IESDS (Intermediate)
TOPIC 4: NASH EQUILIBRIUM (GAME THEORY PLAYLIST 3) (Beginner - Intermediate)
1. Nash Equilibrium: Why We Need? (Beginner)
2. Nash Equilibrium: Formal Definition and Intuition (Beginner)
3. Finding Pure Strategy Nash Equilibrium in Finite Simultaneous-Move Games (Beginner)
4. Finding Pure Strategy Nash Equilibrium in Cournot Duopoly Game (Intermediate)
5. Finding Pure Strategy Nash Equilibrium in Bertrand Duopoly Game (Beginner)
6. Finding Pure Strategy Nash Equilibrium: Median Voting Theorem (Beginner)
7. Danger in Finding Pure Strategy Nash Equilibrium: A Critical Example (Intermediate)
TOPIC 5: MIXED STRATEGY NASH EQUILIBRIUM (GAME THEORY PLAYLIST 4) (Intermediate)
1. Mixed Strategy Nash Equilibrium (Intermediate)
2. Mixed Strategy Nash Equilibrium: Further Remarks (Intermediate)
3. Mixed Strategy Nash Equilibrium, Strict Dominance, and Efficiency (Intermediate)
4. Strictly Competitive Games, Security Strategies, and Maxmin Strategies (Intermediate)
5. Calculating Pure and Mixed Nash Equilibrium in a Three-Player Game (Intermediate)
6. Calculating Mixed Strategy Nash Equilibrium of a 3 x 3 Game: An Example (Advanced)
TOPIC 7: EXTENSIVE FORM (SEQUENTIAL MOVE) GAMES WITH PERFECT INFORMATION
(GAME THEORY PLAYLIST 6) (Beginner - Intermediate)
1. The Basics of Extensive Form Games (Beginner)
2. Extensive Form Games: The case of Ultimatum Offer Bargaining Game (Beginner - Intermediate)
3. Nash Equilibrium in Extensive Games: The Case of Entry-Deterrence Game (Beginner)
4. Sequential Rationality and Backward Induction (Beginner)
5. Backward Induction, Subgame Perfect Nash Equilibrium & Nash Equilibrium (Beginner)
6. Subgame Perfect Nash Equilibrium & Nash Equilibrium: Further Details (Beginner)
7. A Review Example for Subgame Perfect Nash Equilibrium (Beginner)
8. A Review Example for Nash equilibrium of an Extensive Form Game (Beginner)
9. A Review Example: Nash versus Subgame Perfect Nash (Beginner)
10. Extensive Games with infinitely Many Strategies: Stackelberg Duopoly (Intermediate)
11. A Review Example for an Extensive Game With Infinitely Many Strategies (Intermediate)
12. A Quick Review: What is Strategy in Extensive Games with Perfect Information? (Beginner)
TOPIC 8: EXTENSIVE FORM (SEQUENTIAL MOVE) GAMES WITH IMPERFECT INFORMATION
(GAME THEORY PLAYLIST 7) (Beginner - Intermediate - Advanced)
1. Subgame Perfection for Extensive Form Games With Imperfect Information (Beginner)
2. Subgame Perfection for Extensive Form Games With Imperfect Information (Beginner)
3. One Deviation Property: A Generalization of Backward Induction (Beginner-Intermediate)
4. An Application: Advertising and Competition (Intermediate)
5. An Application: Cournot Competition Under Capacity Constraints (Intermediate)
6. An Application: Dynamic Monopoly and Price Discrimination (Intermediate - Advanced)
7. A Review Example: SPNE in Finite Games with Imperfect Information (Beginner)
8. A Review Example: Sequential Location Game (Beginner)
9. An Example: Strategies, Nash and Subgame Perfect Nash in Extensive Games (Beginner)
TOPIC 9: INTRODUCTION TO REPEATED GAMES (GAME THEORY PLAYLIST 8)(Beginner - Intermediate)
1. Finitely Repeated Games: Introduction (Beginner):
2. Finitely Repeated Games: History, stage game Nash equilibrium, and SPNE (Beginner)
3. What is Discount Factor in Repeated Games? (Beginner-Intermediate)
4. Infinitely Repeated Games and Grim Trigger Strategies (Beginner-Intermediate)
5. Infinitely Repeated Games and Folk Theorem (Beginner-Intermediate)
6. Tit for Tat Strategies and Infinitely Repeated Prisoners' Dilemma (Intermediate)
7. An Overview of Repeated Games (Intermediate)
TOPIC 10: BAYESIAN NASH EQUILIBRIUM (GAME THEORY PLAYLIST 9) (Beginner - Intermediate - Advanced)
1. Introduction to Bayesian Games (Beginner-Intermediate)
2. Bayesian Games and Bayesian Nash Equilibrium (BNE) (Beginner-Advanced)
3. An Example for Bayesian Nash Equilibrium (Intermediate)
4. An Example for Bayesian Nash Equilibrium (Intermediate)
5. An Example for Bayesian Nash Equilibrium (Intermediate-Advanced)
6. An Example for Bayesian Nash Equilibrium: Public Good Provision (Advanced)
7. An Example for Bayesian Nash Equilibrium: Lemons Problem (Advanced)
8. An Example for Bayesian Nash Equilibrium: First Price Auction (Advanced)
9. How to Solve Symmetric Bayesian Nash Equilibrium in Auctions - General Approach (Advanced)
TOPIC 11: PERFECT BAYESIAN (NASH) EQUILIBRIUM (GAME THEORY PLAYLIST 10) (Advanced)
1. Extensive form games with Incomplete Information: Introductory Example (Advanced)
2. Strategies in Extensive Form Games with Incomplete Information (Advanced)
3. Strategic Form Representation of Sequential Games with Incomplete Information (Advanced)
4. Subgame Perfection in Extensive Form Games with Incomplete Information (Advanced)
5. Perfect Bayesian Equilibrium: Requirement 1 (Advanced)
6. Perfect Bayesian Equilibrium: Requirement 2 (Sequential Rationality) (Advanced)
7. Perfect Bayesian Equilibrium: On and Off the Equilibrium Path (Advanced)
8. Perfect Bayesian Equilibrium: Requirement 3 (Bayesian Consistency) (Advanced)
9. Perfect Bayesian Equilibrium: Requirement 4 (Bayesian Consistency 2) (Advanced)
10. Perfect Bayesian Equilibrium: Bayesian Consistency in Tricky Scenarios (Advanced)
11. How to Solve for Perfect Bayesian Equilibrium: Example 1 (Advanced)
12. How to Solve for Perfect Bayesian Equilibrium: Example 2 (Advanced)
13. How to Solve for Perfect Bayesian Equilibrium: Example 3 (Advanced)
14. How to Solve for Perfect Bayesian Equilibrium: Signaling Games (Advanced)
15. Solving Separating Equilibrium of Signalling Games (Advanced)
16. Solving Pooling Equilibrium of a Signalling Game (Advanced)
17. A Quick Review for Pooling and Separating Equilibrium of Signalling Games (Advanced)
18. Spence's Job Market Signaling Game: Solving for Separating Equilibrium (Advanced)
19. Spence's Job Market Signaling Game: Solving for Pooling Equilibrium (Advanced)
20. Solving All Perfect Bayesian Equilibrium of a Complete and Imperfect Information Game (Advanced)
TOPIC 12: PRINCIPAL – AGENT MODELS (GAME THEORY PLAYLIST 11) (Beginner - Advanced)
1. An Introduction to Moral Hazard and Adverse Selection Problems - Part 1 (Beginner)
2. An Introduction to Moral Hazard and Adverse Selection Problems - Part 2 (Beginner)
3. Hidden Information: Fundamentals of Principal - Agent Models (Advanced)
4. Hidden Information (Screening Problem): Part 1 - First Best Solution (Advanced)
5. Hidden Information (Screening Problem): Part 2 - Second Best Solution (Advanced)
6. Hidden Information (Screening Problem): Part 3 - Second Best Solution (Advanced)
7. Hidden Information (Screening Problem): Part 4 - Second Best Solution (Advanced)
8. Hidden Information (Screening Problem): Part 5 - Second Best Solution (Advanced)