On playing non-equilibrium games: Modelling the complex dynamics of games

Game theory is the study of strategic situations where players choose different actions in an attempt to maximize their payoffs which in turn are determined by the choices of other individuals. However, the traditional treatment of game theory fails to account for the apparent dynamics that characterises many complex games. New players and strategies might enter a game during game play while others disappear and utilisation functions change thus shifting the strategic focus of the players. Games that are characterised by a constant flux of their defining parameters – players, strategies and utilisation functions – will rarely settle into the kind of equilibria which are the focus of classical game theory. They behave more like non-equilibrium or dissipative systems as described in thermodynamics and chemistry. This article gives an account of how to model the complex dynamics of games that are characterised by a constant modification of their constituent parts.