The Prisoner's Dilemma League

Pre-season 0 of 56 matches played Next: Mirrowick Town v Almsbury Albion, Fri 21 Aug, 6pm

How it works

How a football match becomes a Prisoner's Dilemma

What co-operating and defecting actually mean when there is a ball involved.

Priya Ranjit, 11 hours ago

The league

Eight clubs, eight rules, one question

A football league in which every club is a Prisoner's Dilemma strategy, and the table settles the argument.

Ellen Marsh, 2 days ago

The table

The table opens with the first match of the season.

Full table and co-operation rates

Coming up

Matchday 1

Mirrowick Town v Almsbury Albion

Fri 21 Aug, 6pm, in 5 days. Two nice sides, expect goals.

Matchday 1

Warehaven Wanderers v Amberdale Union

Sat 22 Aug, 3pm, in 6 days. A Prisoner's Dilemma tussle.

Matchday 1

Blackmoor United v Bellford County

Sat 22 Aug, 6pm, in 6 days. Reciprocity vs brute force.

The season calendar

The question

Every duel on the pitch is one round of a Prisoner's Dilemma. Each club follows a single rule for the whole season, and the table settles the argument.

The eight strategies, explained