PROJECT DOSSIER // [MATCHSTICK]VIEW SOURCE BACK TO PROJECTS →

01 // PROJECT AT A GLANCE

MATCHSTICK

The game of Nim against an artificial intelligence you have to beat.

A two-player game where matches are removed from a pyramid; whoever takes the last one loses. The program plays against the user, and the real subject is not the display but the strategy: there is a mathematical theory of this game that lets you win for certain as soon as you are in a favourable position.

Terminal game of Nim with a matchstick pyramid display, move validation and an AI based on the Nim sum.

PRIMARYC

DELIVERYTEAM RECORD

VERIFICATIONCriterion

SOURCEINSPECTOR READY

MEDIA ATTACHMENTS (Images, Photos, Videos)

02 // PROJECT SIGNALS

DATE:: 2018
PRIMARY LANG:: C
GRADE:: A
DURATION:: 2 weeks
SECONDARY:: —
STACK:: Makefile / gcc

03 // KEY OUTCOMES

An AI grounded in Nim game theory, computed through decomposition into powers of two and parity rather than a direct XOR
Misère variant handling: the strategy inverts at the end of the game, when a single row still holds several matches
Fallback on an elementary AI when no winning move exists

BEYOND THE BRIEF

An AI based on the winning strategy of Nim: decomposition into powers of two and search for the balanced position (is_extension_ai.c), instead of a random move
A second-level fallback AI for when the position is already lost

04 // SOURCE TREE

READING SOURCE…

Loading…