Map-coloring games

Several map-coloring games are studied in combinatorial game theory. The general idea is that we are given a map with regions drawn in but with not all the regions colored. Two players, Left and Right, take turns coloring in one uncolored region per turn, subject to various constraints. The move constraints and the winning condition are features of the particular game.

Some players find it easier to color vertices of the dual graph, as in the Four color theorem. In this method of play, the regions are represented by small circles, and the circles for neighboring regions are linked by line segments or curves. The advantages of this method are that only a small area need be marked on a turn, and that the representation usually takes up less space on the paper or screen. The first advantage is less important when playing with a computer interface instead of pencil and paper. It is also possible to play with Go stones or Checkers.

An inherent constraint in each game is the set of colors available to the players in coloring regions. If Left and Right have the same colors available to them, the game is impartial; otherwise the game is partisan. The set of colors could also depend on the state of the game; for instance it could be required that the color used be different from the color used on the previous move.

The map-based constraints on a move are usually based on the region to be colored and its neighbors, whereas in the map-coloring problem, regions are considered to be neighbors when they meet along a boundary longer than a single point. The classical map-coloring problem requires that no two neighboring regions be given the same color. The classical move constraint enforces this by prohibiting coloring a region with the same color as one of its neighbor. The anticlassical constraint prohibits coloring a region with a color that differs from the color of one of its neighbors.

Another kind of constraint is entailment, in which each move after the first must color a neighbor of the region colored on the previous move. Anti-entailment is another possible constraint.

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