The Game of Pig - fun at the higher levels

Embedded correspondent Todd Neller, Assistant Professor of Computer Science at Gettysburg College, wrote to tell me of his work with the dice game of Pig.

Todd explains: "The game of Pig is a very simple jeopardy dice game in which two players race to each 100 points. Each turn, a player repeatedly rolls a die until either a 1 is rolled or the player holds and scores the sum of the rolls (i.e. the turn total)."

It turns out that this game (currently available as a piggish dice game called "Pass the Pigs", a.k.a. "Pigmania," and probably the forerunner for Sid Sackson's wonderful Can't Stop game), subjects itself elegantly to all sorts of mathematical analysis - which are lovingly portrayed and animated in the full graphic glories of Assistant Professor Clif Presser's "Sow-lution" page. The site is rounded off with a side order of informative links.

To spice things up, the site includes more than an ample serving of piggish puns. Which sets a tasty tone for playfulness while serving up some remarkably heady insights into the study of probability and game theory. All of which is further evidence that there are people, even in the crepuscular confines of academia, who are serving up their wisdom with a side order of fun.