The Irrational Game

Current prize pool: Caps

41332 seconds remaining

The irrational game offers a prize pool which will be won by a single player. To win, a player must simply contribute $1 to the prize pool with no other player contributing for at least 12 hours afterwards. If another player contributes $1 within 12 hours, the money stays in the prize pool and the timer is reset for the new player.

The game is irrational (or rather, a paradox) because any argument that causes a player to contribute can be applied to any other player, and so he should therefore not contribute.

However, if all players have the belief that they should not contibute, then contributing to the prize pool becomes the rational decision.

The purpose of this page is to run the experiment in real time to see how players actually behave, and how quickly the prize pool is claimed by an individual.

While contributions are made in Caps, the prize pool and contributions are shown using an estimated dollar valuation to reflect the fact that the price of a Cap will change significantly over time.

This experiment has been running since 14:00 19 July 2024 (UTC), with 731 contributions.

To be in with the chance of winning the prize pool of Caps, simply contribute Caps by entering your password below:

Cost per transaction: 1 log