Playing Chess with Machiavelli: Improving Interactive Entertainment with Explicit Strategies

Current interactive entertainment is not strategy-aware, in that it does not allow users to execute a wide range of real-world strategies in the context of the artificial environment, it does not recognize when users are trying to execute these strategies, and it does not include software opponents and partners that are capable of executing a varied range of strategies in response to user actions. A solution to this problem is to explicitly identify a broad range of real-world strategies that people would use if the environment of the interactive entertainment were real rather than fiction, to represent these strategies to identify their component features, and to design the entertainment environment so that these component features are supported and recognized. This paper gives an example of how the first two steps of this solution can be done in the political domain by examining 60 explicit strategies outlined in Machiavelli’s The Prince. The Problem of Strategy One could imagine that playing chess with Niccolo Machiavelli (1469-1527) would be a very entertaining experience. Florence-born political strategist and author of The Prince (Machiavelli, 1998), Machiavelli had interesting views on the role of rulers (the king and queen), religious leaders (the bishops), and the citizenry and soldiery (the knights and pawns). Among the possible tactics that he might use are: 1. Hold awe inspiring military exercises (chapter 10, The Prince). In reference to the cities of Germany, Machiavelli would periodically move his knights and pawns in elaborate, awe-inspiring synchronization with the intent of dissuading his opponent from launching an attack in his well-protected territory. 2. Appear religious and humane (chapter 18, The Prince). Machiavelli’s king would periodically move next to the bishop, publicly praising the divine work and importance of this piece. When isolated from the other pieces, however, the king would ruthlessly slaughter his opponents and countrymen alike to advance his own interests. 3. Use an arbiter to manage conflict among the subjects (chapter 19, The Prince). Aptly noticing a territorial dispute between his own queen and rook, Machiavelli would have the king summon a nearby knight, and entrust him to listen to both parties’ claims before making a judgment on the king’s behalf, insulating the king from either party’s subsequent vengeance. 4. Foster then crush animosity to improve renown (chapter 20, The Prince). Noticing that an opponent’s pawn had entered his territory, Machiavelli would have his king instruct his knights to ensure that the enemy pawn had some military success, as much as to appear that the king himself was in grave danger, before slaughtering the helpless pawn in an awe-inspiring attack. To win or to lose a chess game against Machiavelli would be equally entertaining, as either scenario would unfold as a tale of interesting interpersonal conflict, camaraderie, treachery, and above all, rich strategic thinking. But if we were to imagine that somehow Machiavelli could play with a modem computer chess program, or any other type of interactive entertaimnent, we would guess that he would find the experience frustrating, at best. Machiavelli was primarily a strategist, and as such, three critical problems with modem interactive entertainment can be identified. 1. The possible actions available to users do not permit strategic playing. The strict rules of chess leave little room for negotiating agreements between opponents, rousing troops with propaganda or fear, gathering information with spies and double-agents, or disarming existing troops in favor of raising a more loyal military force. The most advanced modem computer games in the domain of political and military leadership do not fare much better. The challenge for game designers is to offer users a wide breadth of actions to enable them to execute sequences that express a strategic approach. 2. The software does not recognize the strategies that users are executing. Even when users manage to execute interesting strategies within the constraints of possible actions, current interactive entertainment software will make no acknowledgment of it. When Machiavelli allows opponent’s pawn to threateningly approach his king before mercilessly destroying it, a strategy-aware version of computer chess should respond in a manner that reflects the renown that the king has gained through this act, perhaps by 4"l From: AAAI Technical Report SS-01-02. Compilation copyright © 2001, AAAI (www.aaai.org). All rights reserved.