The advantage of complexity in two 2×2 games

Competing populations of finite automata co-evolve in an evolutionary algorithm to play two player games. Populations endowed with greater complexity do better against their less complex opponents in a strictly competitive constant sum game. In contrast, complexity determines efficiency levels, but not relative earnings, in a Prisoner’s Dilemma game; greater levels of complexity result in mutually higher earnings. With reporting noise, advantages to complexity are lost and efficiency levels are reduced as relatively less complex strategies are selected. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Complexity 9: 71–78, 2004