Trust Trials is an online game centered on the iterated prisoner's dilemma, where participants submit their own strategies as APIs to compete against others in repeated matchups. The platform provides a structured environment for exploring game theory concepts, specifically the dynamics of cooperation and betrayal over multiple rounds. Each strategy is matched against others by the game server, and the outcomes are determined by the choices made—either to cooperate or defect—mirroring the classic prisoner's dilemma scenario.
Players develop their strategies in any programming language, provided the resulting API adheres to the server's communication specification and meets strict response time requirements. Strategies must be hosted by the user and are required to respond to a series of predefined messages, such as health checks and matchup prompts, within specified time limits (1000ms for health checks and first rounds, 500ms for subsequent rounds). The interaction protocol is based on HTTP POST requests with a consistent JSON payload structure, and valid responses are tightly controlled, ensuring uniformity in gameplay mechanics. Strategies that fail to respond correctly or within the allotted time are penalized, and repeated failures can lead to removal from future trials.
The game operates on a schedule, running trials every four hours. Each trial involves random pairings of submitted strategies, with each matchup consisting of a random number of rounds between 100 and 150. The server provides information about the opponent, including their last decision from the second round onward, allowing strategies to adapt their behavior over time. There are also mechanisms in place to remove underperforming or unreliable strategies, such as dropping the poorest performer with sufficient match history or removing those with repeated exceptions.
Trust Trials offers guidance for deploying strategies using AWS Lambda and API Gateway, with an example implementation provided. The documentation suggests that this setup may fall within the AWS Free Tier, but users are advised to verify costs independently. The game is suited for individuals with programming knowledge and an interest in game theory, strategy development, and automated competition.
Trust Trials is a Games product. It enables users to experiment with and test strategies for the iterated prisoner's dilemma in a competitive online environment. It is built as a consumer product for game theory enthusiasts and developers. Trust Trials costs nothing to use. It runs on the web and API.
Key capabilities include API strategy submission, automated matchups, and leaderboard.
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