This new text on game theory introduces and develops the key concepts with a minimum of mathematics. Students are presented with empirical evidence, anecdotes and strategic situations to help them apply theory and gain a genuine insight into human behaviour.

The book provides a diverse collection of examples and scenarios from history, literature, sports, crime, theology, war, biology, and everyday life. These examples come with rich context that adds real-world meat to the skeleton of theory. Each chapter begins with a specific strategic situation and is followed with a systematic treatment that gradually builds understanding of the concept.

'There is no better undergraduate text in game theory. It not only covers all the topics I would cover but does so with the clarity and precision that game theory demands while at the same time providing engaging applications/examples…Harrington's game theory text is indeed the 'unique best response' for anyone who faces an adoption decision for an undergraduate game theory course.' 
- Klaus Becker, Texas Tech University
 

'This book is outstanding. It's written with humor and patience and is extremely accessible to students, while still being as rigorous as any advanced text in the area. The book is both a theorist's and a student's delight!'
- Thomas Jeitschko, Michigan State University
 

'One advantage of [Harrington's] text over others is that it spends a lot of time turning situations into games, and makes a good amount of effort to motivate the payoffs used, while being clear that these are typically just assumptions. Determining payoffs in games is often as much art as science, and this text seems to do a better job than most of making this known.'
- Nick Feltovich, University of Houston
 

'Harrington introduces all of the topics you would think would be in an introductory game theory text, but what makes it exceptional is the patience and care in which he spends time seeing what the theory can buy him. That is, there are very good applications to both better show how the theory works, but also to help explain many real-world situations through the lens of game theory.' 
- Jesse Schwartz, Kennesaw State University
 

'[Harrington's text] is a well-written, well-structured introductory game theory textbook appropriate for an audience consisting of undergraduates majoring in different fields.' 
- Giacomo Bonanno, University of California, Davis

PART I: LAYING THE FOUNDATIONS
Introduction to Strategic Reasoning
Building A Model of A Strategic Situation
PART II: SOLVING STRATEGIC FORM GAMES
Eliminating the Impossible:Solving A Game When Rationality is Common Knowledge
Stable Play: Nash Equilibria in Discrete Games with Two Or Three Players
Stable Play:Nash Equilibria in Discrete N-Player Games
Stable Play: Nash Equilibria in Continuous Games
Keep 'Em Guessing: Randomized Strategies
PART III: SOLVING EXTENSIVE FORM GAMES
Taking Turns: Sequential Games of Perfect Information
Taking Turns in the Dark: Sequential Games of Imperfect Information
PART IV: GAMES OF INCOMPLETE INFORMATION
I Know Something You Don't Know: Games with Private Information
What You Do Tells Me Who You Are: Signaling Games
Lies and the Lying Liars that Tell Them: Cheap Talk Games
PART V: REPEATED GAMES
Playing Forever: Repeated Interaction with Infinitely-Lived Players
Cooperation and Reputation: Applications of Repeated Interaction with Infinitely-Lived Players
Interaction in Infinitely-Lived Institutions
PART VI: EVOLUTIONARY GAME THEORY AND BIOLOGY
Evolutionary Game Theory and Biology: Evolutionarily Stable Strategies
Evolutionary Game Theory and Biology: Replicator Dynamics

JOSEPH E. HARRINGTON, Jr. is Professor of Economics at Johns Hopkins University, USA. He has served on numerous editorial boards, including the RAND Journal of Economics, Foundations and Trends in Microeconomics, and the Southern Economic Journal. His research has appeared in top journals in a variety of disciplines including economics e.g., the American Economic Review, Journal of Political Economy, and Games and Economic Behavior, political science, Economics and Politics and Public Choice, sociology, American Journal of Sociology, organizational behaviour, Management Science, and psychology, Journal of Mathematical Psychology. He is a co-author of the leading textbook Economics of Regulation and Antitrust, which is currently in its fourth edition.