Here is how I think you can model the game in R. The first version is similar to what you have: there's a 50% chance of guessing correctly and if the guess is correct, the players advance a tile. Otherwise they do not, and the number of players decrements by 1. If the number of players reaches 0, or they advance to the end, the game ends. This is shown in squid_bridge1().
squid_bridge1 <- function(players, n, prob) {
if (players == 0 | n == 18) {
# All players have died or we have reached the end
return(players)
}
jump <- rbinom(1, 1, prob)
if (jump == 0) {
# Player died
return(squid_bridge1(players - 1, n, prob))
}
if (jump == 1 & n < 18) {
# Player lives and advances 1 space
return(squid_bridge1(players, n + 1, prob))
}
}
However, this does not accurately depict the game since a wrong guess gives the remaining players additional information. If a player chooses wrong, the probability of the next guess being correct is not 50%, it's 100%. However, after that point the probability of a correct guess decreases to 50%. This can be accounted for with another argument to keep track of the correctness of the previous guess.
squid_bridge2 <- function(players, n, prob, previous) {
if (players == 0 | n == 18) {
# The game ends if there are no players or they have reached the end
return(players)
}
if (previous == 0) {
# The previous guess was wrong, but now the players know where to go next
return(squid_bridge2(players, n + 1, prob, previous = 1))
}
jump <- rbinom(1, 1, prob)
if (jump == 0) {
# Player died
return(squid_bridge2(players - 1, n, prob, previous = 0))
}
if (jump == 1 & n < 18) {
# Move is correct. Advance 1 space
return(squid_bridge2(players, n + 1, prob, previous = 1))
}
}
However, there's a catch. It wasn't quite that simple in the show, and players fell for reasons other than an incorrect guess (being pushed, jumping on purpose, etc.). I don't know what a reasonable probability of doing something like this is, but it is likely low, let's say 10%.
not_stupid <- function() {
x <- runif(1, 0, 1)
if (x <= 0.1) {
return(FALSE)
} else {
return(TRUE)
}
}
Since emotions spike just before each move, we will test this prior to each move.
squid_bridge3 <- function(players, n, prob, previous) {
if (players == 0 | n == 18) {
# The game is over because there are no players left or they reached the end
return(players)
}
if (previous == 0) {
# The previous guess was wrong, but now the players know where to go next
return(squid_bridge3(players, n + 1, prob, previous = 1))
}
if (!not_stupid()) {
return(squid_bridge3(players - 1, n, prob, previous = 1))
}
jump <- rbinom(1, 1, prob)
if (jump == 0) {
# Player died because of either choosing wrong or a self-inflicted loss
return(squid_bridge3(players - 1, n, prob, previous = 0))
}
if (jump == 1 & n < 18) {
# Move is correct. Advance 1 space
return(squid_bridge3(players, n + 1, prob, previous = 1))
}
}
Then running some simulations:
set.seed(123)
trials <- 10000
players <- 16
squid1 <- replicate(trials, squid_bridge1(players, 0, 0.5))
squid2 <- replicate(trials, squid_bridge2(players, 0, 0.5, 1))
squid3 <- replicate(trials, squid_bridge3(16, 0, 0.5, 1))
df <- tibble(squid1 = squid1,
squid2 = squid2,
squid3 = squid3) %>%
pivot_longer(cols = c(squid1, squid2, squid3))
ggplot(data = df,
aes(x = value)) +
geom_histogram(bins = 10,
binwidth = 1,
fill = "cornflowerblue",
color = "black") +
facet_wrap(~name,
nrow = 3) +
xlab("# of players to make it to the end") +
scale_x_continuous(breaks = seq(0, 16, by = 1),
labels = seq(0, 16, by = 1))
As you can see below, the first situation is heavily skewed to the left. Since the players are essentially "blindly guessing" at each tile, it is unlikely that any will make it to the end. However, after accounting for the information gained from a wrong guess, it averages somewhere around 7 players making it. By adding in a random chance of falling for another reason, the distribution skews to the left some.
- Average for first situation: 1.45
- Average for second situation: 7.01
- Average for third situation: 4.99
To answer the question of the probability of only 3 players making it, I get ~ 10.8% for the last case
Edit: As requested, here is the code to generate the plots. I also fixed the various functions that had some naming issues (went through a few different names when I made them). It looks like it resulted in a slight bug for the 3rd function, but I have fixed it throughout.
