License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license (CC BY 4.0)
When quoting this document, please refer to the following
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.MFCS.2021.25
URN: urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-144657
URL: http://dagstuhl.sunsite.rwth-aachen.de/volltexte/2021/14465/
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Buchin, Kevin ; Hagedoorn, Mart ; Kostitsyna, Irina ; van Mulken, Max

Dots & Boxes Is PSPACE-Complete

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LIPIcs-MFCS-2021-25.pdf (1 MB)

Abstract

Exactly 20 years ago at MFCS, Demaine posed the open problem whether the game of Dots & Boxes is PSPACE-complete. Dots & Boxes has been studied extensively, with for instance a chapter in Berlekamp et al. Winning Ways for Your Mathematical Plays, a whole book on the game The Dots and Boxes Game: Sophisticated Child’s Play by Berlekamp, and numerous articles in the Games of No Chance series. While known to be NP-hard, the question of its complexity remained open. We resolve this question, proving that the game is PSPACE-complete by a reduction from a game played on propositional formulas.

BibTeX - Entry

@InProceedings{buchin_et_al:LIPIcs.MFCS.2021.25,
  author =	{Buchin, Kevin and Hagedoorn, Mart and Kostitsyna, Irina and van Mulken, Max},
  title =	{{Dots \& Boxes Is PSPACE-Complete}},
  booktitle =	{46th International Symposium on Mathematical Foundations of Computer Science (MFCS 2021)},
  pages =	{25:1--25:18},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-201-3},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2021},
  volume =	{202},
  editor =	{Bonchi, Filippo and Puglisi, Simon J.},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/opus/volltexte/2021/14465},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-144657},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.MFCS.2021.25},
  annote =	{Keywords: Dots \& Boxes, PSPACE-complete, combinatorial game}
}

Keywords: Dots & Boxes, PSPACE-complete, combinatorial game
Collection: 46th International Symposium on Mathematical Foundations of Computer Science (MFCS 2021)
Issue Date: 2021
Date of publication: 18.08.2021

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