A game, which is generally played by two or more players, is known as a multi player game. The player may be playing individually with another player as an opponent or may form teams to play against each other. Theoretically speaking, it is quite difficult to analyze many independent players playing in a single multi player game as it may result in coalitions.
Keeping in mind that the coalitions between players are actually not allowed, John Nash had proved that a stable solution can be provided in games with several players. Nobel prize was also awarded to him for economics for the extension of Von Neumann's theory of zero sum games. This stable strategy provided by him is known as Nash equilibrium. The situation becomes more complex if the cooperation among the players is allowed. The theories provided by Nash have certainly some impact in the field of economics, politics etc.
It has been found that, with the advent of the quantum information into the quantum game theory, a new horizon has been opened for the multi player games. It has been allowing a new type of equilibrium strategy which is generally not available in the traditional games. According to this strategy, the contract or the amount of money that is kept as a bet, mainly in card games, can be affected by the player's choices but the player is not allowed to make any sort of profit by means of betrayal.
Different multi player games with their details are shown below:
Party games - These are generally those types of games which people play at social gatherings, which usually involve more than one playing member. Out of the large number of party games, a specific one can be selected according to the style of the party and the atmosphere. Some of the examples are - Wild Wild west, ninja games, bugs etc.
Card games - Cards are generally used as a primary tool in these types of games. There are hundreds of card games which also include the family related games such as poker. These are played by specific standardized rules, with a small number of cards.
Board games - These types of games involve the movement of pieces or counters on a surface or board that is pre-marked. Games are mainly based on pure strategy and chance, or it may be a mixture of the two. It completely depends upon the player that what he/ she want to achieve. Examples are dice game, checkers etc.
Multi player computer and online games - Multi player computer games are those types of games in which two or more players can play simultaneously in a team or sometimes may compete against each other to achieve a specific goal of defeating their opponent. Usually these games use computer networking to allow players to assemble around one single system to play in. These games can also be played online by connecting with the server.
Besides these, there are several other multi player video games that can be played on a video gaming system.