Artwork 2: Appropriate – FINAL

Walker Albinson

Artwork 2: Appropriate

For this assignment I created a playable game that embodied the principle of the “Gamblers ruin” theory. Gamblers ruin, according to Wikipedia, is the idea “that a gambler who raises his bet to a fixed fraction of bankroll when he wins, but does not reduce it when he loses, will eventually go broke, even if he has a positive expected value on each bet” (Wikipedia.org). I chose to base my game off of this idea for two main reasons: The first is because of how the Dada movement was largely in response to WWI and alludes to the idea that people are simply players in a losing game. The second is because of how artist Hans Arp would often incorporate an element of chance into his art, which went against the traditional idea of planning and completing a work of art. My game only requires two players, two dice, a coin, and a scoring sheet, which also incorporates the Dada practice of using readymade, or found, objects to create art.

The rules of my game are fairly simple. A scoring sheet is included which should be used as a reference for the rounds. Gamblers ruin is a two player game that requires one player with a fixed bankroll to bet on coin flips against a “house” player with an unlimited bankroll. A round consists of the player making a bet on a coin flip and then either winning or losing to the house. The player’s bet must be at least 30% of their bankroll, but can be higher if they choose. For simplicity, round bet to nearest whole dollar. After five rounds of betting, there is a dice round where both players roll a six sided die with no bet. If the two faces of the dice add up to seven, the player’s bankroll is reset to its original amount. If the faces of the dice match, the player becomes the house and the game is over. If the dice do not match or add up to seven, there is no impact and the game continues. In the event that the player loses all their money, they have lost and must publicly do the “whip, nae nae” pop culture dance.

Documentation:

*I played as the house in this game.