Science proves Magic: The Gathering is too complex for computers to solve
Magic: The Gathering is a notoriously complex game, filled with innumerable cards that have unique properties, effects, and strategic uses. As such, it’s become a target for AI and computational research - just as everything from chess to StarCraft II has in the past. Now, researchers have determined that Magic is just too complicated for computers to solve.
A recent research paper “establishes that Magic: The Gathering is the most computationally complex real-world game known in the literature.” The researchers include board game designer Alex Churchill, Georgia Institute of Technology researcher Stella Biderman, and senior analyst of the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton Budget Model Austin Herrick.
The results conclude that “finding the best move in a game of Magic, in the worst case, cannot be computed,” as Churchill tells Kotaku. “There are certain circumstances, even though they’re very contrived, where it’s proven that no algorithm can find whether there exists a winning move.” Instead, there are certain circumstances in which a computer algorithm would never be able to complete its calculation about which move would be the optimal next play.
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