Designer(s) Dr. Michael Winkelmann Years active 1994 Age range 6+, depending on game | Publisher(s) Arquus Verlag Vienna Players 1–9 | |
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Miwin's Dice are a set of nontransitive dice invented in 1975 by the physicist Michael Winkelmann. They consist of three different dice with faces bearing numbers from 1 to 9; opposite faces sum to 9, 10, or 11. The numbers on each die give the sum of 30 and have an arithmetic mean of 5.
Contents
- Description
- First set of Miwins dice III IV V
- Second set of Miwins dice IX X XI
- Third and fourth set of Miwins dice
- Mathematical attributes
- Probabilities
- Reversed intransitivity
- Equal distribution of random numbers
- 0 90 throw 3 times
- 0 103 throw 3 times
- 0 728 throw 3 times
- Combinations with Miwins dice type III IV and V
- Games
- 1st variant
- 2nd variant
- 3rd variant
- Published games
- References
Description
Miwin's dice have 6 sides, each of which bear a number, depicted in a pattern of dots. The standard set is made of wood; special designs are made of titanium or other materials (gold, silver).
First set of Miwin's dice: III, IV, V
Each die is named for the sum of its 2 lowest numbers. The dots on each die are colored blue, red or black. Each die has the following numbers:
Numbers 1 and 9, 2 and 7, and 3 and 8 are on opposite sides on all three dice. Additional numbers are 5 and 6 on die III, 4 and 5 on die IV, and 4 and 6 on die V. The dice are designed in such a way that, for every die, another will usually win against it. The probability that a given die will have a higher number than another is 17/36; a lower number, 16/36. Thus, die III wins against IV, IV against V, and V against III. Such dice are known as nontransitive.
Second set of Miwin's dice: IX, X, XI
Each die is named for the sum of its lowest and highest numbers. The dots on each die are colored yellow, white or green. Each die has the following numbers:
Third and fourth set of Miwin's dice
Third set:
fourth set:
they have no double numbers and the chance to win is 5/9.
Mathematical attributes
Each of the dice has similar attributes: each die bears each of its numbers exactly once, the sum of the numbers is 30, and each number from 1 to 9 is spread twice over the three dice. This attribute characterizes the implementation of intransitive dice, enabling the different game variants. All the games need only 3 dice, in comparison to other theoretical nontransitive dice, designed in view of mathematics, such as Efron's dice.
Probabilities
The probability for a given number with all 3 dice is 11/36, for a given rolled double is 1/36, for any rolled double 1/4. The probability to obtain a rolled double is only 50% compared to normal dice.
Reversed intransitivity
Removing the common dots of Miwin's Dice reverses intransitivity.
III:IV = 17:16, III':IV' = 4:5 → IV' > III'analog: III/V, IV/VEqual distribution of random numbers
Miwin's dice facilitate generating numbers at random, within a given range, such that each included number is equally-likely to occur. In order to obtain a range that does not begin with 1 or 0, simply add a constant value to bring it into that range (to obtain random numbers between 8 and 16, inclusive, follow the 1 – 9 instructions below, and add 7 to the result of each roll).
0 – 90 (throw 3 times)
Governing probability: P(0) = P(1) = ... = P(90) = 8/9³ = 8/729
To obtain an equal distribution with numbers from 0 – 90, all three dice are rolled, one at a time, in a random order. The result is calculated based on the following rules:
Sample:
This gives 91 numbers, from 0 – 90 with the probability of 8 / 9³, 8 × 91 = 728 = 9³ − 1
0 – 103 (throw 3 times)
Governing probability: P(0) = P(1) = ... = P(103) = 7/9³ = 7/729
This gives 104 numbers from 0 – 103 with the probability of 7 / 9³, 7 × 104 = 728 = 9³ − 1
0 – 728 (throw 3 times)
Governing probability: P(0) = P(1) = ... = P(728) = 1 / 9³ = 1 / 729
This gives 729 numbers, from 0 – 728, with the probability of 1 / 9³.
One die is rolled at a time, taken at random.
Create a number system of base 9:
This system yields this maximum: 8 × 9² + 8 × 9 + 8 × 9° = 648 + 72 + 8 = 728 = 9³ − 1
Examples:
Combinations with Miwin's dice type III, IV, and V
3 throws, random selection of one of the dice for each throw, type is used as attribute:
5832 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 9 × 9 × 9 = 18³ numbers are possible.
Games
Since the middle of the 1980s, the press wrote about the games. Winkelmann presented games himself, for example, in 1987 in Vienna, at the "Österrechischen Spielefest, Stiftung Spielen in Österreich", Leopoldsdorf, where "Miwin's dice" won the prize "Novel Independent Dice Game of the Year".
In 1989, the games were reviewed by the periodical "Die Spielwiese". At that time, 14 alternatives of gambling and strategic games existed for Miwin's dice. The periodical "Spielbox" had two variants of games for Miwin's dice in the category "Unser Spiel im Heft" (now known as "Edition Spielbox"): the solitaire game 5 to 4, and the two-player strategic game Bitis.
In 1994, Vienna's Arquus publishing house published Winkelmann's book Göttliche Spiele, which contained 92 games, a master copy for 4 game boards, documentation about the mathematical attributes of the dice and a set of Miwin's dice. There are even more game variants listed on Winkelmann's website.
Solitaire games and games for up to nine players have been developed. Games are appropriate for players over 6 years of age. Some games require a game board; playing time varies from 5 to 60 minutes.
1st variant
Two dice are rolled, chosen at random, one at a time. Each pair is scored by multiplying the first by 9 and subtracting the second from the result: 1st throw × 9 − 2nd throw.
Examples:
This variant provides numbers from 0 – 80 with a probability of 1 / 9² = 1 / 81.
2nd variant
Two dice are rolled, chosen at random, one at a time. The pair is scored according to the following rules:
This variant provides numbers from 0 – 80 with a probability of 1 / 9² = 1 / 81.
3rd variant
Two dice are rolled, chosen at random, one at a time. The score is obtained according to the following rules:
Examples: