Auburn University Researchers Develop No-Tie Dice
Researchers at Auburn University have developed a set of five 60-sided dice designed to eliminate ties when determining the first player in games. The decade-long project has culminated in a sculpture at the university's new STEM + Agricultural Sciences Complex.
A team of mathematicians and computer scientists at Auburn University has successfully created a set of five 60-sided dice that guarantee no ties when players roll to determine who goes first. The project, which took over a decade, has been recognized with a sculpture at the university's new STEM + Agricultural Sciences Complex.
The Go First Dice, as they are called, feature numbers 1 through 300 distributed across their faces. This design ensures that every player has a mathematically equal chance of rolling the highest number, addressing the 1-in-6 chance of a tie with standard six-sided dice. The inspiration for the project came from a conversation at a 2010 gaming convention.
Led by senior lecturer Eric Harshbarger, the research involved a core group of about six individuals and contributions from many more. The mathematical challenge was significant, requiring extensive calculations to determine the optimal number distribution for each die. The final solution for the 60-sided dice was achieved in 2023 by researcher Paul Meyer.
The sculpture commemorating this achievement consists of five large wooden dice, each weighing over 100 pounds and measuring approximately three-and-a-half feet in diameter. The dice sets developed through this research, including 60- and 12-sided versions, are available through the Math Art Fun website.