I spent 8 weeks building a Nash Equilibrium calculator from scratch in Python

Source: Dev.to

Overview

I wanted to apply computer science to economics and mathematics, so I built a Nash Equilibrium calculator using Python and libraries such as numpy and scipy.optimize.

Features

• Calculates all pure and mixed Nash equilibria using the support enumeration algorithm.
• Employs linear programming via the HiGHS solver for the iterated elimination of strictly dominated strategies.
• Sub‑feature computes game values for zero‑sum games using the von Neumann Minimax theorem by:
  • Identifying Pareto‑optimal outcomes
  • Calculating the social welfare loss
• Uses the rich library to build a terminal UI that color‑codes the matrices for easy readability.

Implementation Details

• Language: Python
• Key libraries: numpy, scipy.optimize, HiGHS, rich

Development Process

• The project took almost 8 weeks to complete.
• I deliberately avoided using AI assistance, so the code may have some rough edges.

Repository

GitHub repository