In 2012, during a gaming convention, board game designer posed a challenge to mathematician Eric Harshbarger: create dice that could decide who goes first in a game without a chance of a tie. Harshbarger, a mathematician and senior lecturer at Auburn University, embraced the puzzle. After years of collaboration with a team of computer scientists and mathematicians globally, they devised a set of dice that could ensure a fair outcome for up to five players with a single roll.
Initially, they crafted a set of four 12-sided dice that successfully resolved the issue for two, three, and four players. However, the challenge intensified when addressing five players. The team explored various theories, eventually leading to the development of five 120-sided dice by a researcher from Australia. Subsequently, a Canadian software engineer named Paul Meyer proposed a solution utilizing five 60-sided dice, which was validated and hailed as a breakthrough.
Despite concerns about practicality, Harshbarger affirms the dice’s mathematical integrity. The team continues to investigate the feasibility of fewer sides for five players, with 30 sides recognized as the minimum. They also ponder expanding the concept to accommodate six players, acknowledging the potential for unexpected solutions to arise. Harshbarger finds the enduring allure of the problem lies in its mathematical elegance and the pursuit of answers to challenging questions.