constant-sum game

Constant-sum games are games of total conflict, which are also called games of pure competition. Poker, for example, is a constant-sum game because the combined wealth of the players remains constant, though its distribution shifts in the course of play.

…the positive-sum game are the zero-sum game and the negative-sum game. The term zero-sum game refers to situations in which the total of wins and losses adds up to zero, and thus one party benefits at the direct expense of another. The term negative-sum game describes situations in which the…

…theorists distinguish antagonistic situations called zero-sum games, in which one state’s gain can be only at the expense of another state because the “payoff” is fixed. Even then a mutually acceptable distribution of gains can be rationally reached on the basis of the “minimax” principle—the party in a position of…