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The Unbeatable Game from the 60s: Dr NIM

Stand-up Maths · explainer · Watch on YouTube

Recreational & visual mathProbability & game theoryChess, board games & puzzles

What it is

Matt Parker of Stand-up Maths explains single-pile Nim and the trick that wins it, using Dr NIM, a 1960s mechanical plastic computer that plays perfectly. He teaches the strategy so viewers can beat friends.

Why Hacker News recommends it

HN links it as a fun explanation of the purely mechanical Dr. Nim game in threads about early game computers and marble-based binary math.

  • 1 people recommended it
  • 1 different months
  • 0 strong recommendations
  • first 2016, last 2023

What HN commenters said

  1. “Here's a video on the subject from Matt Parker @ Standup Maths.”

    Matt Parker covers the purely mechanical Dr. Nim game.

    AndrewOMartin, 2023-07 · Recommendation · in “Play the Nimatron, the World’s First Video Game Invented in 1930s New York”

Excerpts from Hacker News comments, linked to the originals. Summaries and labels were written by a language model from those comments.

Topics: nim, dr nim, mechanical computer, recreational math, game theory

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