Work

How to Play Old Maid with Virtual Players

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Old Maid is a popular card game. While typically played with three or more players, it is less enjoyable with only two people. To address this, we propose a protocol to create a virtual player, Carol, by making use of card-based cryptography when only two people, Alice and Bob, are available to play Old Maid. Specifically, we design a card-based protocol to remove any pair of cards having the same number in Carol’s hand (namely, the virtual player’s hand) without leaking any information about Carol’s hand (more than necessary); our protocol uses additional cards aside from playing cards that are used in Old Maid. Using our protocol, without any third human player, Alice and Bob can have fun with Old Maid!

Source: Theory of Computing Systems

DOI: 10.1007/s00224-024-10203-w

Authors: Kazumasa Shinagawa, Daiki Miyahara, Takaaki Mizuki

Institutions: Ibaraki University, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, University of Electro-Communications, Tohoku University

Language: English

Topic: Cryptography and Data Security

Subfield: Artificial Intelligence

Field: Computer Science

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $3,190

Funder: Japan Society for the Promotion of Science