Deep Thoughts on the River Crossing Game

Abstract

Games of chance can often serve well as motivation for learning about probability and statistics and thus as good introductions to lessons on these topics. The River Crossing game (Shaughnessy and Arcidiacono 1993) is interesting for at least three reasons that apply to secondary students as well as their teachers. First, finding a winning strategy is not obvious. Second, the game lends itself well to computer simulation and analysis of experimental data. Third, the game has surprisingly counterintuitive aspects, which this article highlights.