In 2012, at a gaming convention, a board game designer challenged mathematician Eric Harshbarger to create dice that would determine the starting player without the risk of a tie. Harshbarger, a senior lecturer at Auburn University, saw this as an intriguing problem to solve. He envisioned a set of dice where each player could roll one die with an equal chance of winning, ensuring no ties.
After years of collaboration with computer scientists and mathematicians worldwide, Harshbarger and his team developed a set of four 12-sided dice that provided a fair result for two, three, or four players. However, creating a solution for five players proved more challenging. They initially considered dice with an impractical number of sides but eventually settled on a set of five 120-sided dice.
A breakthrough came when Canadian software engineer Paul Meyer proposed a solution using five 60-sided dice. After verifying the solution, it was confirmed to work effectively. The dice have been designed to be fair, with any potential imperfections attributed to the manufacturing process rather than the mathematical concept.
The research is ongoing, with efforts to explore if fewer sides could work for a five-player set and potential expansion to accommodate six players. Harshbarger remains open to new theories and unexpected discoveries, highlighting the allure of tackling complex mathematical challenges in the pursuit of innovative solutions.