squidgamesim

(SPOILERS FOR EPISODE 7 of "SQUID GAME"!!!)

In Episode 7 of "Squid Game", the 16 remaining players are forced to go across a bridge of 18 steps... each step consists of 2 glass panels, one panel being safe and the other leading to shattering and plummeting. In theory the first player could guess which panel is safe and get across, and then all the players behind could follow their steps - but the odds of that happening is about 1 in 2 ^ 18 (~250,000). On the other hand, since players get to learn from the players ahead of them, probably some will survive. But how many?

This medium piece (with even more spoilers) figures it out with math, but I prefer brute force simulation! Unlike the show, the players play a "perfect" game, never forgetting which steps are known safe. The path is first grey, then reveals itself black (for regular glass) or white (for safe tempered glass) with a red X if a player found out the hardway. As more and more rounds get played, a bell-curve looking distribution of the number of players who made it aross results.