Simplicial complexes are game complexes (Q2318782)

Summary: Strong placement games (SP-games) are a class of combinatorial games whose structure allows one to describe the game via simplicial complexes. A natural question is whether well-known parameters of combinatorial games, such as ``game value'', appear as invariants of the simplicial complexes. This paper is the first step in that direction. We show that every simplicial complex encodes a certain type of SP-game (called an ``invariant SP-game'') whose ruleset is independent of the board it is played on. We also show that in the class of SP-games isomorphic simplicial complexes correspond to isomorphic game trees, and hence equal game values. We also study a subclass of SP-games corresponding to flag complexes, showing that there is always a game whose corresponding complex is a flag complex no matter which board it is played on.