Game Info 02 Jan 2025
Geometric Mean
We use a fantastic but somewhat obscure way to calculate an average in scoring: the geometric mean. This is what it is and why we use it.
Robbie Nichols
More Judges Make More Fun
...but there is a problem with calculating a score with the averages we are all familiar with, the arithmetic mean. With that most normal mean, players would be guessing the midpoint between all the judges. Not only is that more ambiguous, but it doesn't mean anything!
Enter the geometric mean, the hero of metrics to solve this problem! Using this score, the closer a player answers to any single judge, the lower their score. So pick the judge you most closely relate to and answer the same as them, not for the middle.
What is the geometric mean?
Good question.
Just for review, arithmetic mean for three numbers is (a + b + c) / 3. Add all the numbers up and then divide by the count of numbers.
Geometric mean multiplies all the numbers together and take the nth root of their product. Rather than drawing it all out, I'll point you towards the Wikipedia page.
Isn't math great? At the heart of almost all games you can find at least a nugget of good math. How else would we keep score?