We Built A Computer in Mario Maker! | Game Theory (Super Mario Maker)

Modern games are increasingly complex, but Super Mario Maker might be the world's most complex game despite its simple appearance.

Game Theory explores theories about favorite video games through analysis and demonstrations that impress viewers with detailed knowledge.

Super Mario Maker 2 is releasing with portable play on Nintendo Switch, offering infinite Mario levels at any difficulty level.

Previous analysis showed the Marioplex, a number larger than atoms in the universe, representing the possible levels in the game.

Size measures quantity while complexity measures layers of interacting systems, making a problem with nested operations more complex than simple large calculations.

Complexity is a measure of how smart a game is, reflecting the game's ability to solve problems on its own, not just present them.

Building a working computer inside a video game demonstrates true complexity by creating a machine that can run algorithms and theoretically any program.

Minecraft creators like Rick Wagg built full Game Boy emulators playing Pokémon Red, and Mario Maker has similar tools available though with more limitations.

Alan Turing invented the theoretical computer in 1936, describing a machine that solves any problem using simple instructions on a paper tape with cells in two states: filled or blank.

Modern binary code with 0s and 1s directly derives from Turing's filled circles and empty squares, establishing why binary is fundamental to all computers.

• Store values in memory • Read and write values from memory • Track position in memory • Follow algorithms with instructions based on states and values

Computers from 2019 perform the same basic operations as computers from 1984 or the 1940s, just much faster and with better tools.

Shells represent 1s and their absence represents 0s, with shells acting as the carrier of data in the Mario Maker computer system.

• Single bit stores 0-1 • Two bits store 0-3 • Three bits store 0-7 • Four bits store 0-15

The calculator is limited to numbers 0-7 because three bits represent the practical maximum before memory requirements increase by 33 percent.

Numbers are converted to binary representation with shells bouncing off P blocks, where only shells representing 1s can pass through the gates.

Like elementary school math, addition starts from the ones place and moves to the left, with half adders and full adders handling carries between digits.

Half adders add the first two bits from the right and generate a carry bit if the sum exceeds single-bit capacity.

Full adders add three bits instead of two: the two input shells plus the carry-over bit from the previous stage, cascading carries through the system.

Results display as ice blocks destroyed in patterns, requiring extensive functions to visualize numbers despite the fundamental simplicity of the addition operation.

Mario Maker only tracks objects close to Mario; shells off-screen are despawned to save processing power, eliminating critical data.

The level uses autoscroll forcing Mario to move with shells, preventing despawning and keeping all data-carrying shells active during calculations.

While appearing to show fancy shell mechanics, the extended level length serves critical functions: allowing time for mathematical operations and keeping shells relevant to the game.

Every game mechanic in the level exists to solve a computational problem, not for entertainment padding or demonstration purposes.

A basic calculation like 2 + 3 requires 5 steps in a Turing machine; more complex operations require exponentially more steps.

• Modern computer (2019): 200 billion instructions per second • Mario Maker: Takes 12,680 years for one second of modern computing • 16 seconds modern computing: Over 200,000 years for Mario Maker • 200,000 years is longer than humans have existed on Earth

Mario Maker computers are theoretically capable of basic arithmetic but practically limited; you wouldn't get answers within your lifetime or your descendants' lifetimes for anything beyond simple operations.

Modern computer storage is measured in gigabits (8 billion bits each), literally two billion times more data than the four-digit output of the basic adding function.

All computers, modern or theoretical, have physical and finite limitations; no machine is truly Turing complete in practice because you can always require more space and speed than available.

Removing physical limitations makes any computer theoretically Turing complete, capable of basic functions regardless of speed, including Mario Maker computers.

Building a working computer in Mario Maker demonstrates that the game possesses genuine computational complexity, making it one of the world's most complex games.

Super Mario Maker's ability to function as a Turing machine proves complexity goes beyond size—it's about the fundamental capability to process information and solve problems algorithmically.