In combinatorial game theory, the paranoid algorithm is an algorithm that aims to improve the alpha-beta pruning capabilities of the maxn algorithm by making the player p chosen to maximize the score "paranoid" of the other players by assuming they are cooperating to minimize p's score, thus minimizing any n-player game to a 2-player game by making the opposing player the sum of the other player's scores. This returns the game to a zero-sum game and makes it analyzable via any optimization techniques usually applied in pair with the minimax theorem.[1] It performs notably faster than the maxn algorithm because of those optimizations.[2]