Creating a Payoff Matrix Using LaTeX Tabular Environment

I'm trying to use my limited knowledge of LaTeX to create a payoff matrix by hand. Here's my first try:

\begin{tabular}{cc|c|c|}
&                 & Player $Y$      & \\
&                 & $A$               & $B$ \\
\hline
Player $X$  & $A$               & $(x,y)$           & $(x,y)$ \\
\hline
& $B$           & $(x,y)$         & $(x,y)$ \\
\hline
\end{tabular}


However, what I've written isn't great, because

• The lines extend too far, instead of simply creating a box enclosing the payoffs
• How to center "Player X" and "Player Y" over the box?
• There's also a mysterious "missing $" error. Are there any tips I'm missing that would fix these issues and make this into a great-looking payoff matrix? Thanks for your help! 2 Answers Please post complete minimal examples rather than code fragments. They make it much easier to help. Maybe something like this? I don't know why you would want 'Player Y' centred over any box, so I've assumed you don't really mean it. \documentclass{article} \usepackage{multirow,array} \begin{document} \begin{table} \setlength{\extrarowheight}{2pt} \begin{tabular}{cc|c|c|} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{Player$Y$}\\ & \multicolumn{1}{c}{} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{$A$} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{$B$} \\\cline{3-4} \multirow{2}*{Player$X$} &$A$&$(x,y)$&$(x,y)$\\\cline{3-4} &$B$&$(x,y)$&$(x,y)$\\\cline{3-4} \end{tabular} \end{table} \end{document}  Or possibly  \begin{table} \setlength{\extrarowheight}{2pt} \begin{tabular}{*{4}{c|}} \multicolumn{2}{c}{} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{Player$Y$}\\\cline{3-4} \multicolumn{1}{c}{} & &$A$&$B$\\\cline{2-4} \multirow{2}*{Player$X$} &$A$&$(x,y)$&$(x,y)$\\\cline{2-4} &$B$&$(x,y)$&$(x,y)$\\\cline{2-4} \end{tabular} \end{table}  • Many thanks again for your help CFR. I tried to generalize your first example to the 3x3 case without much success. Could you take a look at this question? tex.stackexchange.com/questions/304011/… – Mathemanic Apr 13 '16 at 3:58 • @cfr experts (you also expert, 158k) suggest not to use vertical line. In this case is it good practice? – alhelal Mar 31 '19 at 17:11 Check out the sgame package, which nicely packages this all up for you: https://www.economics.utoronto.ca/osborne/latex/sgame.pdf Your example game could be written as: \begin{game}{2}{2}[Player~X][Player~Y] &$A$&$B$\\$A$&(x,y) &(x,y)\\$B\$ &(x,y) &(x,y)
\end{game}

• Yes, it does the job, but unfortunately it is incompatible with the array package, which can be a stopper. – egreg Oct 30 '19 at 16:07