Mario Kart 8's 585 Builds, One Pareto Frontier

Mario Meets Pareto

In Mario Kart 8, choosing a driver, kart body, tires, and glider involves trade-offs between speed, acceleration, and mini-turbo. With 585 unique builds, finding the best is a multi-objective optimization problem. Applying Vilfredo Pareto's concept of efficiency narrows the options to 14 Pareto-optimal builds, but the final choice depends on personal preferences. This article demonstrates how Pareto frontiers help filter out dominated choices, with applications beyond gaming, from meals to investments.