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[ARTICLE · art-29721] src=news.ycombinator.com ↗ pub= topic=large-language-models verified=true sentiment=↓ negative

Ask HN: Why are LLMs so bad at board games?

A user on Hacker News reports that large language models consistently fail to understand board game rules, raising concerns about fundamental limitations in AI reasoning. Despite rulebooks being self-contained, LLMs cannot answer basic questions or play games, highlighting a gap in current AI capabilities.

read1 min views1 publishedJun 16, 2026

| |||||||||||| 2 points by | I've come across a use case LLMs seem inexplicably bad at: reading and understanding board game rules. It seems like it should be something an LLM would be excellent at. After all, a rulebook is just a self contained set of instructions. And yet, not only do LLMs fail to play a board game, I have yet to get one to successfully understand a rulebook enough to even answer basic rules questions. This seems like a massive red flag overall for the status of AI. I'm wondering if this is an overcomeable issue, or if it speaks to the underlying limitations of AI in general. | ||||||||||| |

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