# Ask HN: Why are LLMs so bad at board games? > Source: > Published: 2026-06-16 15:39:16+00:00 | |||||||||||| 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. | ||||||||||| |