ALYMPICS: LLM Agents Meet Game Theory

Shaoguang Mao, Yuzhe Cai, Yan Xia, Wenshan Wu, Xun Wang, Fengyi Wang, Qiang Guan, Tao Ge, Furu Wei


Abstract
Game theory is a branch of mathematics that studies strategic interactions among rational agents. We propose Alympics (Olympics for Agents), a systematic framework utilizing Large Language Model (LLM) agents for empirical game theory research. Alympics creates a versatile platform for studying complex game theory problems, bridging the gap between theoretical game theory and empirical investigations by providing a controlled environment for simulating human-like strategic interactions with LLM agents. In our pilot case study, the “Water Allocation Challenge”, we explore Alympics through a challenging strategic game focused on the multi-round auction of scarce survival resources. This study demonstrates the framework’s ability to qualitatively and quantitatively analyze game determinants, strategies, and outcomes. Additionally, we conduct a comprehensive human assessment and an in-depth evaluation of LLM agents in rational strategic decision-making scenarios. Our findings highlight LLM agents’ potential to advance game theory knowledge and expand the understanding of their proficiency in emulating human strategic behavior.
Anthology ID:
2025.coling-main.193
Volume:
Proceedings of the 31st International Conference on Computational Linguistics
Month:
January
Year:
2025
Address:
Abu Dhabi, UAE
Editors:
Owen Rambow, Leo Wanner, Marianna Apidianaki, Hend Al-Khalifa, Barbara Di Eugenio, Steven Schockaert
Venue:
COLING
SIG:
Publisher:
Association for Computational Linguistics
Note:
Pages:
2845–2866
Language:
URL:
https://aclanthology.org/2025.coling-main.193/
DOI:
Bibkey:
Cite (ACL):
Shaoguang Mao, Yuzhe Cai, Yan Xia, Wenshan Wu, Xun Wang, Fengyi Wang, Qiang Guan, Tao Ge, and Furu Wei. 2025. ALYMPICS: LLM Agents Meet Game Theory. In Proceedings of the 31st International Conference on Computational Linguistics, pages 2845–2866, Abu Dhabi, UAE. Association for Computational Linguistics.
Cite (Informal):
ALYMPICS: LLM Agents Meet Game Theory (Mao et al., COLING 2025)
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PDF:
https://aclanthology.org/2025.coling-main.193.pdf