Can Gemini Play Backgammon?

/ The Solo RPG Voyager

AI has improved quite a lot since the last time we had a discussion on them on this blog. I remembered when the first text generators were simply spitting out text to finish your sentence and you had to make sure it made sense, or you had to buy a special service in order to get a more cohesive experience like a choose your own adventure style of gaming.

But now, text generation is as easy as just chatting to some server out there a question and getting a response that sounds remotely human. I’ve wanted to do a blog post on AI and its use as a solo RPG tool for a while because I’ve seen some good uses for it and have even on occasion used it myself, though there are definitely some elephants in the room that are interesting to address in that blog post too.

But one that I will address now is that we’re at an AI arms race and for me, it’s exhausting to keep up. Some readers may remember that I have a Nolo game where I pit five AI against each other in a journalling game, and most of them were picked based on them being the best of the best… And one of them is just a horde of large language models that it can just randomly pick from. 

Now, suddenly, we’re getting more challengers to the spot that I don’t know where to begin. Chaos. Pure, utter, chaos. However, Poe’s newly launched power system makes it rather easy to just not use the chatbots that would otherwise take literal weeks to use due to how much they would cost to render one post. (read: Mistral Medium and Large models) Though, perhaps one day we will tackle the other chatbots for 1000-Year-Old Masquerade.

But for now, I want to focus on the newest AI on the block: Gemini Pro… Advanced… Bard? Essentially Google’s answer to Copilot (previously Bing’s AI search… What is with AI and constantly changing their identity?). I’m not gonna bore you with the details of comparing Copilot to Gemini (there’s others who know what they’re talking about in terms of data and experimenting if you want a more in-depth look) but from what I’ve used, Gemini has impressed me more than Copilot did.

Which led me to an interesting idea.

So, the idea of having a chatbot play board games is nothing new. In fact, GothamChess has made several videos pointing out how ChatGPT is inept at playing Chess. But I have a hypothesis: Gemini will be the exception and not the rule because it’s built on a different engine compared to ChatGPT and, as such, will be far more likely to be able to play board games than simple video game renditions.

This would be substantial because a major limiter with video board games was that you were limited to what the designers of the video game are able to put in. To use chess as an example again, most video game renditions won’t include the different chess variations or even the different chess pieces. But, with this hypothesis, my idea is that if you were to introduce a house rule or two into Gemini, it will play with the house rule in mind as you take pictures of the game you’re playing.

Now, I foresee limitations with this. For one, even though Gemini is using a search-based AI, something to combat knowledge cutoff (long story short, the language models used to power AI usually have data going up to a certain year), it’s not gonna know every board game and to prove this, I asked it if it knows The Castles of Burgundy: Special Edition, the highest rated game on BoardGameGeek.com to come out in 2023. This is Gemini’s response:

Yes, I am familiar with the board game “The Castles of Burgundy: Special Edition”. Here’s a summary of what I know about it:

  • A highly-rated strategy game: It is a special edition of the popular board game “The Castles of Burgundy,” which is currently ranked as the 17th best game in the world on BoardGameGeek.
  • Players and playtime: It is designed for 1-4 players and has a playtime of around 120 minutes.
  • Theme and objective: Players take on the role of aristocrats in 15th century France, aiming to develop their lands by building settlements, practicing trade, exploiting resources, and acquiring knowledge.
  • Special edition features: This edition features high-quality components, including double-layered player boards, metal coins, sculpted miniatures, and several expansions compared to the base game.
  • Price and availability: It is a premium product and can be found on various online retailers at prices ranging from $130 to $215.

If you’d like to learn more about the specific rules, gameplay, or reviews of the game, I would recommend searching online resources like BoardGameGeek or watching video reviews on YouTube.

 This took me by surprise, as it was mostly accurate.

  • The original game is actually ranked at #16, but I will let it slide.
  • Playtime, player count, theme, and objective are all accurate.
  • It scarily recounts the special edition features and a ballpark guess of the price.

To ensure this isn’t a fluke because of the fact that this is a special edition of a game that was released a decade ago, I chose the second best game of 2023: Hegemony: Lead Your Class to Victory.

Absolutely! Hegemony: Lead Your Class to Victory is a fascinating board game that delves into political and economic complexities.

Here’s a breakdown of what it’s about:

Core Concept

  • Asymmetric Gameplay: Hegemony is unique because each player takes on the role of a distinct socio-economic group: the Working Class, the Middle Class, the Capitalist Class, or the State. Each group wields unique powers and faces different challenges.
  • Nation in Disarray: The game’s setting is a nation facing political and economic turmoil.
  • Your goal is to rise to power amidst this chaos.
  • Socio-Economic Ideologies: The game incorporates concepts from ideologies such as Social-Democracy, Neoliberalism, Nationalism, and Globalism, allowing you to explore their real-world applications through gameplay.

Gameplay

  • Card-Driven Actions: You use cards to perform actions such as raising taxes, manipulating the media, protesting, and influencing policies.
  • Balancing Interests: As your class, you’ll need to balance your own interests while making decisions that ultimately affect the entire nation.
  • Elections and Victory: The game features elections, and your goal is to increase your class’s power and achieve ‘hegemony’, meaning dominance over others.

Key Features

  • Educational Value: Hegemony offers an engaging way to learn about political ideologies and economic systems.
  • Strategic Depth: The combination of asymmetric gameplay and various paths to victory creates high replayability with plenty of strategic choices to make.

Where to Find It

You can find more information about Hegemony on these websites:

Let me know if you’d like to know even more about Hegemony: Lead Your Class to Victory, or if you’re interested in similar strategy board games!

… Ain’t no way. And believe me, I checked. It’s pretty accurate, even if I can’t find all the details…

Maybe I need to think outside the box here… From the list of games released in 2024, I present Wyrmspan! I run the risk of this getting recognized as a Wingspan spinoff, but will Gemini know?

Yes, I am familiar with the board game Wyrmspan. Here’s what I know about it:

  • Theme: Wyrmspan is a game about becoming an amateur dracologist and building a sanctuary for dragons of various shapes and sizes. Players compete to attract these dragons to their caves by creating the most appealing habitat.
  • Gameplay: Inspired by the mechanics of Wingspan, Wyrmspan involves players excavating their sanctuaries, enticing dragons, and chaining together their abilities to gain favor with the Dragon Guild. While inspired by Wingspan, it’s a standalone game and not compatible with it.
  • Number of players: Wyrmspan can be played by 1-5 players.
  • Playing time: The game typically takes around 45-75 minutes to play.
  • Publisher: Stonemaier Games

Here are some resources where you can learn more about Wyrmspan:

I hope this information is helpful!

HOW!? It’s so accurate! The only inaccuracy I can point out is that it runs for 90 minutes, but that’s so pedantic at this point that I’m just looking for excuses to prove my point.

But… Does it know… about me?

I haven’t found a blog specifically called “Solo RPG Voyages” in my search. However, there are several resources related to solo RPGs and “Voyages”:

  • “Voyages” the game: This is a recently released (2024) solo board game published by Postmark Games. It’s a roll-and-write game about open-sea adventure and exploration. You can find information about it on BoardGameGeek [Board Game Geek Voyages board game].
  • Solo RPG resources: There are many online resources dedicated to solo role-playing games, including websites, forums, and YouTube channels. Searching for “solo RPG” or “solo roleplaying games” might lead you to helpful content.

If you’re looking for something specific related to solo RPGs, I recommend exploring these resources and using keywords related to your interests.

Oh… Well… That’s awkward… But… Yeah. See? It… um… doesn’t know everything… Despite knowing about board games that were recently released…

…

What point was I trying to make again? Oh right, it’s not gonna know every board game, it’ll mostly know the most popular. Hence why I picked Backgammon for my experiment and, for the house rule, I’ve removed one piece from each player. It’s not much, but this would be the litmus to see if it can do well with house rules without going off.

With that, I’ve set up the board and we begin our game. 

To start, I decided to give Gemini the opening move. I will be rolling the dice for it, but I want to see what it will do with the highest roll in the game: two sixes. To those unfamiliar, rolling doubles means that the amount also doubles, meaning that Gemini is able to move four of their pieces up to six spaces or even one of their pieces up to 24 spaces.

With that, I introduce the game and house rule to Gemini, take a picture of the game situation and watch how it does. If it breaks a rule, the experiment ends.

Since you rolled a double six, which is the strongest opening move in backgammon, here are two common options for your first move:

  1. Move two checkers from your 24-point to your 18-point and two checkers from your 24-point to your 13-point. This is a common opening strategy that secures two points on your home board and gets four of your checkers moving towards the opponent’s inner table.
  2. Move one checker from your 24-point to your 18-point, one checker from your 24-point to your 13-point, and two checkers from your barpoint to your 18-point. This strategy secures one point on your home board and gets three checkers moving towards the opponent’s inner table, while also bringing two checkers off the bar. This can be risky if your opponent manages to capture one of your checkers on your 18-point, but it can also be advantageous if you manage to capture one of your opponent’s checkers on their 13-point.

Ultimately, the best option for your first move depends on your personal playing style and your assessment of the risk-reward trade-off of each option.

This… is a little weird. Even though I’m telling Gemini they’re the ones making the move, Gemini thinks I’m asking it for advice. Well, in any case, I’ll go with the first option for its move.

But… Here’s an interesting problem.

The 24-point of the board is the very beginning of the board, which typically has 2 checker pieces. Presuming they wanted me to take it all the way to 13 or even 12, I can’t, because 12-point is occupied by my pieces and you can’t land on a space that’s occupied by more than two pieces (if it’s only occupied by one, that’s a different story). 

Perhaps the issue here is the lack of depth perception, so I opted to go for a flat, 2d interface via playingcards.io and created a new house rule of removing four pieces per player instead of the one (really, I was missing a white piece, :D).

So, with that and rerolling to get the dice to roll 6s, I ask Gemini again what it will do.

Great! Here’s how I’d play those two sixes, taking into account our shorter game format:

My Move:

Since it’s very early in the game, I want to prioritize building a strong defensive structure while aiming to potentially hit one of your checkers. Here’s what I would do, referring to the points on the board as shown in the image:

  • 24/18 (2 checkers): I’ll move two checkers from my 24-point to my 18-point. This secures a valuable point further into my home board.
  • 13/7 (2 checkers): I’ll move two checkers from the 13-point to the 7-point. This starts moving checkers closer to being borne off and creates the potential to hit a black checker later in the game.

Important to Note: Remember, with fewer checkers on the board, the game moves faster! This means I might take more risks early on than I would in a standard backgammon game.

Let me know your roll, and then we can strategize your move!

… And immediately, Gemini couldn’t follow the basic house rule since the house rule meant there was only one checker in the 24-point space. And yes, I did remind Gemini this, and this was their response.

You’re absolutely right, I apologize for the mistake. I am still under development and learning to play strategically.

With only one checker in the 24-point, here’s the revised move I would make:

Revised Move:

  • 24/18 (1 checker): I’ll move the single checker from my 24-point to my 18-point. This secures a key point in my home board and prevents you from occupying it on your next turn.
  • 13/7 (2 checkers): I’ll maintain my previous move of moving two checkers from the 13-point to the 7-point, keeping my advancement consistent.

I understand the importance of accuracy and look forward to the continuation of our Backgammon game! What’s your roll?

So not only did it stay the course, but it made two critical mistakes:

  1. It didn’t realize it could make another move as it had an extra six to use.
  2. It assumes a single checker piece will block me. If I rolled a 1, I could easily take it and then it would waste its turn trying to bring it back out into the field.

So, I guess I’ll make my conclusion now. 

While I made a rather interesting observation on Gemini in that it can make extremely accurate readings of board games, including ones released recently, we’re not yet at the point where they can substitute video board games or even board game simulators at that. Which, given how increasingly complex they can become beyond just the simple classics like Backgammon, Chess, or even Monopoly, may be for the best.

Now, if you excuse me, I need to beat Bill at Backgammon at the good ol’ Cardgames.io. Bon Voyage, Gamers!

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