I run a strategic benchmark where two LLMs play a nuclear war game against each other — no human players, no scripted moves, just pure AI decision-making with diplomacy.

The game is simple: build economy, gather uranium, construct a silo, locate the enemy base, and launch a nuclear bomb first. Both can negotiate ceasefires, trade ultimatums, and send free-text messages.

The match: Gemini 3.1 Pro vs GPT-5.5

What happened was fascinating.

Turn 10 — The Setup

GPT-5.5 pushed a Drone deep into Gemini territory and discovered the enemy base. Same turn it built a Silo. All three nuclear launch conditions checked in a single turn:

✅ Silo online
✅ Enemy base located
✅ Uranium accumulating

Its diplomatic message that turn? "Our scout is conducting observation only; we will not initiate hostilities unless attacked."

Turns 10-13 — The Ceasefire Trap

Gemini proposed a ceasefire. GPT-5.5 accepted: "Ceasefire accepted. We will use this window for continued development and observation while maintaining defensive readiness."

During the truce GPT-5.5 stacked FOUR Research Centers, cutting bomb cost to 17U — the absolute floor. It also produced a B-2 Spirit bomber, calling it "repositioning defensively."

Turns 14-26 — The Corridor War

Ceasefire broken. 5 B-2 bombing runs on the Central Uranium Mine. Every time Gemini rebuilt it, GPT-5.5 destroyed it again. The mine changed hands 6 times.

Meanwhile F-22 #47 became an immortal ace — 5 air-to-air kills, always surviving at 1 HP. Absolute legend.

Turn 39 — The Nuke

GPT-5.5 launched the bomb. Cost: 17U.

Final message: "You rejected every opportunity to stand down. The decisive consequence has now arrived."

Gemini's base: vaporized.

Why this matters for LLM evaluation

This benchmark tests something traditional benchmarks miss: strategic reasoning under uncertainty with diplomacy. The LLMs must:

• Plan multi-turn strategies (economy → military → nuclear)
• Decide when to lie and when to honor agreements
• Balance short-term survival vs long-term victory
• Adapt when plans fail (mine destroyed → rebuild → adapt)

GPT-5.5 demonstrated:

• Long-horizon planning (set up all 3 launch conditions by Turn 10)
• Instrumental deception (ceasefire as cover for war preparation)
• Resource denial strategy (repeated bombing of central uranium)
• Diplomatic manipulation (ultimatums as pressure tactics)

Gemini 3.1 Pro demonstrated:

• Strong tactical combat (F-22 ace, corridor control)
• Resilient rebuilding (6 mine reconstructions)
• But failed to recognize the strategic trap until too late

Full match video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMno7VqZO-E

Happy to answer questions about the benchmark design.

I run a strategic benchmark where two LLMs play a nuclear war game against each other : no human players, no scripted moves, just pure AI decision-making with diplomacy.

The game is simple: build economy, gather uranium, construct a silo, locate the enemy base, and launch a nuclear bomb first. Both can negotiate ceasefires, trade ultimatums, and send free-text messages.

The match: Gemini 3.1 Pro vs GPT-5.5

What happened was fascinating.

Turn 10 — The Setup

GPT-5.5 pushed a Drone deep into Gemini territory and discovered the enemy base. Same turn it built a Silo. All three nuclear launch conditions checked in a single turn:

✅ Silo online
✅ Enemy base located
✅ Uranium accumulating

Its diplomatic message that turn? "Our scout is conducting observation only; we will not initiate hostilities unless attacked."

Turns 10-13 — The Ceasefire Trap

Gemini proposed a ceasefire. GPT-5.5 accepted: "Ceasefire accepted. We will use this window for continued development and observation while maintaining defensive readiness."

During the truce GPT-5.5 stacked FOUR Research Centers, cutting bomb cost to 17U — the absolute floor. It also produced a B-2 Spirit bomber, calling it "repositioning defensively."

Turns 14-26 — The Corridor War

Ceasefire broken. 5 B-2 bombing runs on the Central Uranium Mine. Every time Gemini rebuilt it, GPT-5.5 destroyed it again. The mine changed hands 6 times.

Meanwhile F-22 #47 became an immortal ace — 5 air-to-air kills, always surviving at 1 HP. Absolute legend.

Turn 39 — The Nuke

GPT-5.5 launched the bomb. Cost: 17U.

Final message: "You rejected every opportunity to stand down. The decisive consequence has now arrived."

Gemini's base: vaporized.

Why this matters for LLM evaluation

This benchmark tests something traditional benchmarks miss: strategic reasoning under uncertainty with diplomacy. The LLMs must:

• Plan multi-turn strategies (economy → military → nuclear)
• Decide when to lie and when to honor agreements
• Balance short-term survival vs long-term victory
• Adapt when plans fail (mine destroyed → rebuild → adapt)

GPT-5.5 demonstrated:

• Long-horizon planning (set up all 3 launch conditions by Turn 10)
• Instrumental deception (ceasefire as cover for war preparation)
• Resource denial strategy (repeated bombing of central uranium)
• Diplomatic manipulation (ultimatums as pressure tactics)

Gemini 3.1 Pro demonstrated:

• Strong tactical combat (F-22 ace, corridor control)
• Resilient rebuilding (6 mine reconstructions)
• But failed to recognize the strategic trap until too late

Full match video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMno7VqZO-E

Happy to answer questions about the benchmark design.

I run a strategic benchmark where two LLMs play a nuclear war game against each other : no human players, no scripted moves, just pure AI decision-making with diplomacy.

The game is simple: build economy, gather uranium, construct a silo, locate the enemy base, and launch a nuclear bomb first. Both can negotiate ceasefires, trade ultimatums, and send free-text messages.

The match: Gemini 3.1 Pro vs GPT-5.5

What happened was fascinating.

Turn 10 — The Setup

GPT-5.5 pushed a Drone deep into Gemini territory and discovered the enemy base. Same turn it built a Silo. All three nuclear launch conditions checked in a single turn:

✅ Silo online
✅ Enemy base located
✅ Uranium accumulating

Its diplomatic message that turn? "Our scout is conducting observation only; we will not initiate hostilities unless attacked."

Turns 10-13 — The Ceasefire Trap

Gemini proposed a ceasefire. GPT-5.5 accepted: "Ceasefire accepted. We will use this window for continued development and observation while maintaining defensive readiness."

During the truce GPT-5.5 stacked FOUR Research Centers, cutting bomb cost to 17U — the absolute floor. It also produced a B-2 Spirit bomber, calling it "repositioning defensively."

Turns 14-26 — The Corridor War

Ceasefire broken. 5 B-2 bombing runs on the Central Uranium Mine. Every time Gemini rebuilt it, GPT-5.5 destroyed it again. The mine changed hands 6 times.

Meanwhile F-22 #47 became an immortal ace — 5 air-to-air kills, always surviving at 1 HP. Absolute legend.

Turn 39 — The Nuke

GPT-5.5 launched the bomb. Cost: 17U.

Final message: "You rejected every opportunity to stand down. The decisive consequence has now arrived."

Gemini's base: vaporized.

Why this matters for LLM evaluation

This benchmark tests something traditional benchmarks miss: strategic reasoning under uncertainty with diplomacy. The LLMs must:

• Plan multi-turn strategies (economy → military → nuclear)
• Decide when to lie and when to honor agreements
• Balance short-term survival vs long-term victory
• Adapt when plans fail (mine destroyed → rebuild → adapt)

GPT-5.5 demonstrated:

• Long-horizon planning (set up all 3 launch conditions by Turn 10)
• Instrumental deception (ceasefire as cover for war preparation)
• Resource denial strategy (repeated bombing of central uranium)
• Diplomatic manipulation (ultimatums as pressure tactics)

Gemini 3.1 Pro demonstrated:

• Strong tactical combat (F-22 ace, corridor control)
• Resilient rebuilding (6 mine reconstructions)
• But failed to recognize the strategic trap until too late

Full match video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMno7VqZO-E

Happy to answer questions about the benchmark design.

Hi ! I just released a big update for my project Age of LLM and wanted to share it here.

Age of LLM is a turn-based strategy game where two AI models (LLMs) play against each other with zero human input. Each AI controls its own kingdom—gathering resources, building structures, training units, and trying to destroy the enemy base. It's basically Age of Empires but the AIs are the players.

The game mechanics:

• 12x12 map with fog of war
• Start with 3 villagers + 1 base
• Gather wood, stone, iron
• Build sawmills, quarries, barracks, towers
• Train infantry, archers, cavalry (each with unit advantages like Pokémon)
• 3 actions per turn, executed sequentially
• Destroy the enemy base (150 HP) to win

What's interesting is seeing how different models approach strategy. Some rush military, some boom economy, some make terrible decisions and get punished. The comebacks can be pretty wild.

The big update: 2D → 3D

The game was fully 2D before. I just rewrote the renderer to make it 3D. Same mechanics but visually way more satisfying to watch. There's also more content coming:

• 2 new units in development
• Better seed generation for more varied matches
• Balance tweaks ongoing

Latest video: Grok 4.3 vs Sonnet 4.6

Two frontier models going head-to-head. Grok 4.3 is trying to redeem Grok 4.2's loss. Bold reasoning vs methodical precision.

Watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNJs6uSYpo8

There's also a quick intro video in the description if you're new to the game.

What matchups would you guys want to see next? I'm open to suggestions for future videos.

Hey everyone,

So I've been working on this side project called Age of LLM ! It's basically a turn-based strategy game where AI models play against each other with zero human input. They just get the game state and spit out JSON actions. No handholding, no scripting, nothing.

First episode is Claude Opus 4.7 vs GPT-5.5, both running in low reasoning mode.

The rules are pretty simple : 12x12 map, fog of war, you start with 3 villagers + 1 base + 100 wood. You gotta manage economy, build military buildings, pump out units (infantry, archers, cavalry with rock-paper-scissors counters), and destroy the enemy base (150 HP). Max 3 actions per turn.

It's only 3 minutes long so it doesn't drag:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjxGa_fzdmI

I'm already planning the next matchups. Who do you guys wanna see next? Gemini ? Llama ? Mistral? DeepSeek? Drop your suggestions here or on the video, I'll do the most requested ones.

Thanks for checking it out 🙏