Pokemon Red via Reinforcement Learning
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Abstract (arXiv)
Pok'emon Red, a classic Game Boy JRPG, presents significant challenges as a testbed for agents, including multi-tasking, long horizons of tens of thousands of steps, hard exploration, and a vast array of potential policies. We introduce a simplistic environment and a Deep Reinforcement Learning (DRL) training methodology, demonstrating a baseline agent that completes an initial segment of the game up to completing Cerulean City. Our experiments include various ablations that reveal vulnerabilities in reward shaping, where agents exploit specific reward signals. We also discuss limitations and argue that games like Pok'emon hold strong potential for future research on Large Language Model agents, hierarchical training algorithms, and advanced exploration methods. Source Code: https://github.com/MarcoMeter/neroRL/tree/pokered
Key facts. Cited by 1 paper in the map (data through 7 Oct 2026). Builds on 10 of its 16 references that are in the map. First posted on arXiv 27 Feb 2025.
Builds on
10 of 16 references.
References · 10
- 2017Proximal Policy Optimization Algorithmscited by 14,441
- 2023Voyager: An Open-Ended Embodied Agent with Large Language Modelscited by 2,081
- 2017Curiosity-driven Exploration by Self-supervised Predictioncited by 1,173
- 2019Dota 2 with Large Scale Deep Reinforcement Learningcited by 1,084
- 2018Exploration by Random Network Distillationcited by 966
- 2022MineDojo: Building Open-Ended Embodied Agents with Internet-Scale Knowledgecited by 469
- 2020The NetHack Learning Environmentcited by 196
- 2022Deep Hierarchical Planning from Pixelscited by 96
- 2024PokeLLMon: A Human-Parity Agent for Pokemon Battles with Large Language Modelscited by 25
- 2024PufferLib: Making Reinforcement Learning Libraries and Environments Play Nicecited by 22
Built on by
Citing papers per year: 2026: 1.
1 paper.
Similar, not cited
Close in wording, no citation either way
- 2025Pok'eAI: A Goal-Generating, Battle-Optimizing Multi-agent System for Pokemon Red
- 2025Human-Level Competitive Pok'emon via Scalable Offline Reinforcement Learning with Transformers
- 2026Training a Conditioned Video Game Agent on a VLM Annotated Dataset
- 2025Enhancing Player Enjoyment with a Two-Tier DRL and LLM-Based Agent System for Fighting Games
- 2025Large Language Models as Pok'emon Battle Agents: Strategic Play and Content Generation
- 2026Porimon: An LLM-Based Pokémon Battle Agent Enhanced by Long/Short-Term Knowledge Augmented Generation
- 2025Learning Game-Playing Agents with Generative Code Optimization
- 2026Reinforcement Learning: From Algorithms To Foundation Models