mlsanityData to 14 Oct 2026

Improving Rationality in the Reasoning Process of Language Models through Self-playing Game

arXiv 2506.22920 ↗First posted 28 Jun 2025cs.AIcited by 7

On the map: LLM reasoning → Reasoning for agents, planning and code

also in 1 more
Abstract (arXiv)

Large language models (LLMs) have demonstrated considerable reasoning abilities in various tasks such as mathematics and coding. However, recent studies indicate that even the best models lack true comprehension of their reasoning processes. In this paper, we explore how self-play can enhance the rationality of models in the reasoning process without supervision from humans or superior models. We design a Critic-Discernment Game(CDG) in which a prover first provides a solution to a given problem and is subsequently challenged by critiques of its solution. These critiques either aim to assist or mislead the prover. The objective of the prover is to maintain the correct answer when faced with misleading comments, while correcting errors in response to constructive feedback. Our experiments on tasks involving mathematical reasoning, stepwise error detection, self-correction, and long-chain reasoning demonstrate that CDG training can significantly improve the ability of well-aligned LLMs to comprehend their reasoning process.

Key facts. Cited by 7 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026). Placed in Reasoning for agents, planning and code, one of 17 directions in LLM reasoning. Builds on 40 of its 54 references that are in the map. First posted on arXiv 28 Jun 2025.

Builds on

40 of 54 references.

Closest ancestors · 1

Same direction, newest first

  1. 2024Self-playing Adversarial Language Game Enhances LLM Reasoning16 Apr

Other references · 39

  1. 2017Proximal Policy Optimization Algorithmscited by 15,215
  2. 2024The Llama 3 Herd of Modelscited by 14,715
  3. 2021Training Verifiers to Solve Math Word Problemscited by 10,109
  4. 2025DeepSeek-R1: Incentivizing Reasoning Capability in LLMs via Reinforcement Learningcited by 6,330
  5. 2024Qwen2.5 Technical Reportcited by 4,942
  6. 2024GPT-4o System Cardcited by 4,588
  7. 2023Let's Verify Step by Stepcited by 3,789
  8. 2023Code Llama: Open Foundation Models for Codecited by 2,139
  9. 2024Qwen2.5-Math Technical Report: Toward Mathematical Expert Model via Self-Improvementcited by 1,090
  10. 2024SimPO: Simple Preference Optimization with a Reference-Free Rewardcited by 963
  11. 2022Solving math word problems with process- and outcome-based feedbackcited by 901
  12. 2023Measuring Faithfulness in Chain-of-Thought Reasoningcited by 703
27 more
  1. 2023An Empirical Study of Catastrophic Forgetting in Large Language Models During Continual Fine-tuningcited by 639
  2. 2024Self-Play Fine-Tuning Converts Weak Language Models to Strong Language Modelscited by 557
  3. 2024GSM-Symbolic: Understanding the Limitations of Mathematical Reasoning in Large Language Modelscited by 550
  4. 2023Reinforced Self-Training (ReST) for Language Modelingcited by 500
  5. 2024Improve Mathematical Reasoning in Language Models by Automated Process Supervisioncited by 441
  6. 2025The Lessons of Developing Process Reward Models in Mathematical Reasoningcited by 415
  7. 2023Beyond Human Data: Scaling Self-Training for Problem-Solving with Language Modelscited by 349
  8. 2024Step-DPO: Step-wise Preference Optimization for Long-chain Reasoning of LLMscited by 273
  9. 2023Exploring Large Language Models for Communication Games: An Empirical Study on Werewolfcited by 241
  10. 2023Automatically Correcting Large Language Models: Surveying the landscape of diverse self-correction strategiescited by 238
  11. 2024Self-Play Preference Optimization for Language Model Alignmentcited by 232
  12. 2023Improving Language Model Negotiation with Self-Play and In-Context Learning from AI Feedbackcited by 207
  13. 2024Teaching Large Language Models to Reason with Reinforcement Learningcited by 160
  14. 2023Language Agents with Reinforcement Learning for Strategic Play in the Werewolf Gamecited by 152
  15. 2024Marco-o1: Towards Open Reasoning Models for Open-Ended Solutionscited by 144
  16. 2024O1 Replication Journey: A Strategic Progress Report -- Part 1cited by 143
  17. 2022Impact of Pretraining Term Frequencies on Few-Shot Reasoningcited by 142
  18. 2023The CoT Collection: Improving Zero-shot and Few-shot Learning of Language Models via Chain-of-Thought Fine-Tuningcited by 108
  19. 2024O1 Replication Journey -- Part 2: Surpassing O1-preview through Simple Distillation, Big Progress or Bitter Lesson?cited by 92
  20. 2024Prover-Verifier Games improve legibility of LLM outputscited by 85
  21. 2024A Comparative Study on Reasoning Patterns of OpenAI's o1 Modelcited by 63
  22. 2024Enhancing LLM Reasoning via Critique Models with Test-Time and Training-Time Supervisioncited by 60
  23. 2024Step-Controlled DPO: Leveraging Stepwise Error for Enhanced Mathematical Reasoningcited by 35
  24. 2024A Survey on Self-play Methods in Reinforcement Learningcited by 26
  25. 2024SPaR: Self-Play with Tree-Search Refinement to Improve Instruction-Following in Large Language Modelscited by 23
  26. 2024Toward Optimal LLM Alignments Using Two-Player Gamescited by 13
  27. 2024Learn to Disguise: Avoid Refusal Responses in LLM's Defense via a Multi-agent Attacker-Disguiser Gamecited by 5

Built on by

Cited by year (2026 to 14 Oct)

Citing papers per year: 2025: 5; 2026: 2.

7 papers.

Similar, not cited

Close in wording, no citation either way

  1. 2025TextGames: Learning to Self-Play Text-Based Puzzle Games via Language Model Reasoning
  2. 2025Towards Understanding Self-play for LLM Reasoning
  3. 2025SPC: Evolving Self-Play Critic via Adversarial Games for LLM Reasoning
  4. 2026Self-Play Search Distillation for Large Language Model Reasoning
  5. 2025LogicPuzzleRL: Cultivating Robust Mathematical Reasoning in LLMs via Reinforcement Learning
  6. 2024Self-Explore: Enhancing Mathematical Reasoning in Language Models with Fine-grained Rewards
  7. 2026The Token Games: Evaluating Language Model Reasoning with Puzzle Duels
  8. 2026Reasoning Capabilities of Large Language Models. Lessons Learned from General Game Playing