anonym comments on Zendo-like Induction Game for Playing Online - Less Wrong
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One issue with Zendo that doesn't necessarily make it a great game for actually improving rationality is that the rules are made by humans, so you can use psychology to get information. For example, I was playing with my family a few nights ago and my mother guessed a certain rule, my little brother immediately said "That's not Josh's rule. it isn't elegant." And sneakier players can do even worse stuff using sidechannel attacks. In particular, how long it takes for the Master to judge whether different configurations fit the rule can give a lot of information about the rule form.
Aren't those all just additional aspects of the game, additional constraints in the optimization process?
If people will make inferences from how long the Master takes to judge whether different configurations fit the rule, then the Master should either systematically manipulate his times to give the wrong impression or introduce some random waits. And if you are known for only using elegant rules, then you're using a sub-optimal strategy for choosing the patterns, because you're giving away more information than necessary.