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Pretty sure I'm playing against a bot

Posted: 13 August 2026, 20:08
by Expalphalog
I am in a tournament. It is Turn-Based, but I notice that my opponent has never not been online and despite being a fairly complex game with a lot of decision-making going on, they manage to complete their turn within 10 seconds of me ending my turn every single time. I am fairly certain they are a bot but I don't see anything in the rules that I can report them for. Is this just allowed?

EDIT: They're actually playing so fast now that it's difficult for me to navigate away from the game because the "return to table list" button is only showing up for a fraction of a second.

Re: Pretty sure I'm playing against a bot

Posted: 13 August 2026, 20:19
by GTSchemer
I believe it is against the rules. Various people have made bots with "bot" in the name and action was taken against those accounts per BGA policies.

However in a case where you are not sure, I believe you should use the normal player-reporting system or support@boardgamearena.com to ask for investigation for the account.

Re: Pretty sure I'm playing against a bot

Posted: 13 August 2026, 20:52
by Expalphalog
They did slow back down to an "impressively fast but within the realm of human capability" after a few turns. Guess they were just a lot quicker than me at making decisions and clicking buttons.

Re: Pretty sure I'm playing against a bot

Posted: 22 August 2026, 09:55
by hanenpip
I have the same experience with a player. I will give a red thumb at the end of the game. And hope it will be investigated.

Re: Pretty sure I'm playing against a bot

Posted: 01 October 2026, 22:43
by Aeneas90
***
yea this dude definitely one.

Edited by moderator: we can't have this here on the forum. Please do not name others.

Re: Pretty sure I'm playing against a bot

Posted: 01 October 2026, 22:54
by tbhp
That seems like a glaring oversight from the person who programmed the bot, though. I mean, it would be easy to program it to take a somewhat random amount of time before making its moves. Having it always play within 10 seconds is way too obvious a giveaway.