Definition
Plain language
A game where players win big by trusting each other, but face a safer, smaller payoff if they go it alone.
As stated in the literature
A coordination game with two pure Nash equilibria — a payoff-dominant cooperative one and a risk-dominant safe one — used to study trust and coordination behavior.
Why it matters: It captures the tension between a rewarding cooperative choice and a safe solo one, making it a clean test of trust between agents.
For example, two hunters can bag a big stag only if they both commit, but either can safely grab a small rabbit alone if they don't trust the other to show up.
Heard on the show
“Prisoner's Dilemma, Battle of the Sexes, Stag Hunt, Matching Pennies.”Episode 018 — Language Models Compute the Rational Move, Then Override It