Abstract The paper provides a background to the recent resurgence of interest in bounded rationality modeling in game theory by juxtaposing the histories of game theory and bounded rationality, tracing Herbert Simon’s response to the evolution of game theory. Despite the connection between von Neumann and Morgenstern’s notion of a solution and Simon’s view of organizations, the paper illustrates that Simon and later game theorists share many criticisms of von Neumann and Morgenstern’s approach.