Eviden EA card game

Project description

The "Business – IT Simulation with a Game Implementation" project, led by Hans van Drunen of Eviden, aims to align IT systems with business needs. It involves developing an online version of a simulation game currently played with physical cards. This simulation helps management teams make informed decisions regarding their business and IT models. A prototype of the game exists, and the project's goal is to enhance it based on prior students' recommendations and a usability study. The enhanced game will support online play, save progress, gather data for analysis, and ensure data security. It will be multilingual, accessible on various devices, and capable of hosting multiple games simultaneously. The project also involves deploying the game on an Eviden server. A thorough security check and a user manual for enterprise architects are also part of the project deliverables.

Context

This assignment addresses the frequent mismatch between IT systems and business needs, leading to unnecessarily high IT costs. Eviden proposes a simulation to assist customer management teams in aligning their business model with the IT application landscape. The project's objective is to digitalize this simulation, initially conducted using physical playing cards, for online workshops.

The simulation's conceptual foundation is built upon two internationally recognized models: "Enterprise Architecture as a strategy" and "Change Management by De Caluwe en Vermaak." The project begins with an introduction to these models and a session to play the physical card game.

The project's primary tasks involve assessing the current prototype, implementing design and usability recommendations, ensuring online gameplay stability, and securing data. It also focuses on database integration for data analysis, deployment flexibility, multilingual support, replayability, and accommodating various participant numbers. A moderator role for enterprise architects is also envisioned. Additionally, the project contemplates implementing the game in a multi-cloud environment and emphasizes the importance of a comprehensive security strategy. Recommendations from previous iterations include technical improvements like using WebSockets, centralizing REST calls.

Results

The goal is to deploy the full game, which includes three rounds of playing and a final solution overview. The game can be played with between 3 and 8 players. Multiple games at once must be possible! The game can be played on a local Wi-Fi network, and the players can use their phones as a device to play the game on. Other devices like a iPad or laptop must also be possible!

We accomplished this, we deployed it to the cloud and run it with several people at once.