Portfolio: The Coordination Challenge

A game theory experiment disguised as a puzzle game
Testing human cooperation under explicit encouragement to collaborate

The Experiment

The Coordination Challenge explored a fundamental question: When explicitly encouraged to cooperate, will people choose collective benefit over individual optimization?

We created six puzzles representing different cognitive archetypes, each requiring distinct problem-solving approaches. The twist: while all puzzles could be solved solo with extreme difficulty, they became trivial when players with complementary skills collaborated.

The Six Archetypes

1. The Connector (Social Graph Puzzle) - Required mapping relationships in a complex social network

2. The Linguist (Etymology Puzzle) - Decoded meaning through linguistic evolution patterns

3. The Historian (Timeline Puzzle) - Reconstructed events from fragmented historical records

4. The Scientist (Systems Puzzle) - Modeled interactions in a complex biological system

5. The Strategist (Game Theory Puzzle) - Optimized resource allocation under competing constraints

6. The Synthesizer (Meta Puzzle) - Combined insights from all previous puzzles

Behavioral Insights

• 73% attempted solo completion despite collaboration encouragement

• Players who collaborated finished 5x faster on average

• "Synthesizer" types emerged naturally as coordination facilitators

• Competition persisted even when explicitly counterproductive

Applications

This framework now informs our approach to team assessment, community building, and collaborative experience design. The puzzle architecture can be adapted for hiring, team formation, or community challenges.