IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/inm/orited/v25y2025i3p250-256.html

Game—The Game of Thrones Quest for Optimality: A Role Playing Game for Teaching the Art of Linear Programming

Author

Listed:
  • Jeroen Beliën

    (Department of Decision Sciences and Information Management, Faculty of Economics and Business, KU Leuven, 1000 Brussels, Belgium)

  • Liesje De Boeck

    (Department of Decision Sciences and Information Management, Faculty of Economics and Business, KU Leuven, 1000 Brussels, Belgium)

  • Dries Goossens

    (Department of Business Informatics and Operations Management, Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, Belgium; and Core lab CVAMO, FlandersMake@UGent, 9000 Ghent, Belgium)

  • Nils-Hassan Quttineh

    (Department of Mathematics, Linköping University, SE 581 83 Linköping, Sweden)

  • Jens Vermeir

    (DHL Express, 1000 Brussels, Belgium)

Abstract

To stimulate practicing modeling skills, we develop an attractive educational team game embedded in an Excel spreadsheet. The game covers aspects of blending problems, production process problems, transportation problems, work scheduling problems, multiperiod production planning problems, and sensitivity analyses, all within a context that relates to a popular fictional theme, that is, Game of Thrones. The game can be used in an introductory linear programming (LP) course as an additional practice or repetition exercise. It can also be used to refresh students’ knowledge of LP modeling at the start of a subsequent integer programming or operations research course. Since 2016, the game has been used successfully in a first course on LP for undergraduate students following the Bachelor of Business Engineering program at KU Leuven (Belgium). Besides our positive experience, two formal student surveys revealed that most students (strongly) agreed that the game increased their interest in operations research. Furthermore, although only a few students watched Game of Thrones, most students liked the fictional theme.

Suggested Citation

  • Jeroen Beliën & Liesje De Boeck & Dries Goossens & Nils-Hassan Quttineh & Jens Vermeir, 2025. "Game—The Game of Thrones Quest for Optimality: A Role Playing Game for Teaching the Art of Linear Programming," INFORMS Transactions on Education, INFORMS, vol. 25(3), pages 250-256, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:orited:v:25:y:2025:i:3:p:250-256
    DOI: 10.1287/ited.2024.0080
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/ited.2024.0080
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1287/ited.2024.0080?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Martin J. Chlond, 2011. "Puzzle ---Integer Programming and League Table Puzzles," INFORMS Transactions on Education, INFORMS, vol. 11(3), pages 138-140, May.
    2. Sönke Hartmann, 2019. "Puzzle—More Logic Puzzle Apps Solved by Mathematical Programming," INFORMS Transactions on Education, INFORMS, vol. 20(1), pages 49-55, September.
    3. Jeroen Beliën & Dries Goossens & Daam Van Reeth & Liesje De Boeck, 2011. "Using Mixed-Integer Programming to Win a Cycling Game," INFORMS Transactions on Education, INFORMS, vol. 11(3), pages 93-99, May.
    4. Mitchell Harris & Michael Forbes, 2023. "The Snake Eggs Puzzle: Preparing Students for Benders Decomposition," INFORMS Transactions on Education, INFORMS, vol. 23(3), pages 210-217, May.
    5. Michael A. Trick, 2004. "Using Sports Scheduling to Teach Integer Programming," INFORMS Transactions on Education, INFORMS, vol. 5(1), pages 10-17, September.
    6. Gabriella Colajanni & Alessandro Gobbi & Marinella Picchi & Alice Raffaele & Eugenia Taranto, 2024. "An Operations Research–Based Teaching Unit for Grade 11: The ROAR Experience, Part II," INFORMS Transactions on Education, INFORMS, vol. 24(3), pages 238-258, May.
    7. James J. Cochran, 2004. "Introduction to the Special Issue: SpORts in the OR Classroom," INFORMS Transactions on Education, INFORMS, vol. 5(1), pages 1-1, September.
    8. Alejandro Arenas-Vasco & Eduwin J. Aguirre-González & Camila Camacho & Juan G. Villegas, 2024. "Among Us as an Operations Research Problem," INFORMS Transactions on Education, INFORMS, vol. 24(3), pages 282-284, May.
    9. Gail W. DePuy & G. Don Taylor, 2007. "Using Board Puzzles to Teach Operations Research," INFORMS Transactions on Education, INFORMS, vol. 7(2), pages 160-171, January.
    10. Mehdi Iranpoor, 2021. "Knights Exchange Puzzle—Teaching the Efficiency of Modeling," INFORMS Transactions on Education, INFORMS, vol. 22(1), pages 108-114, January.
    11. Howard J. Weiss & Rasmus A. Rasmussen, 2007. "Lessons from Modeling Sudoku in Excel," INFORMS Transactions on Education, INFORMS, vol. 7(2), pages 178-184, January.
    12. Rasmus A. Rasmussen & Howard J. Weiss, 2007. "Advanced Lessons on the Craft of Optimization Modeling Based on Modeling Sudoku in Excel," INFORMS Transactions on Education, INFORMS, vol. 7(3), pages 228-237, May.
    13. Dries Goossens & Jeroen Beliën, 2023. "Teaching Integer Programming by Scheduling the Belgian Soccer League," INFORMS Transactions on Education, INFORMS, vol. 23(3), pages 164-172, May.
    14. Jeroen Beliën & Jan Colpaert & Liesje De Boeck & Johan Eyckmans & Wouter Leirens, 2013. "Teaching Integer Programming Starting From an Energy Supply Game," INFORMS Transactions on Education, INFORMS, vol. 13(3), pages 129-137, May.
    15. Robin H. Pearce & Michael A. Forbes, 2017. "Puzzle—The Fillomino Puzzle," INFORMS Transactions on Education, INFORMS, vol. 17(2), pages 85-89, January.
    16. SönkeHartmann, 2018. "Puzzle—Solving Smartphone Puzzle Apps by Mathematical Programming," INFORMS Transactions on Education, INFORMS, vol. 18(2), pages 127-141, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Dries Goossens & Jeroen Beliën, 2023. "Teaching Integer Programming by Scheduling the Belgian Soccer League," INFORMS Transactions on Education, INFORMS, vol. 23(3), pages 164-172, May.
    2. Sönke Hartmann, 2019. "Puzzle—More Logic Puzzle Apps Solved by Mathematical Programming," INFORMS Transactions on Education, INFORMS, vol. 20(1), pages 49-55, September.
    3. Mehdi Iranpoor, 2021. "Knights Exchange Puzzle—Teaching the Efficiency of Modeling," INFORMS Transactions on Education, INFORMS, vol. 22(1), pages 108-114, January.
    4. Jeroen Beliën & Jan Colpaert & Liesje De Boeck & Johan Eyckmans & Wouter Leirens, 2013. "Teaching Integer Programming Starting From an Energy Supply Game," INFORMS Transactions on Education, INFORMS, vol. 13(3), pages 129-137, May.
    5. Mitchell Harris & Michael Forbes, 2023. "The Snake Eggs Puzzle: Preparing Students for Benders Decomposition," INFORMS Transactions on Education, INFORMS, vol. 23(3), pages 210-217, May.
    6. Ian D. Frommer & Robert W. Day, 2017. "Game—A Carbon Emissions Game," INFORMS Transactions on Education, INFORMS, vol. 18(1), pages 56-70, September.
    7. B. Madhu Rao & Petros Xanthopoulos & Qipeng Phil Zheng, 2020. "Case Article—DeLand Crayon Company: An Application of the Traveling Salesman Problem to Production Scheduling with Sequence-Dependent Setup Times," INFORMS Transactions on Education, INFORMS, vol. 20(2), pages 93-98, January.
    8. Florencia Jaureguiberry & Mariano Tappata, 2015. "Game—The Hotel Game: Pricing Simulations with Opaque and Transparent Channels," INFORMS Transactions on Education, INFORMS, vol. 16(1), pages 24-38, September.
    9. Paula Carroll, 2023. "Analytics Modules for Business Students," SN Operations Research Forum, Springer, vol. 4(2), pages 1-20, June.
    10. James J. Cochran, 2015. "Extending “Lego ® My Simplex”," INFORMS Transactions on Education, INFORMS, vol. 15(3), pages 224-231, May.
    11. SönkeHartmann, 2018. "Puzzle—Solving Smartphone Puzzle Apps by Mathematical Programming," INFORMS Transactions on Education, INFORMS, vol. 18(2), pages 127-141, January.
    12. B. Madhu Rao & Jeroen Beliën, 2014. "Case Article—Production Scheduling at Falcon Die Casting: A Comprehensive Example on the Application of Linear Programming and Its Extensions," INFORMS Transactions on Education, INFORMS, vol. 15(1), pages 150-153, September.
    13. Andrea Manno & Laura Palagi & Simone Sagratella, 2019. "Case Article—Production and Distribution Optimization of Beach Equipment for the Marinero Company," INFORMS Transactions on Education, INFORMS, vol. 19(3), pages 152-154, May.
    14. Ramiro Saltos & Sebastián Maldonado, 2023. "Case Article—School Timetabling Problem: A Scheduling Problem for High-School Institutions," INFORMS Transactions on Education, INFORMS, vol. 24(1), pages 95-99, September.
    15. Guillermo Durán, 2021. "Sports scheduling and other topics in sports analytics: a survey with special reference to Latin America," TOP: An Official Journal of the Spanish Society of Statistics and Operations Research, Springer;Sociedad de Estadística e Investigación Operativa, vol. 29(1), pages 125-155, April.
    16. Rosanna Cole & Brent Snider, 2020. "Rolling the Dice on Global Supply Chain Sustainability: A Total Cost of Ownership Simulation," INFORMS Transactions on Education, INFORMS, vol. 20(3), pages 165-176, May.
    17. Rabab Brohi & Arne Heinold, 2024. "Breaking Barriers and Building Bridges: Women in Operations Research," SN Operations Research Forum, Springer, vol. 5(4), pages 1-23, December.
    18. John T. Simon, 2016. "Puzzle—Verbal Arithmetic and Mastermind," INFORMS Transactions on Education, INFORMS, vol. 17(1), pages 39-41, September.
    19. Martin J. Chlond, 2015. "Puzzle—IP in the i," INFORMS Transactions on Education, INFORMS, vol. 16(1), pages 39-41, September.
    20. I. M. H. Vliegen & M. E. Zonderland, 2017. "Game—The BedGame—A Classroom Game Based on Real Healthcare Challenges," INFORMS Transactions on Education, INFORMS, vol. 17(3), pages 128-133, May.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:inm:orited:v:25:y:2025:i:3:p:250-256. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Asher (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/inforea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.