Case study · Q2 Impact
Makusudi
Realtime tabletop simulation for defense advisors
- Role
- Frontend Engineer
- Company
- Q2 Impact
- Status
- Product
- Live
- Private / partner-gated
Overview
A hex-board exercise for mapping resources and influence onto a partner Ministry of Defense — single-player and multiplayer, with timers, invites, analytics, and PDF debrief.
The problem
Facilitators were running serious institutional-reform exercises on analog boards. They needed a digital table that preserved the tactile planning model — hexes, cards, hours of influence — and added realtime collaboration plus a debrief artifact.
Approach
- 01
Custom GameBoard: hex grid, drag-and-drop cards (inputs, outcomes, processing, learning, skills, stakeholders), and influence-hour rules.
- 02
Firebase Firestore for sessions, moves, timers, waiting rooms, and badges.
- 03
Start-game wizard: scenario, task overview, email invites (Nodemailer), rejoin.
- 04
Post-game overview with Recharts analytics and jsPDF / html-to-image export.
Outcome
A purpose-built simulation UI — not a dashboard skin. Advisors can run a session, play in realtime, and leave with a PDF the room can actually discuss.
The board is the product
The GameBoard module is interaction-heavy by design: hex adjacency, card types, and influence accounting have to feel physical. @hello-pangea/dnd plus a custom grid is the core mechanic, not a widget.
Realtime without losing the debrief
Multiplayer is only half. Facilitators need a record. Analytics, badges, and PDF export close the pedagogical loop so the exercise survives after the room empties.
Next
Let’s build the surface people actually keep.
I am looking for senior frontend work on products with real complexity — platforms, marketplaces, and systems that have to hold up in production.