Developing The Strategists, an Online, AI-Aware Financial Investment Game for Technology-Enhanced Learning and Research

Abstract

Serious games have been shown to have many positive outcomes across both educational and research settings; however, the design of such games is non-trivial. In this paper, we investigate how to design and engineer a serious gaming platform for a financial investment game called The Strategists. Building on the familiar mechanics of Monopoly, The Strategists is an open-source, web-based multiplayer game that introduces additional features such as property market dynamics and the flexible integration of AI and data-driven interventions. The platform supports robust data logging, easy deployment, and simplified data management, making it an accessible tool for both educators and researchers. We describe the process of designing, developing, and evaluating The Strategists, and discuss how lessons learned during this process can provide value to diverse communities across both education and research, including business and finance, computer science, and social and behavioral science.