Hedonics Sorting Game

Getting started

This exercise teaches hedonic price equilibrium, sorting, and interpretation of marginal willingness to pay.

Online game links

• Student login: Hedonics Student Portal
• Admin login (instructor): Hedonics Admin Dashboard

How we will play

• The class is split into teams. Each team represents one household type.
• Each team should choose one reporter device (one browser per team).
• Teams join through the student portal using a team name.
• After joining, each team receives:
  • A household type (Black, Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, or Blue)
  • Number of households represented by that type
  • Utility parameters in U = alpha * EQ + beta * SQ - P

Round workflow

For each active round, teams see the location-level EQ and SQ values for locations A-F. Teams submit:

• Market houses at each location (A-F)
• Best location for their own household type
• Best utility value for their own household type

The system checks submissions immediately. Each round allows up to 3 incorrect submissions. After 3 incorrect submissions, that team is locked for the round and correct answers are revealed to that team.

Reveal rule

The round market outcome is revealed after all joined teams are resolved for that round (is_correct = true or locked at max attempts).

Scoring

• Points are awarded by submission speed among correct teams within each round.
• Incorrect submissions receive a configurable deduction.
• Leaderboards update live for both students and admin.

Notes for students

• Keep your team page open during class because it updates as rounds change.
• The instructor sees full team-by-team submissions and expected answers.
• Students only see full answer reveals when their own round submission is resolved.