Houthoff Buruma: The Game

Objective

Houthoff Buruma, a leading independent law firm in the Netherlands, faced a talent acquisition challenge: among ~800 graduating law students annually, fewer than 200 possessed the skills the firm sought. Traditional recruitment methods—including grades—failed to identify promising candidates. The firm needed a new approach to discover and assess the best talent, particularly evaluating problem-solving ability, stress tolerance, and social skills beyond academic credentials.

Solution

A 90-minute serious game simulation where teams of up to five players assumed roles as Houthoff Buruma lawyers representing a Chinese company in a corporate takeover of a Dutch family business. Players navigated over 100 realistic fictional documents, video chats, text conversations, films, emails, CNN news alerts, and websites on touchscreen computers and laptops. The game was developed in collaboration with Ranj Serious Games and required nine months of production, including seven professional actors, custom 3D graphics, and proprietary software to handle multiple storylines.

Results

Approximately 600 Dutch law students participated by end of 2010. The game won the European Innovative Games Award in November 2010 and the Best Use of Technology to Support Marketing Efforts award at the Hubbard One Excellence in Legal Marketing Awards in 2011. It was selected as a 'state-of-the-art' serious game example at the Shanghai World Expo 2010 and became a networking tool attracting participation from clients and professional associations including the young section of the Association of Dutch In-house Counsel.