TANDEM: How Leviatan Group Turned Its Values into a Board Game
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At Leviatan Group, we build long-term performance on trust among colleagues, strong working relationships, and team cohesion. Embracing this belief, we created TANDEM, a board game designed to bring colleagues from different departments closer together and turn our organization’s values into a shared experience.
We developed the game around the six values of Leviatan Group: Innovation, Integrity, Responsibility, Tenacity, Camaraderie, and Vitality. These guiding principles inspire how our team members work, collaborate, and grow together every day. In partnership with Zilele Jocurilor, the organizers of Romania’s largest board game festival, we launched TANDEM as a unique initiative in the construction industry, allowing our organization’s values to take shape in an interactive, relaxed setting.
“We wanted to build more than just a board game. TANDEM is an experience that brings people together and transforms the company’s values into something alive, authentic, and easy to feel. In a dynamic and complex industry, we believe that relationships between people are what make the difference in the long run. And when colleagues choose to play TANDEM outside of work, with family and friends, it means we’ve built something truly valuable,” said Alina Podaru, Group Chief People & Culture Officer at Leviatan Group.
An intuitive game where collaboration makes all the difference
Over about 5 months, we developed TANDEM to provide an accessible, engaging, and authentic experience that allows people to connect naturally, regardless of their board game experience. The game requires no prior knowledge; players can quickly learn the simple mechanics, ensuring their attention stays focused on the experience, strategy, and interaction.
TANDEM is short enough to maintain the group’s energy and momentum from start to finish, yet complex enough to elicit collaboration, negotiation, and strategic decision-making. Although it has a genuine competitive element, the game operates through cooperation among participants.
The game contains 60 cards, 56 of which are dedicated to the six Leviatan Group values, while the remaining four are special action cards. Each category has its own mechanics and ways of influencing the gameplay experience.
Integrity represents a straightforward and honest value, and the cards associated with it feature fixed, transparent point values. Innovation cards embody the principle that a brilliant idea can change the world. However, when multiple players copy that idea, they cancel each other out. Therefore, an Innovation card is worth 3 points, but if multiple players play it in the same turn, it earns nothing. Tenacity cards score between 0 and 8 points, reflecting the belief that overcoming obstacles guarantee success.
Furthermore, each Camaraderie card in a zone of the game is worth several points equal to the total number of Camaraderie cards played in all other zones at the table. Also, each complete set of 3 Responsibility cards in an area is worth 10 points. One or two cards left outside a set are worth nothing. Finally, each Vitality card has several 1–3 hearts, suggesting that a team with high morale will thrive, while one lacking energy will suffer.
TANDEM’s core mechanism elegantly reflects the group’s working philosophy. Each participant shares common areas with their colleagues on the left and right, and the system determines the final score based on the weaker of the two areas. The final result relies not only on individual performance but also on how each person collaborates with others. A dedicated web application automatically calculates the results, which users can access via a QR code.
From the first session in 2025 to three internal championships in 2026
The first official TANDEM session, held in September 2025, brought together 24 colleagues from various departments and specializations within the Leviatan Group, including architects and engineers, project managers, and support department colleagues. The atmosphere was energetic, competitive, and, at the same time, extremely collaborative, and the experience quickly demonstrated that TANDEM is a game that works naturally even outside the organizational context.
One of the most meaningful pieces of feedback we received after the first session was that many participants continued to play the game at home with their friends and families. This demonstrated that the game effectively fosters genuine connections and transcends the boundaries of being merely an internal initiative.
TANDEM has already become part of the Leviatan Group’s internal experience. We offer the game to every member of the organization as a symbol of the values and culture we share.
For 2026, Leviatan Group aims to continue this initiative by organizing three internal TANDEM championships, with prizes for participants, transforming the game into a constant fixture of the internal experience and a new context for connecting colleagues and the Leviatan Group Alumni community.
In May, 14 colleagues gathered for the first championship, creating an afternoon filled with energy, spontaneous strategies, and exciting rounds where teamwork truly made a difference. Sorin and Valentina from the Zilele Jocului Cultural Association facilitated the session, guiding the participants and ensuring the competition ran smoothly. Zilele Jocurilor enhanced the atmosphere with their generous prizes. Alexandra claimed the first prize, Ioana took home the second, and Delia secured the third.
From an internal initiative to an international case study by the Top Employers Institute
The impact of TANDEM quickly extended beyond the organization’s boundaries. Top Employers Institute produced a case study dedicated to the game, recognizing TANDEM as a significant initiative in employer branding and employee engagement. The international Top Employers portal featured the study in its Best Practices section to inspire other organizations worldwide.
This recognition comes as Leviatan Group has achieved Top Employer certification for both 2025 and 2026, confirming that investing in people, organizational culture, and authentic team experiences is a long-term strategic commitment.
TANDEM shows that people best understand a organization’s values when they live them out together.
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