Best Of

Author: Chris Stauffer is the Director, Platform Adoption Specialists at Anaplan.

My kids and I enjoy code-breaking games, and so I wondered if I could build one in Anaplan. Over the years, there have been many versions of code breaker games: Cows & Bulls, Mastermind, etc.

The object of this two-player game is to solve your opponent’s code in fewer turns than it takes your opponent to solve your code. A code maker sets the code and a code breaker tries to determine the code based on responses from the code maker.

I came up with a basic working version last year during an Anaplan fun build challenge. Here's a short demo:

If you would like to build it yourself, the instructions on how the game works and how to build it are below.

Game start: Code maker input

Player 1 code maker starts the game by going to the code maker page and choosing a secret four color code sequence using a grid drop down list. Code makers can use any combination of colors, including using two or more of the same color. You could set up model role and restricting access to this page using page settings to ensure the codebreaker cannot see this page.

Player 2 code breaker input

The code breaker chooses four colors in the first row attempting to duplicate the exact colors and positions of the secret code.

The code breaker simply clicks the first row in the grid, uses a list drop down to make color guesses and then clicks the Submit? button. A data write action writes a true boolean into the code breaker module to turn on the module logic checking, turns on DCA to lock the row submission, and provides an automatic calculated code maker response. Unlike the real board game, the code maker does not have to think about the response nor drop those tiny black and white pins into the tiny holes in the board — the calc module does the work automatically and correctly every time! I’ve been guilty of not providing the correct response to a code breaker attempt which can upset the game and the code breaker.

First guess

Below the code breaker selected blue-red-yellow-blue and clicked the Submit button. Since two guesses are the right colors AND in the right column position, the calculated response is “Black Black”, telling the code breaker that two guesses are in the correct position and are the correct color.

A black color indicates a codebreaker has positioned the correct color in the correct position. A white color indicates a codebreaker has positioned the correct color in an incorrect position. No response indicates a color was not used in the code.

Second guess

In the second row, the code breaker input green in Spot 1, but kept red-yellow-blue and now only has one color in the correct position (yellow spot 3), but gained insight that there are now three correct colors with two in the wrong position thus the black-white-white response.

Third guess

The code breaker selected blue-yellow-green-yellow and now has all the correct colors with only two out of position.

Fourth guess

You have to be a little lucky to break the code on the fourth guess, but hopefully by now you get the idea of how the game works in Anaplan.

The winner of the game is the player that solves the code in fewer guesses than the other player, so each player takes a turn as code maker and code breaker.

Conclusion

The model uses a lot of conditional formulas, text functions (&, MID, ISBLANK, FIND), and custom matching logic, to identify right color and wrong position matches (white) and right color right position matches (black). A very simple couple of UX pages makes it easy to allow for two player game. You’ll have to create the model roles for code breaker and code maker and set up the page security settings.

Attached is the line item export in case you are curious or want to build it yourself. There are probably multiple ways to build the logic or make the formulas more elegant, but it was for me a fun diversion.

Enjoy!

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I have completed the recertification exam and Yes! Additional Resources such as planual, Community and Anapedia are available to use even at Kryterion test center

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Last month, we hosted a Community Challenge inviting members to share their best practices on data integrations. We provided both beginner and advanced prompts to encourage members to discuss how they move data in and out of Anaplan, share tips for smooth integrations, and inspire others in the Community.

Yesterday, we hosted an event to highlight the responses we received from the Community Challenge. Jon Ferneau (@JonFerneau), Data Integration Principal, shared his expert insights, recognized participants for their contributions, and presented key takeaways for practitioners along with call-to-action items for our Community to consider.

During the event, Jon gave a shout out to our Community Challenge participants, including @andrewtye @matthewreed @SunnyNafraz @Prajjwal88!

Watch the recording

Timestamps:

• Welcome — 0:00
• Guest host introductions and overview — 1:40
• Community Challenge recap presentation — 3:47
• Q&A — 23:35
• Closing — 42:54

A PDF of the presentation is available here:

Resources for Data Integration Best Practices

• OEG Best Practice: Data Integration Decision App
• OEG Best Practice: Data Hubs: Purpose and Peak Performance
• Getting Started with Anaplan APIs: What you need to know
• [Start Here] Anaplan APIs in a Nutshell
• Understanding Errors and Rejected Lines When Importing Data Via APIs

Questions? Leave a comment!

This month, we’re highlighting the newest Community Boss Employees (CBEs) who joined the program in 2025! The Community Boss Employees program brings together top internal Anaplan experts who actively share their knowledge, support members, and elevate conversations across the Community.

Our CBEs bring fresh perspectives and deep expertise to the Community. They actively answer questions in forums, create valuable content, help shape Community Challenges, and present at events on specialized topics — strengthening collaboration and advancing collective knowledge across the Anaplan ecosystem

To help the Community get to know our new CBEs better, we asked each of them to choose one Community article they believe every member should read and share why it’s particularly impactful. Here is what they had to say!

Allison Slaught (@allison_slaught), Anaplan Intelligence Director – OEG

Combined Grids is now live!

Why everyone should know this article: Combined grids is a transformative feature that improves the Anaplan user experience. Whether you’re building a new app or maintaining an existing one, this should be on your radar. As the name implies, it allows you to consolidate views from multiple modules into a single, unified grid.

Why I find it valuable: This feature delivers a powerful one-two punch: a more intuitive front-end and simplified back-end. I was able to experiment with it in early access, and the maintenance benefits alone were significant: fewer user filters to build and manage; less need for synchronized scrolling; redundant pages were consolidated or eliminated; and simplified training for new users due to intuitive design. It’s a worthwhile investment to incorporate into your roadmap to enhance existing applications and will quickly pay dividends in both user satisfaction and development time.

Elizabeth Schera (@ElizabethS), Director of Product Utilization & Adoption

End user triggering of workflow processes

Why everyone should know this article: I chose this article because it shows how you can connect Anaplan's modeling capabilities with the real-world business processes (workflow) they support. Even more than the math, workflows ARE the planning process. And, nearly every organization has processes — like launching new initiatives or approving headcount requests — that start with the planner and require structured approvals before being committed. This article demonstrates how to empower your end-users to initiate these actions directly within Anaplan, streamlining operations and ensuring governance is built right into the process.

Why it's valuable for you to read: Getting started on building your first Workflow can feel intimidating, but this guide provides a detailed, practical example covering both the model build and the workflow configuration from start to finish. This gives Workspace Administrators a concrete blueprint they can learn from and adapt to their own unique use cases. It’s the perfect starting point for anyone looking to demystify workflow and unlock its powerful capabilities to automate and control key business activities.

Etienne Waniart (@EtienneW), Principal Platform Adoption Specialist

Streamline hierarchy management with Polaris's new ITEMLEVEL and HIERARCHYLEVEL functions

Why everyone should know this article: Do you work with complex or irregular hierarchies in Anaplan? Then this article is a must-read! It introduces the new ITEMLEVEL and HIERARCHYLEVEL functions in the Polaris engine, which greatly simplifies hierarchy logic, especially helpful when working with ragged hierarchies without needing complicated workarounds.

Why it’s valuable for you to read: These functions make models cleaner, easier to maintain, and significantly more performant. If you design or manage hierarchical structures in Anaplan, this will save you time and help you streamline your logic while making your models more sustainable in the long term. No more need for workarounds using ratio summary methods!

Jan Sypkens (@jan_sypkens), Principal Platform Adoption Specialist

Jan recommended multiple Polaris articles.

Why everyone should read these articles and why it's valuable for you to check out: I recently rebuilt an airport capacity model in Polaris — a Classic model I originally developed in 2017. This was a personal challenge I set for myself to deepen my understanding of Polaris and ADO. In the process, I also discovered the added benefit of leveraging AI to generate artificial datasets that enhance the modeling construct.

Throughout the rebuild, several Anaplan Community articles proved particularly valuable to me, including:

• Anaplan Polaris – Understanding Blueprint Insights and Optimizing for Populated Space
• Anaplan Polaris – Blueprint Insights
• Anaplan Polaris – Populated Space
• Anaplan Polaris – Natural Dimensionality
• Unlocking the power of Polaris: A guide to efficient model building
• Iterative Development in Polaris (ALM)
• Moving a model from Classic to Polaris

Jon Ferneau (@JonFerneau), Data Integration Principal

OEG Best Practice: Imports and exports and their effects on model performance

Why everyone should know this article: Data integration is an integral part of all Anaplan modeling. Ensuring that you have the proper integrations setup can greatly improve your planning experience and build trust in the underlying data that drives your decision making. This best practice article highlights the most important concepts to consider when designing your integration strategy and is a must-read for all Anaplan model builders and IT teams alike.

Why it's valuable for you to read: If you focus on implementing these basic structures and ideas, you will have implemented efficient processes that limit model downtime for end users. Following data integration best practices also make it much easier for your organization to manage and troubleshoot potential data issues, while also making it quicker to build net new integration pipelines into your planning models to support use case growth.

Julien Froment (@julien_froment), Principal Platform Adoption Specialist

Guiding users through the UX best practices — Event recording available!

Why everyone should watch this recording: In the past, we’ve already shared best practices around UX. However, this event recording takes it further — it showcases excellent examples that can truly inspire UX design. To me, UX is not just about technical functionalities — it’s where process, storytelling, and features come together.

This video captures that perfectly, offering strong examples we can learn from and build upon. As Page Builders or end users, it’s worth taking the time to explore this video and see how you can leverage the full potential of the UX.

Why it's valuable for you to check out: It’s valuable because it brings UX to life — showing how thoughtful design can transform user experience. It’s a great source of inspiration for anyone looking to make their pages more intuitive and impactful. Thanks, @ElizabethS and @seb_mcmillan — this event recap is brilliant.

Seb McMillan (@seb_mcmillan), Principal Platform Adoption Specialist

Anaplan Polaris: A deeper dive into the Polaris Engine and model building techniques

Why everyone should know this article: No one should even think about building in Polaris without reading this first — the information here will help you save hours of work. 

Why it’s valuable for you to read: Polaris has a number of key differences in implementation approach to Classic and you shouldn't just jump in and hope for the best.  Best practice is evolving but this reflects our real world experience in working with the hundreds of models our customer have built.

Theresa Reid (@TheresaR), Architecture & Performance Director

Iterative Development in Polaris

Why everyone should read this article and why it's valuable for you to check out: If I had to choose one I would shamelessly plug my own article, Iterative Development in Polaris. I think this article is important for all Polaris model builders, as it outlines the different approach that should be used when building in Polaris and why. This approach doesn’t feel “natural” for Classic model builders but following it allows for better learning, quick and efficient model building as well as guidance on when and how to do optimization. 

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We hope you enjoyed getting to know our CBEs and checking out their recommended articles and recordings in this month’s Community Member Spotlight! Share your thoughts in the comments below, and feel free to share your favorite Community articles!

Want to learn more about our Community Member Spotlight series? Check out this post.

Do you know someone in the Community who you think should be featured in a Community Member Spotlight? We want to hear about it — please nominate them here.

We’re excited to launch our September 2025 Community Challenge, focusing on one of the most critical aspects of Anaplan success: data integrations. Whether you’re just getting started with CloudWorks or Anaplan Connect, or you have built advanced orchestrations using APIs and Anaplan Data Orchestrator, integrations are at the heart of connecting Anaplan to the rest of your ecosystem.

This month’s Challenge is your chance to showcase how you move data in and out of Anaplan, share tips that have made your integrations run smoothly, and inspire others in the Community.

Challenge prompts

To help spark your ideas, here are some questions you might explore in your response.

Note: Please avoid using AI/ChatGPT when writing your Challenge response — it should come from your own expertise so the Community can learn from you!

Beginner focus

• How do you set up a simple import or export between Anaplan and a source system?
• What are your go-to tips for mapping flat files or leveraging saved views?
• Do you prefer CloudWorks or Anaplan Connect for your first integrations — and why?

Stretch goals (advanced concepts)

• How do you orchestrate multiple integrations together using Anaplan Data Orchestrator or scheduling tools?
• Have you used APIs to automate your flows? If so, what benefits did you gain?
• What error handling, monitoring, or logging practices keep your integrations reliable?
• Any advice for working with large files or optimizing performance?

Learnings

• In addition to sharing your tips, tell us about mistakes you’ve made and what you have learned from them — your experiences with data integrations can help fellow Community members succeed.

Bonus

• Share a diagram, workflow screenshot, or snippet of your integration script to illustrate your process.

How to participate

• The data integrations Best Practices Challenge kicks off today, September 9, and concludes on September 26.
• Post your response directly in this thread — whether it’s a detailed write-up, a quick list of tips, screenshots, or even a short video walkthrough. Pick one or two prompts from the beginner or advanced categories and let us know your responses! No matter your style, your perspective will help the Community grow.
• Check out tips shared by your fellow Community members.

What's in it for you?

• Recognition: Gain recognition as a data integration pro in the Community.
• Learn from your peers’ creative approaches and best practices.
• Earn a badge: As a thank you for your participation, everyone who shares their best practices will receive an exclusive Community Challenge badge. It’s a fun way to show off your contribution!
• Earn a shout-out in our upcoming event: on October 28, we’ll be hosting an event discussing data integration best practices in an upcoming ACE Spotlight event. Participants' responses will be highlighted at this event.

Ready to get started?

Share your data integration best practices below — whether you’re a beginner experimenting with your first CloudWorks schedule or an advanced builder orchestrating complex API workflows, your learnings and ideas will spark inspiration across the Community!

Thank you @marynadunets and for sharing your experience . After reading your insights, I feel much more confident and fluent in approaching for SA Exam.