I think we interviewed for the same job. I did the same thing, and got the same response. It was such a short timespan that I assumed it was a trick question,

I think we interviewed for the same job. I did the same thing, and got the same response. It was such a short timespan that I assumed it was a trick question, and they wanted to see if I could come up with a creative solution that technically met the requirements but was extremely simple. I implemented a board which you could put pins on, and a text-based chat system using websockets. The idea was that it would work like a table-top simulator. Nope, turns out they wanted a real solution. I wonder how many companies who use these examples actually attempt them before using them to hire people. My guess is they might be more realistic if they did.