It kind of is the kids being bad at following instructions, if they've got no idea how to consider the correlation between their actions, or examine each other for evidence of being the sort of agent who makes internal logical commitments corresponding to outward verbal commitments.
Not that it isn't adorable, but.
...maybe he should've had everyone run a version of this game where they pretend to be Abyss demons so as to test actual comprehension of instructions / willingness to write Defect literally at all.