diff --git a/build.sbt b/build.sbt
index 35210c3..487601e 100644
--- a/build.sbt
+++ b/build.sbt
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ lazy val knockoutwhistweb = project.in(file("knockoutwhistweb"))
     libraryDependencies += "com.auth0" % "java-jwt" % "4.5.0",
     libraryDependencies += "com.github.ben-manes.caffeine" % "caffeine" % "3.2.3",
     libraryDependencies += "com.fasterxml.jackson.module" %% "jackson-module-scala" % "2.16.1",
-    //JsEngineKeys.engineType := JsEngineKeys.EngineType.Node
+    JsEngineKeys.engineType := JsEngineKeys.EngineType.Node
   )
 
 lazy val root = (project in file("."))
diff --git a/knockoutwhistweb/app/model/sessions/UserSession.scala b/knockoutwhistweb/app/model/sessions/UserSession.scala
index f66e405..0f40c69 100644
--- a/knockoutwhistweb/app/model/sessions/UserSession.scala
+++ b/knockoutwhistweb/app/model/sessions/UserSession.scala
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ class UserSession(val user: User, val host: Boolean, val gameLobby: GameLobby) e
     canInteract = None
   }
 
-  def handleWebResponse(eventType: String, data: JsObject): Unit = {
+  def handleWebResponse(eventType: String, data: JsObject, user: User, gameLobby: GameLobby): Unit = {
     lock.lock()
     Try {
       eventType match {
@@ -48,19 +48,7 @@ class UserSession(val user: User, val host: Boolean, val gameLobby: GameLobby) e
           ()
         case "Start Game" =>
           println("INSIDE HANDLE WEB RESPONSE" + data)
-          val gameId: String = (data \ "gameId").get.toString
-          val cleanGameId: String = gameId.replaceAll("^[\"']|[\"']$", "")
-          val user: JsObject = (data \ "user").asOpt[JsObject].get
-          val gameLobby: GameLobby = PodManager.getGame(cleanGameId).get
-          val realUser: JsResult[User] = user.validate[User]
-          val uu: User = realUser match {
-            case JsSuccess(extractedUser, _) =>
-              extractedUser
-            case e: JsError =>
-              println("FAILED" + JsError.toJson(e).toString())
-              throw new Exception("Failed to deserialize User object: " + JsError.toJson(e).toString())
-          }
-          gameLobby.startGame(uu)
+          gameLobby.startGame(user)
       }
     }
     lock.unlock()
diff --git a/knockoutwhistweb/app/model/sessions/UserWebsocketActor.scala b/knockoutwhistweb/app/model/sessions/UserWebsocketActor.scala
index b2b59c7..6c612d6 100644
--- a/knockoutwhistweb/app/model/sessions/UserWebsocketActor.scala
+++ b/knockoutwhistweb/app/model/sessions/UserWebsocketActor.scala
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ class UserWebsocketActor(
     val event = eventOpt.get
     val data = (json \ "data").asOpt[JsObject].getOrElse(Json.obj())
     val result = Try {
-      session.handleWebResponse(event, data)
+      session.handleWebResponse(event, data, session.user, session.gameLobby)
     }
     if (result.isSuccess) {
       transmitJsonToClient(Json.obj(
diff --git a/knockoutwhistweb/app/model/users/User.scala b/knockoutwhistweb/app/model/users/User.scala
index a07fd5b..d9063f6 100644
--- a/knockoutwhistweb/app/model/users/User.scala
+++ b/knockoutwhistweb/app/model/users/User.scala
@@ -18,7 +18,4 @@ case class User(
   private def withPasswordHash(newPasswordHash: String): User = {
     this.copy(passwordHash = newPasswordHash)
   }
-}
-object User {
-  implicit val userFormat: Format[User] = Json.format[User]
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/knockoutwhistweb/public/javascripts/interact.js b/knockoutwhistweb/public/javascripts/interact.js
index 7e8ace5..ae476ea 100644
--- a/knockoutwhistweb/public/javascripts/interact.js
+++ b/knockoutwhistweb/public/javascripts/interact.js
@@ -5,18 +5,8 @@ function handlePlayCard(card, dog) {
 function handleSkipDogLife(button) {
     // TODO needs implementation
 }
-function startGame(gameId, userId, username, userpasswordhash, userinternalid) {
-    const userpayload = {
-        internalId: userinternalid,
-        id: userId,
-        name: username,
-        passwordHash: userpasswordhash
-    }
-    const payload = {
-        gameId: gameId,
-        user: userpayload
-    };
-    sendEvent("Start Game", payload)
+function startGame() {
+    sendEvent("Start Game")
 }
 function handleKickPlayer(playerId) {
     // TODO needs implementation