This is the set of instructions for a game that simulates basic iterative development. It accompanies the presentation on how boardgame mechanics can be used to explain software development in easy-to-understand terms.

1. Agile: the Game

2. Learning Agile
Through Elaborative Plotting
Let’s
look at
A Quick Partial Hands-On Tutorial

3. Materials You’ll Need
• A Pair of Standard 6-sided Dice per team (called
d6 or 2d6 for the pair, 1d6 for a single die)
• Index Cards to write down ‘Stories’
• Painter’s Tape or a Flipchart & Markers to Create
Your Story/Task Board; Also a Flipchart & Stickies
for your Story Map
• Set of Rory’s Story Dice, or other
story/visualization game (e.g. Dixit, Pictionary
Cards)
• A copy of Boggle
• A Set of game pawns in various colors, or 8 Chess

4. Building The Product Team
• Gather into groups of 5-9
• Decide who will be the product owner and facilitator;
when I refer to the delivery team size, then I mean
everyone but the product owner
• Decide when the product owner will review and accept
stories; think when your last responsible moment is.
• Create Story Task board: Release Backlog | Story
Backlog | In Process | Done
• Place the pawns representing your team with the King
or Queen representing the product owner at the top
left of the board

5. Product Planning
• Roll 2-3 story dice; use the images to write a 5
paragraph or story line (could also shuffle and draw 2-3
Dixit cards or 8-10 Pictionary cards and create a
picture); the goal here is to have a simple vision that
because of the short ‘story’ has elements that can be
broken down
• Want to do this for the real world? Create an Elevator
Pitch for your product:
FOR <target customers>
WHO <statement of need>
THE <product name>
IS A <product category>
THAT <key benefit, reason to buy>
UNLIKE <competition, alternative>
OUR PRODUCT <differentiating statement>

6. Product Planning, Continued
• Use sentences/elevator pitch to determine
important Epics/Features that are needed
(either for the story or real world product)
– Form of <Role/Persona> <Verb> for <Result/Info>
(e.g. “We Cry for Jenny” or a possible real one:
“Applicant Creates Profile”); remember you are
refining details on the short paragraph
– Use the Vision/Pitch to help define a sequence
these should follow (a Usage Sequence for your
Story Map)

7. Release Planning
• Roll 2d6 per Epic; this is the # of ‘user’ stories
you need to create for each one (if doing this
for real, begin using story splitting techniques –
the number needed will outflow from that)
– For the game, write the user stories as follows:
– These details will usually be something that has
relative importance as related to the Epic; this
prioritization is used to create your Release Backlog
Game Play For Real
As <character>,
I will do <some action>,
So that I <further the plotline>
As <role/persona>,
I want to <some business function>,
So that I can <obtain business value>

8. Release Planning (Cont’d)
• Roll 2d6 for each story and consult the table below:
• These become the points for each story to be worked;
record these on your index cards
• Sum these points & record on a burn down chart
• The # of available work days for your project is calculated by
the following formula:
# work days = [Σ(story points) ÷ (team size x 3.7)] + 2d6 - 1 for a
mgmt reserve
3.7 is an expectation of the average of points each person can work
per day based on the Boggle story point scoring
Die Roll 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Release
Story Pt
Value
3 5 5 8 8 13 13 13 21 21 34
delivery

9. Release Planning (cont’d)
• Decide on the number of days in your
iteration (2 weeks = 10 days, we don’t work
weekends); the number of work days for each
iteration is your selected number - 1.
• # of iterations = work days/# days in iteration
• Plot a straight line from start to end of your
last iteration

10. Iteration Planning
• Pull stories and prioritize these as desired by the product
owner
• For the story line, he product owner can look at the user
stories and give any details that may help him select
acceptable words in terms of quantity, adjectives, etc.
• Continuing with the Iteration (Sprint) Planning Phase:
– If you split a story, determine the new story points for each story
using the following table:
– You may further split a story that has already been split; subtract
one from the size die roll if you do so
– As a team, decide when to stop pulling stories and make a
commitment for the Iteration (Sprint).
Die Roll 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Split
Story Pt
Value
1 2 3 3 3 5 5 5 8 8 8 13

11. • Daily Round Phase:
– Daily Stand-Up: the players now collectively review
what user stories they were able to accomplish the
day prior and what they want to work on the next
day (and place their pawns).
– Once the stand-up is completed, it’s time to do
work! Since we’re using a story-telling theme, we’re
going to work stories off using words in 3 minute
days. Shake Boggle and get the letter cubes seated,
then start the 3 min timer.
– Find words; select words with 3 or more letters you
think will be acceptable to fleshing out the user
story and the details the product owner added.
– Record the word on a sticky that goes onto the story.

12. Product Owner Review
• Record the points (in black) each word is worth using the
following table:
• Whenever you had agreed your product owner would
review your stories, have them review your words, check
off the words that were acceptable to the product owner
and add up the total.
• If this is equal to or exceeds the # of points required to
work the story, then the story is complete.
• If you are still in the iteration, you can pull another story
in to work.
Word Size 2 3 4 5 6 7 8+
Amount of Story
Points Worked
1 2 3 5 5 8 13

13. Iteration Review
• Record the story points off of the completed cards.
• Update your burn down chart based on this
number.
Retrospective
• Discuss with your team mates if you need to
rethink how you pull stories for commitment,
whether you need to size them differently, or how
you assign workers.
• Your facilitator may make some observations or
introduce new rules at this point.

14. RETURN TO ITERATION PLANNING
(UNTIL END OF RELEASE)

15. The GameDebrief