Backlog Shuffle Card Game

Objective

Backlog Shuffle – a fun way to demonstrate product backlog management!

The objective of this game is to learn the benefits of having a tidy backlog. In the game, each player competes to see who can deliver the most features.

You are the Product Owner representing the stakeholders for a new fitness application that includes a smartwatch app.

The Backlog Shuffle cards include feature requests from nine stakeholders:

  1. Couch Potato

  2. Cyclist

  3. Engineer

  4. Gym Rat

  5. Healthy Eater

  6. Insomniac

  7. Runner

  8. Smart Watch Wearer

  9. Snowboarder

The objective is to score the most points across all three rounds by getting your features or “user stories” built.

The entire deck is available for purchase on The Game Crafter store for $ 26.99 (shipping not included).

Setup

  1. Form teams of 3 players (4 max)
  2. Your team starts with a full deck of 90 cards.
  3. Your team also needs a set of dice.

Game Play

There are three rounds:

  1. Mess It Up: Create a messy product from a random backlog
  2. Tidy It Up: Keep only the features that spark joy
  3. Keep It Up: Maintain your backlog with balance and joy

Round 1: Mess It Up

In this round, you will try to build as many features as possible without regard for the quality of the features. 

  1. Shuffle the cards and place them face-down to form the draw pile. This is also your backlog.
  2. Take three turns each, round-robin style.
  3. During your turn:
    1. Roll the dice to determine your team’s velocity.
    2. Turn over a card from the draw pile, one at a time.
    3. Add the effort points from each card until that total equals your velocity without going over. 
    4. If the next card puts you over your velocity, leave it face-down on the draw pile for the next player.
    5. Keep your cards. This represents what features are built.
      For example, if you roll a 4 and draw cards with an effort of 2 and 3 you would keep the 2 and put the 3 card back on the draw pile.
  4. Scoring: After three turns, record the number of effort points collected by each player. 
  5. Reflection: Review the features selected and discuss their value.
  6. Create a discard pile containing the cards selected. You will not need these cards again.

Round 2: Tidy It Up

Marie Kondo is a well-known organizing consultant and author of “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up.” Her approach to tidying, known as the KonMari method, involves several main steps to declutter and organize your home effectively.

In this round, we evaluate each of the user stories and tidy up the backlog roughly following the KonMari process.

  1. Get it together:
    1. Collect the cards remaining from round one.
    2. Deal the cards evenly to all the players.
  2. Take photos.
  3. Declutter – each player reviews their cards
    1. Remove cards older than 180 days.
    2. Remove anything that doesn’t make sense to you.
    3. Remove duplicates.
      Hint: Each persona has a duplicate feature (9 total). To find the duplicates you may need to review the discard pile and cards from other players. Don’t worry if you can’t quickly find all nine.
  4. Review your remaining cards and prioritize them.
  5. Review your cards with the other players by taking turns, round-robin style. 
  6. During your turn:
    1. Read your card aloud to the other players.
    2. Players vote instantly with
      Thumbs up if it Sparks Joy or
      Thumbs down if it doesn’t.
    3. If the vote is not unanimous, discard the card with gratitude.
  7. Each player takes a turn until your run out of cards or run out of time. The review is time-boxed at ten minutes.
  8. Each player adds up the effort points from the cards that they get accepted into the backlog.

Round 3: Keep It Up

  1. Shuffle the cards that made it into the backlog.
  2. Place them upside down in the middle – this represents the work to be done.
  3. Three turns each, round robin: (This is identical to Round One.)
    1. Roll the dice to determine your team’s velocity.
    2. Turn over a card from the draw pile, one at a time.
    3. Add the effort points from each card until that total equals your velocity without going over. 
    4. If the next card puts you over your velocity, leave it face-down on the draw pile for the next player.
    5. Keep your cards. This represents what features are built.
  4. Scoring: After 3 turns or when you run out of cards, record the number of points in your hand.
  5. Reflection: Review the features selected and discuss their value.

Winning the Game

Your score is the total number of points you achieved from each of the three rounds. The highest score wins.