product development game
inspired by actual events
Imagine an awesome team working on a product launch. They’ve talked the investors into their idea, signed the contract and secured the seed funds. The milestones are set. The team feels the energy and joy of creation. The dreams are finally coming true. Welcome to the game. It is your move now!
ITERATE™ is a cooperative simulation game for product development professionals. It is a unique sandbox experience of a software development process and product development lifecycle. Players experience a demanding environment and cooperate to overcome adversities.
ITERATE™ will spark your product management instincts. You will manage the development process. You will manage the budget and the revenue stream. You will strive to stay innovative and profitable. You will grow the team, deal with stakeholders, the market, the competition and more.
Imagine the euphoria of launching the 1.0 version of the product. Imagine the thrill when the future unfolds not quite as predicted. How will the team deal with volatility and complexity? Will their strategy hold? Will they manage to meet the goals before the stress level becomes unbearable or funds run out? Tough decisions need to be made. Welcome to the game. It is your turn now!
The game runs in turns, simulating Scrum Sprints. The players are guided through a sequence of Sprint Planning, Sprint Review and Sprint Retrospective, to experience how roles of the Product Owner, the Development Team and the Scrum Master must come together for the product to succeed. The goal is to deliver a valuable product and make a profit. Preferably lots of it!
ITERATE™ immerses players in the universe of:
Contracting, release planning and budgeting
Product Backlog management
Software development and technical debt
Scrum roles, events and artifacts
Iterative and incremental development
Complexity, uncertainty, and risk
Empiricism and continuous adaptation
Have you ever felt the energy and joy of creation? Or the bitterness when things were just the opposite of what you wanted them to be? We did — many, many times. So we translated our experience to the game rules so that you can experience all of that in a safe, simulated and fun environment. It will become all clear why software projects are late and cost more than anticipated. More importantly, you will learn what to do about it.
ITERATE™ is a highly educational game for product development professionals. It depicts iterative and incremental development process and uses Scrum methodology as its backbone. It runs in turns called Sprints and guides the players through the sequence of Sprint Planning, Sprint Review, and Sprint Retrospective, showing how the roles of the Product Owner, Development Team, Scrum Master and the stakeholder must come together for the product to succeed.
Future looks promising. Expectations are high. Plans are challenging. Reality bites. Myriads of situations to deal with, multiple strategies to try. How would you deal with the unknown? Would you choose to work harder or smarter? Would you pivot or not? Would you fight the competition or decide not to compete? The choice is all yours. Pick up your role and join the game.
Really good job with Product Development Game! It’s good to fail, so we can learn.
The game is really cool!
The game perfectly reflects the business complexity of product development. And it’s a great entertainment!
The game was fun and revealed new talents. A very quiet team member took the role of the Product Owner and led the team very efficiently.
Inspiring and eye-opening!
Thanks for the big fun combined with knowledge, and congratulations on developing such a great game!
Great game – I recommend playing it!
Thank you! Tremendous knowledge collected in the game.
The game is very entertaining, eye-opening and challenging. It helps understand what influences the product development process in a fun way.
It was really great 🙂 I strongly recommend trying the Product Development Game!
Fail safe and learn fast they say. Fail safe, learn fast and have fun we say! Play the game with your team, your colleagues and your customers. Increase the chances of succeeding with your next project. Select an edition that fits your needs.
Basic Game Box
to play with colleagues
Basic game edition for everyone to play with their friends at home or colleagues at work. Suitable for 2 – 6 players.
10 real-life gameplay scenarios with variants
80 real-life inspired events cards
67 product backlog cards
Multiple team member roles with distinct abilities and actions
Illustrated game manual
Game board and dice
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This edition is for personal and non-commercial use only. See the facilitators’ and professional trainers’ editions for more sophisticated use. License details.
($289)
Facilitators’ Pack
to run internal workshops
Enhanced game set for everyone to facilitate workshops for their colleagues at work. Suitable for up to 12 players.
2 Basic Game Boxes
2 game rules posters and a Workshop Guide manual
4 hours of online support with game authors
10% discount for all subsequent purchases including future expansion packs
10% discount to attend workshops run by game authors
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Company-level license for internal and non-commercial use. See the professional trainers’ edition for a commercial license. License details.
($999)
Pro Trainers’ Pack
to run commercial events
Advanced edition for professional trainers to run public commercial workshops. Suitable for up to 24 students.
4 Basic Game Boxes
4 game rules posters and a Workshop Guide manual
8 hours of online support with game authors
15% discount for all subsequent Game Boxes
15% discount for future expansion packs
15% discount to attend workshops run by game authors
An individual nominative license for up to two* professional trainers. Read the trainers’ program and contact us to learn more about benefits and price structure. License details.
($2799)
Thanks for the big fun combined with knowledge, and congratulations on developing such a great game!
Cool game! Very well prepared and conducted too! Facilitation was very much needed and helpful.
Very successful meeting. The game made me think about how wrong things can go when we are not able to see every aspect of the simulated project environment.
Very cool, looking forward to future sessions.
Great idea! This game maps reality really well. Looking forward for the next workshop.
Fun & inspiring. Great experience!
Chapeau bas to the organizers! The game is awesome and triggers thinking. Great workshop; I would gladly forget what it was about to play it again.
Excellent! One of the best workshops I have ever had.
Thank you for the possibility of taking part in this amazing workshop!
Well-invested time! Great way to learn how complex product development is and how consecutive decisions influence it. In contrast to other training games, it’s not simplified what makes all mechanisms and effects tangible for the participants.
Schedule a private workshop with us if you have a team of 6 and more. Drop us a line describing your needs and we will do our best to get back to you with an offer within 1–2 working days.
We believe learning is most effective when it’s fun. That’s what the ITERATE™ game was created for! Be it a basic Scrum workshop, advanced Product Owner course, new product team boot camp, or a startup community meetup, we combine ITERATE™ with our teaching. Every single time we witness engagement, fun, energy, and learning. Players tell us the game is addictive and want to play more. And we have as much fun using the game as our students have playing it! Now, we want you to share this joy with us. Learn more about our trainers’ program.
