The Project Win Game™: A Serious Game for Project Management Simulation

Abstract

Agile project management methodology usage have grown widely in the last decade. Not all types of projects should apply agile methodologies, and the tasks that would typically be executed by a project manager are not (explicitly) addressed in agile methodologies. This paper describes The Project Win Game: a serious game for people to experience the differences in decision-making between traditional/waterfall and agile projects. The game engages an audience in complex decision-making and allows them to experience the effects of their decisions; this allows non-managers to learn project management responsibilities and translate that experience into knowledge. This paper describes the gamification of project management, the development of the game, and the lessons learned through single-player and competitive play. This paper would interest people that need to engage non-managers in management tasks and understand how a board game builds knowledge based on the experience of playing the game.