Chapter 27. The XP Game Explained | Extreme Programming Perspectives

Vera Peeters and Pascal Van Cauwenberghe

The XP planning game, velocity, and user stories are hard to explain and "sell" to developers and businesspeople. How can we better explain these concepts? The XP specification, estimation, and planning methods sound too weird and simple to work. How can we prove or show that they work, without committing ourselves to "just do it" on a real project? If the project is to succeed, we need to get developers and businesspeople working as one team. How can we get them to talk, cooperate, and trust each other?

The "XP Game" is a fun and playful simulation of the XP development process. No technical knowledge or skill is required to participate, so we can form teams with both developers and businesspeople. The element of competition helps the players bond with their teammates. At the end of the game, everybody has experienced how user stories, estimation, planning, implementation, and functional tests are used. They have seen how the "velocity" factor is used to adjust the schedule. Developers and customers have gotten to know and respect each other.