Conclusion

The XP Game is a fun and playful way of simulating the XP process. It enables the participants to experience, in a relaxed environment, several of the XP practices: user stories, estimation, the planning game, acceptance tests, short releases, sustainable pace, progress tracking, and velocity. It is ideally suited as a follow-up to a tutorial on these practices. The competition, team effort, and fun aspects make it a great team-building tool: Playing the game improves trust and communication between developers and businesspeople.

The XP Game has been played in companies transitioning to XP, during XP tutorials, and at software engineering conferences. The participants always have fun and feel they have learned more about the XP practices.

And Lesire Software Engineering? They're still doing XP and delivering working software to their customers. Developers and businesspeople are working together and enjoying it.