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@phrohdoh
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Game of 35

The Game of 35

This "game" aims to give you and/or your team(s) a general sense of what should be done next.

It can be used for many parts of life! Examples:

  • Which bugs/features should a software team work on?
  • Which chores around the house should I do?

Supplies

  • You / your team
  • Minimum of 6 index cards (or sticky notes)
  • A writing utensil (marker, pen)
  • A whiteboard / sheet of paper

Things To Know

You will have 3 piles of cards (throughout the game, not at the start)

  • draw
  • discard (only temporary)
  • done (never to be compared again)

If you end up with a card with less than 5 comparisons but the draw pile is empty you should draw a card from the done pile (using it as card B) but only record values on card A.

  1. Write high-level to-do items on the front of index cards (1 item per card)
  2. Mix the cards up as much as possible
  3. Randomly pick one card (we'll refer to this as card A)
  4. Pick another card (card B) and put it next to card A
  5. Apportion 7 points between the two cards for value (whole-numbers only!) Examples: 2 and 5, 0 and 7, 4 and 3
  6. Write the decided-upon numbers on the back of the relevant card on the left side (forming a column)
  7. Apportion 7 points between the two cards for effort (whole-numbers only!) Examples: 2 and 5, 0 and 7, 4 and 3
  8. Write the decided-upon numbers on the back of the relevant card on the right side (forming a column)
  9. When you have finished comparing card A and B place B off to the side in the "discard" pile
  10. Repeat steps 4-9 until card A has been compared with 5 other cards, then continue to step 11
  11. Place card A in the "done" pile
  12. Repeat steps 3-11 only picking from the "discard" pile, never draw from the "done" pile Continue when all cards are in the "done" pile
  13. For each card write the sum of the 'value' column on the back of the card
  14. For each card write the sum of the 'effort' column on the back of the card
  15. Draw the following on a whiteboard or piece of paper
   35 |----|----|----|----|----|----|----|
      | 49 | 48 | 47 | 46 | 21 | 20 | 19 |
   30 |----|----|----|----|----|----|----|
      | 45 | 44 | 43 | 42 | 18 | 17 | 16 |
   25 |----|----|----|----|----|----|----|
E     | 41 | 40 | 39 | 38 | 15 | 14 | 13 |
F  20 |----|----|----|----|----|----|----|
F     | 37 | 36 | 35 | 34 | 12 | 11 | 10 |
O  15 |----|----|----|----|----|----|----|
R     | 33 | 32 | 31 | 30 | 9  | 8  | 7  |
T  10 |----|----|----|----|----|----|----|
      | 29 | 28 | 27 | 26 | 6  | 5  | 4  |
    5 |----|----|----|----|----|----|----|
      | 25 | 24 | 23 | 22 | 3  | 2  | 1  |
    0 |----|----|----|----|----|----|----|
      0    5   10   15   20   25   30   35

                V A L U E
  1. Plot each card and write the resulting number on the front of the card

You now have, in order, the items to work on (do #1 first, then #2, etc).

@Deadairx
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Deadairx commented Sep 6, 2018

In step 9, you should put it in a "discard" pile and then later, reshuffle the discard pile with the deck

In step 10, it should say something like "until card A has been compared with 5 other cards"

@Deadairx
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Deadairx commented Sep 6, 2018

step 5 and 7 could use an example and also show that 0-7 or 7-0 is a valid combo too

@phrohdoh
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phrohdoh commented Sep 6, 2018

In step 9, you should put it in a "discard" pile and then later, reshuffle the discard pile with the deck

When exactly is "later"?

@Deadairx
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Deadairx commented Sep 6, 2018

Should also mention the scenario of what to do when you have a card that has less than 5 comparisons but nothing in the draw pile.

You would pull a card from the done pile and use it as card B but only record values on A

@phrohdoh
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phrohdoh commented Sep 6, 2018

I think I have addressed all of your suggestions.

@Deadairx
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Deadairx commented Sep 6, 2018

Here's the chart we used. Also, each cell includes the lower number in the range, so to get Priority = 4, the value would have to be 15 <= x < 20

Ex. Value = 15 & Effort = 20 would result in Priority = 17

image

@Deadairx
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Deadairx commented Sep 6, 2018

Hm, I actually don't agree with the number placement in that one. I think this is better

image

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