20 Best Online Retrospective Games (Fun Guaranteed!)

1. Each team member marks 2 places and comes up with a travel story (only one is real).
   
   For example, Julia Rodriguez could say the following:
   1. As you all know, I was born just around the corner in New York. That's why I ended up working here and visiting my family every weekend.
   2. As you all know, my last name is Rodriguez. I'm actually from Mexico City, where I was born 39 years ago. My family moved to the USA shortly after my third birthday because my father started working here.

   Both sound logical - which fact is true?
   
   Timebox suggestion: 3 minutes.

2. In turn per person: The explanation for the two trips is given one after the other. After one person has told the truth and a lie, everyone on the team guesses which travel story is true.

   Timebox suggestion: 2 minutes per person.

3. At the end, you can delete the "lies" from the map - and you have a beautiful map with the real travel stories of the team, which you might even be able to save on your shared team page.

1. The team can look at six different pets on a digital whiteboard. A picture and a few facts about the animal are given (if necessary, download the picture or open it in Echometer).
2. Time frame 5-10 minutes: Based on this information, the team should now choose one of these animals as their pet. Which animal best suits our team spirit, our way of working, etc.? Is it more important for us that it is an intelligent animal, or that it is fun to play with?
3. What you can add: The team can decide for themselves how to approach this decision. Do you want a democratic vote? Does everyone first collect clear arguments for themselves as to why they would choose a particular animal? Should only the two people who have the relevant skills decide: those who already have pets?
4. [Optional step] Time frame 5 minutes: Of course, the team can also give the pet a nice name that perfectly matches its wonderful character.
5. Depending on the intensity of the discussions, you can also save a picture of the pet with its name on your shared team page. Wow, now you have a mascot!

1. You open the Retro Board linked above or take a screenshot and import it into your retrospective tool.
2. Time frame 2 minutes: Everyone writes a hidden note with a fun fact about themselves that, ideally, no one on the team knew before.
3. One team member after another shares the fact about themselves.
4. Optional: The team can react via the reactions in the upper right corner of the Echometer tool to provide initial reactions.
5. Optional: You can vote on who had the most creative fun fact or the most entertaining way to share it. To vote, you can use the voting function or simply create small dots/circles that can be dragged and dropped by the team to their respective favorite.

1. The instructions: Someone has pressed the "Reset" button. You have no more meetings. The colleagues don't know each other. Everything has to be set up again. What is the most important thing you would do differently?
   
   Time frame 5 - 15 minutes: You introduce the following set of questions. You are free to have the team members choose and answer one of these questions - or to have them answer all of them (which would probably fill a complete retrospective).
   1. If we were starting over, who on our team would you like to get to know better? Who have you unfortunately had relatively little to do with so far?
   2. In your opinion, what kind of projects, technologies, or other things should the team forgo or avoid?
   3. What would you change about the team's organization? Which meetings should not take place so often or not at all?
   4. You personally can learn a new skill and take on a new role. What skill or role would that be?
2. Time frame 10 - 30 minutes: Everyone shares their answers to the questions. What things came to your mind during this thought experiment?
3. Consider whether you want to include the results of the questions in the voting or prioritization at the end of the retrospective. Should we define a measure based on the discussions?

1. As the moderator, you choose whether to ask about one or more things that the participants need to find out as quickly as possible.
   1. Here are some possible categories: age, height, distance to the moderator, distance to your headquarters, years of experience, first letter of first/last name (in this case, you sort by ABC).
2. You decide whether the team has to sort themselves verbally or nonverbally (e.g. only in writing or perhaps even via the video camera) according to these numbers/letters.
3. The instructions are passed on to the team:
   Your task is to sort yourselves as quickly as possible according to your age, etc. You must do this by writing a sticky note with your name on the board and then arranging it: the lowest number on the left, the highest number on the right.
4. At the end, you say how much time the team took and perhaps share in which area (age, height, etc.) they were the fastest. Interesting, why did the team know the height of the members so quickly?

The screenshot above gives a small insight into how the game works.

In Echometer, a retro starts on the intro screen. There, small balloons also fly along the horizon in the background. What you need to know: As soon as any team member who is in the Remote Retro Online clicks or shoots down the balloon, the game is activated.

1. Now every team member sees balloons flying back and forth at different speeds in the background of the Retro closing screen. The goal is to hit as many of them as possible.
2. We recommend that you, as the moderator, set a timer of 1 to 2 minutes as soon as the team starts.
3. The winner can be recognized by the counter in the upper left corner. There, the three people with the most hits become visible. People with fewer points are not currently visible.

The aim of the game is simply to look forward to these little games at the end of the retro. On the other hand, of course, you should leave the retro with a laugh if possible.

By the way: You don't have to actively promote the game, of course. You can also just wait until one of the team members accidentally clicks on the balloon and the game starts.

1. A list of typical mistakes made by agile teams is presented (see screenshot above or the toggle below).
2. 4-minute timebox: Each team member reads through the typical mistakes made by agile teams.
3. 4-minute timebox: If team members are reminded of their own team, they write a short anonymous note at this point explaining why they think so.
   From now on, the typical 5 phases of an agile retrospective will be run through.
4. Explain thoughts: After everyone is finished with this part, everyone shares their thoughts (and notes) in turn. There is no discussion at this point.
5. Prioritization: Each team member has 3 digital points to vote with. Now place the points where you see a need for improvement.
6. Discussion: Discuss the areas that received the most votes. Would you like to write down an action item?
7. Action items: Name a specific person who is responsible for this action item. I recommend not recording more than 3 action items - focus on quality rather than quantity (more on this in our article 7 tips for good action items).

• No blameless culture
• Zombie Scrum: Working agile without knowing why
• The fallacy of "We know what we need to develop."
• Too little room for informal communication
• Using the wrong framework
• Wrong understanding of (Scrum) roles
• Lack of autonomy
• Lack of trust
• Insufficient testing
• Lack of good estimation
• Ignoring customer feedback
• Lack of proper planning
• Too many young developers
• Ignoring agile values
• Lack of Product Owner involvement
• No retrospectives
• Incoherent team structure
• Other departments don't involve the product
• Fear of failure
• The organization is not optimized for a fast build-test-learn culture
• Missing (product) vision
• Poor integration of team members
• No Sprint Demo
• Team not cross-functional (silos)
• Lack of communication
• Lack of discipline regarding agile processes
• The team does not take responsibility for its own performance
• Wrong Tech Stack
• Team is not adequately staffed
• No sensible documentation
• Loss of control at management level leads to micromanagement

1. You give an overview of the agenda for today's retrospective.
2. 3-minute time slot: The first riddle is presented (see whiteboard above or the next toggle below). The team must solve it as quickly as possible. If the team is faster than 2 minutes, the remaining time will be credited to the time for solving the next riddle.
3. 5-minute time slot: The first magic question (a creative retrospective question, see below) from our wizard is asked.
4. 20-minute time slot: Repeat steps 2 and 3 with the second and third riddles, possibly with the remaining time from the last round.
5. Select one of the retro questions from the repertoire. Here are some suggestions for magic questions that the wizard could ask:
   1. When I think about my team, what am I not hearing that should be heard?
   2. What are you grateful for when you think about the last few weeks?
   3. What would James Bond do if he had the challenges we face?
   4. Imagine we didn't achieve our team goal. What would have been the reason we didn't achieve it?
6. From now on, you will continue with the typical 5 phases of an agile retrospective.
7. Explain thoughts: After everyone is finished answering the last magic question, everyone's thoughts (and notes) are shared. No discussion takes place at this time.
8. Prioritization: Each team member has 3 digital points to vote. Now put the points where you think there is still potential for improvement.
9. Discussion: Discuss the areas that received the most votes. Would you like to write down an action item?
10. Action items: Name a specific person who is responsible for this action item. I recommend not recording more than 3 action items - focus on quality rather than quantity (more on this in our post 7 Tips for Good Action Items).

1. You want to cook an egg in two minutes. If you only have a three-minute timer (hourglass), a four-minute timer, and a five-minute timer, how can you cook the egg for exactly two minutes?
   1. Answer: Once the water boils, start the three-minute timer and the five-minute timer. When the three-minute timer expires, put the egg in the boiling water. When the five-minute timer expires, two minutes have passed, and it's time to take the egg out of the water. You don't need the four-minute timer for this riddle.
2. Two fathers and two sons went fishing one day. They were there all day and only caught 3 fish. One father said that's enough for all of us, we'll each take one. How is this possible?
   1. Answer: There's the father, his son, and that son's son. That makes 2 fathers and 2 sons, so 3 in total!
3. Attention, only works in English: Forward I am heavy, but backward I am not. What am I? Translation: Vorwärts bin ich schwer, aber rückwärts bin ich es nicht. Was bin ich?
   
   1. The word "ton" in English.
4. Attention, only works in English: Which of the following words don't belong in the group and why? CORSET, COSTER, SECTOR, ESCORT, COURTS
   1. Courts. All others are anagrams of each other.
5. A woman shoots her husband. Then she holds him underwater for over 5 minutes. Finally, she hangs him. But 5 minutes later, the two go out together and enjoy a nice dinner together. How can this be?
   1. Answer: The woman is a photographer. She took a picture of her husband, developed it, and hung it up to dry.
6. Attention, only works in English and by reading it aloud: There are 30 cows in a field, and 28 chickens. How many didn't?
   
   1. Listen carefully: 30 cows, and twenty-eight chickens. Say EIGHT and ATE (gegessen). They sound identical. So 20 cows ate chickens. 30-20=10, so 10 cows didn't eat chickens.
7. Sometimes I am born in silence, other times I am not. I am unseen, but I make myself known. Over time, I disappear without a trace. I harm no one, but I am unpopular with everyone. And what am I?
   1. Answer: A fart.
8. Attention, only works in English: I am six letters. If you take one away, I am twelve. And, what am I?
   1. The word "Dozens".
9. What kind of music do rabbits listen to?
   1. Fun answer: Hip-hop.

1. You give an overview of the agenda of today's retrospective.
2. The retrospective board with the curve of a typical drama is shared. It also contains the typical sentence beginnings that you would find in this phase of a story.
3. 10 minute time slot: Now each team member can get creative by completing the sentences or inventing their own sentences: "Once upon a time, long ago...".
4. Ideally, everyone has given their feedback on every part of the curve. One after the other, each team member shares their version of the story by sharing their sentences.
   From now on you continue with the typical 5 phases of an agile retrospective.
5. Explain thoughts: After everyone has finished this part, everyone shares their thoughts (and notes) in turn. There is no discussion at this point yet.
6. Prioritization: Each team member has 3 digital points to vote. Now put the points where you see need for improvement.
7. Discussion: Discuss the areas that received the most votes. Would you like to write down a measure?
8. Actions: Name a specific person who is responsible for this action. I recommend not recording more than 3 actions - focus on quality rather than quantity (more on this in our post 7 Tips for Good Measures).

1. Time frame of 10 minutes, the following instruction:
   "On this board you will find the beginning of many sentences. Some of them may sound a bit strange. But just take them as they are and try to complete some (or all) of the sentences by thinking about the last few weeks or sprint."
   From now on you continue with the typical 5 phases of an agile retrospective.
2. Explain thoughts: After everyone has finished this part, everyone shares their thoughts (and notes) in turn. There is no discussion at this point yet.
3. Prioritization: Each team member has 3 digital points to vote. Now put the points where you see need for improvement.
4. Discussion: Discuss the areas that received the most votes. Would you like to write down a measure?
5. Actions: Name a specific person who is responsible for this action. I recommend not recording more than 3 actions - focus on quality rather than quantity (more on this in our post 7 Tips for Good Measures).

1. In the following, the team will be presented with a few rough areas that are very important for successful teamwork (of course, you don't have to adopt all of them and you can, of course, add other topics):
   1. Working environment, meetings, trust, productivity, commitment, courage, focus, autonomy, goal setting, respect, work-life balance, communication, decisions, roles
2. Instruction:
   "Many of these areas are quite broad - on purpose. Just interpret them as you wish. Please give feedback by reacting with a 'thumbs down' in the Echometer tool. Just click on the emoji in the upper right corner."
   Let the team click a few times to get to know the tool.
3. Instruction:
   "You will notice that the faces on the right side of the screen change and become more negative the more you click. This is our method of measurement. It will help us to evaluate these areas."
4. Gradually, you now show the team the various areas on the digital Echometer board. For each area, the team may click between zero and 2 times (if there are more than 6 team members) or 3 times. Note the number that our "gauge" shows after the vote (directly next to the respective area).
5. After each vote, the team members can explain why they clicked X times. Team members are always asked to give concrete situations or examples to explain their choice.
6. Nobody gives a "thumbs down"? That's great! Write this down and let the team members explain why they are satisfied with this area.
   From now on, continue with the typical 5 phases of an agile retrospective.
   
7. Prioritization: Each team member has 3 digital points to vote. Now put the points where you see a need for improvement.
8. Discussion: Discuss the areas that received the most votes. Would you like to write down an action?
9. Actions: Name a specific person who is responsible for this action. I recommend not recording more than 3 actions - focus on quality rather than quantity (more on this in our post 7 tips for good measures).
   

1. You choose a series of statements about behaviors you think the team could improve (see below, second toggle). These are e.g. the things that are asked in the Spotify Health Check.
2. Of course, you can modify these questions and make some of them funnier or more creative.
3. Everyone indicates how much they agree with these statements on the Echometer scale from 1 to 7.
4. The results are shown in the graphic. Now everyone is asked to explain the results:
   "How do you explain the highest approval from your personal point of view? And the lowest voting?"
5. Once you have gone through all the points of the Health Check and discussed them, continue with the typical 5 phases of an agile retrospective.
6. Explain thoughts: After everyone is done with this part, everyone shares their thoughts (and notes) in turn. There is no discussion at this point.
7. Prioritization: Each team member has 3 digital points to vote. Now put the points where you see a need for improvement.
8. Discussion: Discuss the areas that received the most votes. Would you like to write down an action?
9. Measures: Name a specific person who is responsible for this measure. I recommend not recording more than 3 measures - focus on quality rather than quantity (more on this in our post 7 tips for good measures).

1. We deliver great results! We are proud of it and our stakeholders are very satisfied.
2. Our way of working is a perfect fit for us.
3. We get things done really fast. No waiting, no delays.
4. The planning of our sprints is always based on achieving the greatest possible customer benefit in the given time.

5. We also share unfinished work with stakeholders early on in order to get feedback as quickly as possible.

6. Every member of the development team is appropriately involved in the sprint plannings.
7. We are open to constructive feedback and can grow from it.
8. Courage: We value it when someone shows courage.
9. Respect: We value each other's ideas, even if we disagree.
10. Commitment: Every team member is committed to keeping promises.
11. Focus: We don't let ourselves be distracted from pursuing the sprint goal.
12. Openness: We are open to constructive feedback and can grow from it.
13. We have a constructive exchange of knowledge between newer and more experienced colleagues.

1. You open the whiteboard and give the simple instructions.
2. 20 seconds per person: After everyone has selected an emoji and labelled it with their name, they explain why they chose that particular emoji.
3. The next optional step is to duplicate the respective note and drag it down a little further: In a matrix with the variables "autonomy" and "sense of achievement", where would you place yourself? How independent did you feel, how often did you feel you had achieved something? This will hopefully make it clearer why which emojis were chosen
4. Of course, you can also think about changing the name of these two axes or variables.
5. 30 second time slot per person: Everyone briefly explains their choice.

1. You give the instructions.
2. Everyone creates a slip of paper with their name on it (you can also prepare these or create them automatically in the Echometer tool). Now everyone positions themselves on one of the pictures.
3. The person who made a decision first starts by explaining their choice and passes it on to the next person until everyone has given their feedback.

One of the many fun icebreaker games for retrospectives:

1. You give the instructions.
2. Everyone creates a slip of paper with their name on it (you can also prepare these or create them automatically in the Echometer tool). Now everyone positions themselves on one of the pictures.
3. The person who made a decision first starts by explaining their choice and passes it on to the next person until everyone has given their feedback.

One of the rather short retrospective games:

1. You give the instructions.
2. 1-2 minute time frame: everyone chooses a song title from the given list of songs (see screenshot of the whiteboard or below) or takes another title.
   Everyone is free to change the title of a song. For example, someone could change the title "Eye of the tiger" from Survivor to "Eye of the customer" (e.g. because they met the actual customer for the first time).
3. The person who made a decision first starts explaining their choice, and passes it on to the next person until everyone has given feedback.

• "Something Just Like This" by The Chainsmokers and Coldplay
• "I Took a Pill in Ibiza" by Mike Posner
• "Rolling in the Deep" by Adele
• “The Twist” by Chubby Checker
• "Yes Sir, I Can Boogie" by Baccara
• "Party Rock Anthem" by LMFAO
• "Bad Romance" by Lady Gaga
• "Shape of You" by Ed Sheeran
• "Rock Around the Clock" by Bill Haley & His Comets
• "Wind of Change" by Scorpions
• "Silent Night" by Bing Crosby
• "I Gotta Feeling" by Black Eyed Peas
• "Uptown Funk" by Mark Ronson (featuring Bruno Mars)
• "Call Me Maybe" by Carly Rae Jepsen
• "Time to Say Goodbye" by Andrea Bocelli and Sarah Brightman
• "I Don't Care" by Ed Sheeran and Justin Bieber
• Your addition...

One of the many great retrospective meeting games:

1. Share the instructions:
   "This is a digital tangram, a Chinese puzzle. It has to form a square. Your task is to create this quadrant as a team - and you have 4 minutes to do so."
2. As the moderator, you should observe the team: do you recognize patterns in communication that you sometimes notice in daily work? Write them down to address them later.
3. 5 minute time frame: ask the team if they have observed any particular behaviors in the team that are interesting to reflect on. Who talked the most? Who talked the least and why?
4. Optional: Share your own observations. If there are relevant observations and patterns, include them in the second part of the retrospective: prioritizing feedback and creating measures.

A simple, good retrospective game:

1. You give the instructions.
2. 1-2 minute time frame: Everyone chooses a film title from the given list of films (see screenshot of the whiteboard or toggle below) or takes a different title.
   Everyone is free to change the title of a film. For example, someone could change the title "Lord of the rings" to "Lord of the bugs".
3. The person who makes a decision first starts explaining their choice and passes it on to the next person until everyone has given feedback.

1. Goldfinger
2. Titanic
3. Lord of the Rings
4. Back to the future
5. Rain Man
6. Avatar
7. The Birth of a Nation
8. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
9. Paranormal Activity
10. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
11. Furious 7
12. Gone with the Wind
13. Doctor Zhivago
14. Spider-Man: No Way Home
15. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
16. ...