How It Works

ScrumTale is a hands-on simulation game where teams collaborate to write a detective story while practising the Scrum framework. No slides, no lectures – your team learns by doing. Trusted by Amazon, McKinsey, ING, Lufthansa, Intel, Starbucks, HP, Roche, EPAM & more.

Why ScrumTale Works

Three things that make crime story writing the perfect Scrum simulation.

• Real product complexity – unlike building with blocks, writing fiction creates ambiguous requirements, creative disagreements, and the constant question of what “done” means – just like real product development.
• Genuine engagement – people care about their story. When the plot doesn’t make sense after Sprint 2, the team has a real conversation about integration and Definition of Done – not because a slide told them to.
• Discovery, not instruction – participants discover Scrum principles themselves through experience. When they waste Sprint 1 because they skipped requirements, they don’t need you to explain why Sprint Planning matters.

How a Workshop Runs

3-6 hours. 5-17 participants. Multiple Sprints. One unforgettable learning experience.

• Sprint Planning – the Product Owner presents the crime story vision. The team selects story elements from the Backlog – characters, scenes, clues, plot twists – and agrees what fits into the Sprint.
• Sprint Execution – the team writes their part of the story collaboratively using story cards. Creative decisions mirror real software development: requirements are ambiguous, interpretations differ, the “code” needs to integrate.
• Daily Scrum – a quick standup to synchronize. Teams discover why this event matters when they realize two people wrote contradicting plot lines.
• Sprint Review – the team presents their story increment to the stakeholder. The biggest insight happens here: the Review is not a presentation – it’s a feedback session. The stakeholder reacts, redirects, and asks for changes.
• Retrospective & next Sprint – what went well? What to improve? The team makes concrete commitments – and tests them immediately in the next Sprint. After 3-4 rounds, they have a complete crime story and a deep, felt understanding of Scrum.

Ready to run it yourself? See the editions.

What Your Team Learns

The complete Scrum framework through direct experience – not theory.

• Scrum roles – the Product Owner learns to prioritize when everything feels important. The Scrum Master discovers the difference between managing and serving. Developers learn to self-organize under real constraints.
• Scrum events – every event happens naturally during the game. Participants don’t just know what a Sprint Review is – they know what it feels like when the stakeholder changes direction mid-story.
• Product development – iterative delivery (building chapter by chapter), backlog management and prioritization, integration challenges across teams, Story Mapping and MVP thinking.
• Team dynamics – self-organization under pressure, creative collaboration and conflict resolution, communication when the plot breaks, continuous improvement across Sprints.

Who Uses ScrumTale

From corporate trainers to universities.

• Professional Scrum trainers – replace hours of slides with hands-on learning that participants actually remember. Available in five languages for international trainers.
• Corporate training & HR – onboard new teams to Scrum. The crime story format needs no technical background – marketing, finance and HR teams engage just as deeply.
• Team-building events – build communication, creativity and teamwork through collaborative story-writing that also delivers lasting process skills.
• Universities & education – teach project management and Agile methodology through experiential learning instead of lectures.

Choose Your Edition

Three formats, one game. Pick the one that fits your training setup.

The DIY Edition’s price is deducted if you later buy the Box. Language extensions (German, Polish, Italian & Czech, €99 each) are available for the Box.

Not sure which edition fits? Get in touch, we’re happy to help.