Game of Thrones
A themed retrospective that maps the team's reality onto a fantasy kingdom. The castle is what the team is great at, the hole the current problems, the wall what could make it stronger, and the White Walkers the looming risks and challenges. The story-driven framing makes a strategic conversation feel engaging and easy to join.
(What are we great at?)
Roman
We debug production issues faster than any team here
Maria
Our onboarding gets a new hire shipping within a week
(What are the current issues/problems?)
Anna
Estimates are guesses and everyone knows it
Daria
Nobody owns the billing service since Marta left
(What could make us a better team? )
Maria
A written definition of done we actually check
Kirill
Rotating who runs planning so it is not one person
(What are the potential risks/challenges ?)
Daria
Peak season traffic in six weeks, no load test yet
Roman
The vendor API we depend on is deprecating v1
What is this activity?
This retrospective format is inspired by the series Game of Thrones. The aim is to reflect on the team's strengths, current challenges, areas for improvement, and potential risks/challenges.
The Castle: What are we great at?
- List the team's strengths and accomplishments
The Hole: What are the current issues/problems?
- Identify the challenges and problems the team is facing
The Wall: What could make us a better team?
- Discuss potential improvements and ways to enhance team performance
The White Walkers: What are the potential risks/challenges?
- Discuss the potential risks and challenges that may arise in the future.
Action items:
- Summarize the main takeaways from the retrospective and outline next steps for improvement.
Similar templates
Other formats teams pair with this one — open any of them as a board in one click.
Love - Want - Hate - Learn
An emotionally honest format that gives feelings a clear place in the retrospective. Participants finish four sentences — I love, I want to, I hate and now I know that — to surface what energizes them, what they wish for, what frustrates them and what they've realized. The personal phrasing invites genuine, first-person reflection.
Kudos Retrospective
A retrospective that opens with gratitude before getting down to business. Kudos lets the team recognize each other first, then it reviews what went well, what to improve and the action items to follow up on. Starting with appreciation sets a positive, psychologically safe tone for the harder parts of the conversation.
Pros and Cons
The simplest possible way to weigh a decision, a change or the sprint as a whole. The team lists the pros on one side and the cons on the other, making trade-offs visible at a glance. Its bare-bones structure makes it a versatile choice whenever a balanced view is needed quickly.
Sprint Diagnostics
A diagnostic format that combines a quick rating with focused discussion. The team scores the sprint on dimensions like communication, collaboration, quality and pressure, then names a standout like or dislike and what could be done differently before agreeing on actions. The numbers give an easy way to track how the team's health changes over time.
3 L's
A lightweight three-column retrospective for teams that want quick, honest feedback. Participants capture what they liked, what they learned and what they lacked during the sprint. Stripped down to the essentials, it's an easy starting point for teams new to retrospectives or short on time.
DAKI
DAKI gives the team four clear levers for change in a single view. Participants decide what to drop because it no longer helps, what to add that's missing, what to keep that works well and what to improve. The crisp structure makes it easy to leave the session with a concrete, balanced set of adjustments.
