🏰⚔️ Castle Quest
Gather round the great hall and reflect on our kingdom’s triumphs, battles, and plans to fortify our castle for future quests.
Template Columns
🏆 Royal Victories
Celebrate the triumphs and successful sieges of our sprint.
Base column: What Went Well⚔️ Fallen Defenses
Identify the breaches and challenges that weakened our stronghold.
Base column: What Went Wrong🛠️ Castle Upgrades
Plan enhancements to reinforce walls and improve our kingdom’s defenses.
Base column: What We Want to ImproveAbout this template
A gamified, kingdom-themed retrospective that celebrates successes, surfaces obstacles, and plans concrete improvements.
When to use this template
Ideal after a sprint with visible outcomes or when the team needs a fresh, engaging way to reflect on performance.
How to facilitate
Set the scene by describing the castle metaphor and the three columns: Royal Victories, Fallen Defenses, and Castle Upgrades
Ask each participant to write down items for each column on virtual sticky notes, using emojis or icons to match the theme
Group similar items together and discuss each Royal Victory, highlighting why it succeeded
Move to Fallen Defenses, explore root causes of each breach, and capture lessons learned
For Castle Upgrades, brainstorm concrete actions that will strengthen the team’s processes for the next sprint
Vote on the top three upgrade actions, assign owners, and record them in the sprint backlog
Pro Tips
Encourage participants to use castle‑related language or icons to keep the theme lively
Limit discussion time per item (e.g., 2 minutes) to maintain momentum
After voting, turn each chosen upgrade into a SMART action with a clear deadline
FAQ
What if the team struggles to come up with items for Royal Victories?
Prompt them with specific examples like completed user stories, smooth deployments, or positive customer feedback to spark ideas.
How do we keep the metaphor from feeling forced?
Keep the language light and optional—participants can use the castle terms or simply list items; the visual theme is the main driver.
What if we have more than the recommended team size?
Split the larger group into two smaller circles, each with its own board, then merge the top items in a brief plenary.
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At a glance
- Duration
45–60 min
- Team Size
4-12 people
- Columns
3 columns
- Base Format
What Went Well, What Went Wrong, What We Want to Improve
Tags
Ready to get started?
Use this template to run your next retrospective