🦋⚔️ Hollow Knight Adventure

Descend into the depths of Hallownest! Reflect on our team’s victories and challenges as valiant knights, and uncover new actions to vanquish obstacles in our next sprint. Will you claim glory or fall to shadows?
40–55 min
4-10 people
Based on: Wind, Anchors, Actions
🦋⚔️ Hollow Knight Adventure

Template Columns

đź’¨ Dream Nail Winds

Share the gusts of progress and uplifting moments that propelled us forward, much like the winds of adventure in Hallownest.

Base column: Wind
âš“ Shadow Shackles

Reveal the burdens and obstacles that held us back, like anchors dragging us into the abyss.

Base column: Anchors
🗡️ Heroic Actions

Suggest brave new quests and actions we can undertake together to conquer challenges next sprint.

Base column: Actions

About this template

The Hollow Knight Adventure retrospective invites teams to celebrate their wins, confront challenges, and collaboratively plot bold next steps—framed as an epic journey through Hallownest.

When to use this template

Use this template after sprints with a mix of wins and setbacks, especially when the team needs a morale boost and actionable focus for the next phase.

How to facilitate

1

Set the theme by inviting the team into Hallownest and explaining the adventure-inspired columns reflecting progress (Dream Nail Winds), challenges (Shadow Shackles), and new actions (Heroic Actions).

2

Give participants quiet time to add reflections in each column based on recent sprint experiences, encouraging storytelling through the adventure lens.

3

Invite team members to read out or summarize highlights from each column, fostering discussion around notable victories and struggles.

4

Facilitate a group discussion to cluster related items, dig into the root causes of major setbacks, and celebrate unique wins.

5

Guide the team to brainstorm actionable, courageous next steps as 'Heroic Actions,' ensuring they align with the team’s capacity and core goals.

6

Collaboratively select 2-3 high-impact actions to adopt for the next sprint, assigning owners or champions for each action if needed.

7

Close with a quick team check-out, asking how everyone feels about the quest ahead.

Pro Tips

Encourage everyone to frame contributions like adventurers sharing tales and quests, boosting engagement and creativity.

Use icons or visual cues (even simple ones) to represent victories and obstacles, making the board more immersive and fun.

Prompt the team to connect each challenge directly to a potential heroic action, strengthening the sense of progress.

Revisit previous 'Heroic Actions' at the start to celebrate completed quests and build momentum.

FAQ

What if some team members aren't familiar with Hollow Knight or the theme?

The facilitator can offer a quick explanation of the theme as an adventure metaphor. Focus on the column meanings—progress, obstacles, actions—so all can participate easily.

How can we ensure 'Heroic Actions' are realistic, not just creative?

Guide the team to make each action specific and achievable, linking them directly to issues raised in the earlier columns. Have one person own follow-up.

Our discussions get sidetracked by storytelling—how do we stay focused?

Set clear timeboxes for each section and gently redirect conversation to outcomes by relating each story back to actionable takeaways.

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At a glance

  • Duration

    40–55 min

  • Team Size

    4-10 people

  • Columns

    3 columns

  • Base Format

    Wind, Anchors, Actions

Tags

reflection
action-oriented
retro game
team engagement
creativity
virtual-friendly

Ready to get started?

Use this template to run your next retrospective