Velocity Poker is a CLI tool that turns team estimation into a competitive game. Points are scored based on the size of work delivered relative to blocks bid, with bonuses for autonomous automation.
Why I built it
I wanted a way to encourage good behavior and drive transformation on a team. Traditional estimation and velocity tracking treats output as the goal. Velocity Poker reframes it as a game where the incentive structure rewards doing more with less and building automation instead of doing things by hand.
The scoring formula makes this explicit: points scale with the square of work size and multiply by scope level, but divide by blocks bid. Delivering a large epic in fewer blocks scores significantly higher than grinding through tasks. Bonuses reward autonomous automation (25 points) over human-in-loop solutions (10 points). The game pushes teams toward the behaviors that actually accelerate a practice.
How it works
Games are initialized with configurable scope levels (task, story, epic) and block durations. Each round, players bid blocks and deliver work. The CLI handles scoring, leaderboards, round management, and stats tracking. All data stores as JSON files, so everything is Git-friendly and easy to integrate with other tools.