J. Warren McClure School of Emerging Communication Technologies
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Welcome to the PM Game! Your team and budget are on the right. Assign team members to tasks and hit START. Good luck!
Project Gantt Chart
S-Curve: Planned Value vs Earned Value vs Actual Cost ($K)
PV — PlannedEV — EarnedAC — Actual Cost
Performance Indices over Time (≥ 1.0 is good)
CPI — Cost PerformanceSPI — Schedule Performance
Your Staff
Budget
$0
Spent: $0K
Assign staff to begin
Earned Value Metrics
Task Assignments
This game is built on the shoulders of
thatPMGame
by Robert "Robc" Charney — a wonderful original creation that has helped countless students
learn how to read a Gantt chart, understand project scheduling, and see firsthand
how a project's progress is tracked over time.
If you enjoy this version, the credit for the foundation belongs to Robert "Robc" Charney.
This derivative adds: larger projects (up to 12 tasks, vs. the original 5); varied performance for average-speed staff; Earned Value Management (EVM) metrics and reporting; and Monte Carlo forecasting of cost and schedule outcomes.
How to Play
This game is centered around a Gantt chart - a common project management scheduling tool. Your goal is to assign staff to tasks and complete the project on-time and under budget.
Getting Started
Assign a staff member to each task using the dropdowns on the right panel
Click Start! to begin the project
During the Game
The blue timeline bar moves left to right, representing the passage of time
Dark progress bars show how much work has been completed on each task
All tasks must be completed before the timeline reaches the end
You can pause at any time to reassign staff
Staff & Budget
Staff have different speed and cost attributes
Faster staff complete work quicker but cost more
Your project must finish under budget to win
Green cost numbers mean savings; red means over budget on that task
Warnings
Assign Staff! - One or more tasks have no staff assigned
Over Budget! - Current spending rate will exceed budget
Staff Burnout! - A staff member is assigned to multiple overlapping tasks, drastically slowing progress on both
OK! - Budget is on track (but check your schedule!)
Chance Events
Around the 3rd week, a Chance button will briefly appear. Click it to trigger a random event - some helpful, some not!
Dependencies
Some tasks depend on other tasks completing first. Dependent tasks are shown in gray and won't progress until their prerequisite is done.
Critical Path
Blue task bars are on the critical path — the sequence of tasks that determines the earliest possible project completion date. Any delay to a critical path task delays the whole project. A project may have more than one critical path if multiple chains end at the same time.
📊 Lifetime Stats
📈 EVM Report
🎲 Monte Carlo Forecast
📈 Earned Value Management (EVM) Guide
EVM is a project management technique that measures project performance by comparing how much work was planned, how much was actually done, and how much it cost. It gives you an objective, numbers-based view of whether a project is on track.
The Three Foundation Values
Abbreviation
Full Name
What It Means
BAC
Budget at Completion
The total planned budget for the entire project. Fixed at the start.
PV
Planned Value
The budgeted cost of work scheduled to be done by this point in time (based on the original plan).
EV
Earned Value
The budgeted value of work actually completed so far. EV = BAC × % Complete
AC
Actual Cost
The money actually spent so far. High-cost staff make AC grow faster than EV.
Variances & Indices
Abbreviation
Full Name
Formula
Interpretation
SV
Schedule Variance
EV − PV
+ = ahead of schedule− = behind schedule
CV
Cost Variance
EV − AC
+ = under budget− = over budget
SPI
Schedule Performance Index
EV ÷ PV
>1.0 = ahead of schedule 1.0 = on track <1.0 = behind schedule
CPI
Cost Performance Index
EV ÷ AC
>1.0 = under budget 1.0 = on track <1.0 = over budget
EAC
Estimate at Completion
BAC ÷ CPI
The projected final cost of the project if current cost efficiency continues.
TCPI
To-Complete Performance Index
(BAC − EV) ÷ (BAC − AC)
The cost efficiency you must achieve on all remaining work to finish within the original budget. <1.0 = easy (you can afford to slow down) 1.0 = must maintain current pace >1.2 = recovery is very difficult
Reading the Charts
S-Curve: Shows PV, EV, and AC rising over time. Ideally EV tracks close to PV (on schedule) and stays above AC (under budget). If AC rises faster than EV, costs are running over.
Performance chart: Shows CPI and SPI over time with a target line at 1.0. Watch for these trending downward — it is much easier to course-correct early than late.
In this game, CPI and SPI below 1.0 will typically be shown in orange or red as a warning. Values at or above 1.0 are shown in green.
