What is the Soda Distribution Game?
The Soda Game was invented at MIT in the 1950s to illustrate how difficult it is to manage dynamic systems - in this case, a supply chain that delivers beer from a brewery to consumers.
It was originally designed as a board game. We digitized the game in 2014, and since 2021 it can also be played for free in multiplayer mode with large groups - last year it was played over 30,000 times.
The game can be explained and played in a short time - 60 minutes is enough for a simple session.
It is excellently suited ...
as an icebreaker for workshops on topics such as dealing with complexity, agile organization, and data
as an introduction to the topic of data and analytics
to illustrate supply chains, especially the bullwhip effect