GAME BUSINESS SERIES
Churn & Burn
A card game that teaches how acquisition, retention, and monetization interact — through rounds of strategy, rising costs, and the math that connects them.
2–50 players · 3–12 rounds
THE CORE TRADEOFF
Three levers. One budget. No right answer.
Each round, every team picks one strategy from each category. The interactions between them are where the learning happens.
ACQUISITION
Get users
Spend big for volume, or go organic and save cash. Cheap installs churn fast. Expensive ones stick — but drain the budget.
$40
CPI — Ad Blitz
RETENTION
Keep users
LiveOps, events, and social features compound over time. But the best retention costs $10K/round. Six rounds of that is $60K.
80%
Base — World-Class LiveOps
MONETIZATION
Extract revenue
$80/user looks incredible — until it slashes retention by 30%. Pair that with basic upkeep and every user churns. Every one.
-30%
Ret. modifier — Squeeze Every Penny
Students who maximize short-term revenue destroy their user base. Students who invest in retention run out of cash. The winning strategy requires balancing all three — and changes when acquisition costs double in the late rounds.
SEE IT IN ACTION
What the game looks like
Online mode — live or async. Teams pick cards, results calculate automatically, and a leaderboard tracks who's ahead.
Card picking
Each team selects one card from each category, then locks in.
Round Results and Leaderboard
The results of each round show the performance of each team
HOW A SESSION WORKS
Setup in 5 minutes. Runs itself after that.
Works online (live or async) or locally using one projected screen
Create a session
Set the number of rounds, teams, and pacing mode. Share the session code or link with your class.
Teams pick strategies
Each team secretly selects one Acquisition, one Retention, and one Monetization card. Then everyone reveals.
The math plays out
Revenue, costs, retention, and user counts update automatically. A live leaderboard shows who's ahead — and who's bleeding cash.
WHY USE THIS
What students walk away knowing
The post-game discussion is where the real teaching happens. The game gives you the shared experience to anchor it.
CPI
Cost Per Install isn't just a number
Students see that expensive acquisition fills the funnel - but retaining them next round depends on actions.
ARPU x CPI x LTV
Unit economics decide everything
The winning teams aren't the ones who spent the most or earned the most per user. They're the ones who learn how to balance metrics and tactics.
RET%
Retention compounds
Teams that neglect retention watch their user base evaporate round over round. Teams that invest early build a base that generates revenue without new spend.
ARPU
Monetization has a cost
The highest revenue-per-user card can destroy retention. Students learn that aggressive monetization may be a trap — the numbers look good for exactly one round.
Run it in your next class
Free. Online or offline. No account needed for the printed version.