The Beer Game — Classic Bullwhip Effect Simulation | Logistics Training
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Board game · MIT · Bullwhip effect

The Beer Game
The most famous game in logistics

We played it at the MIT course. We preserved the goal, meaning, and mechanics. You will see the bullwhip effect in 2 hours.

from 9,900 ₽
2hGame session
4–400Players
+2hDiscussion
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What the game is about

The bullwhip effect in action

Everything we use every day is the product of supply chain links. The Beer Game simulates the work of several links and vividly demonstrates the bullwhip effect.

History

The Beer Game is described in the book "The Fifth Discipline." It models a distribution chain with four stages: retailer, wholesaler, distributor, and manufacturer.

Bullwhip effect

A consequence of coordination problems in supply chains. Small demand variations in retail are amplified upstream. The term was introduced in 1990 when Procter & Gamble discovered order fluctuations in the diaper supply chain.

Consequences

High safety stock · Poor customer service · Inefficient capacity utilization · Forecasting problems · Low trust in the chain.

Mechanics

How the game works

52 rounds = 52 weeks. One round lasts less than a minute. Each link is played by 2–3 people — 8–12 players per chain in total.

Retailer
Sells beer to the end consumer. The only one who knows the real external demand.
Wholesaler
Receives orders from retailers and places orders with the distributor. Cannot see the real demand.
Distributor
The intermediary between wholesaler and manufacturer. Inventory and orders grow increasingly larger.
Manufacturer
Receives orders from the distributor and produces beer with a 2-round delay.
The Beer Game supply chain diagram — orders go up, goods go down, 2-round delay
Rules

What happens every week

01
Receive and fulfill order
Receive goods from the supplier, send goods to the client downstream. Inventory must cover the order — otherwise, a backlog.
02
2-round delay
Every shipment and production order requires two weeks before reaching the next link. This is delivery + production time.
03
The only decision is order volume
Players cannot communicate. The only information is the order number. No transparency of inventory levels or real demand of other links.
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Cost of inventory and backlog
Warehouse storage — 0.5 units per unit per week. Backlogged order — 1.0 unit. Goal: minimize costs without shortages.
⚡
Sudden demand spike
First 5 rounds have stable demand (5 units). Then a sharp spike (up to 9 units) and stabilization. A single spike triggers the bullwhip effect.
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No communication
Players do not talk to each other. Only the order volume passes upstream. This models low-trust chains.
Emotions

What your employees will feel

Despair and frustration are common feelings during the final rounds. This is not a bug, it's a feature. The structure of the chain dictates behavior.

«I can't control the situation»
Players lose the sense of control over their link. Orders rise and fall unpredictably, even though real demand has long stabilized.
«It's the supplier's / client's fault»
People blame partners in the chain: "They make unreasonable orders" or "They can't deliver on time." The structure provokes conflict.
«Despair in the final»
By the end of the game, inventory is either overflowing or the shortage is critical. The total chain costs turn out to be several times higher than expected.
The Beer Game inventory fluctuation chart — negative inventory = backlogged orders
Analytics

Why this happens

The bullwhip effect is caused by three fundamental problems. Players discover them themselves — through discussion of their experience and reference to practice.

1

Lack of information

In the game, no information except the order size is retained. Real consumer demand is quickly lost upstream. Without factual demand data, all forecasting relies on incoming orders — and this creates distortions.

2

Supply chain structure

Long lead time: it takes a lot of time for an order to go upstream and for delivery to come back down. The longer the time — the higher the probability of the bullwhip effect. Safety stock grows proportionally.

3

Local optimization

Each link optimizes its costs locally: large batches for discounts, safety stock against shortages. But local optimum = global failure. Until the product reaches the buyer, no one in the chain has earned anything.

Supply chain accumulated costs chart — comparison of local vs global optimization
Debrief

What they discuss after the game

Debriefing takes 60–90 minutes and often turns into the most valuable part of the session. Structure creates behavior — and that is the main takeaway.

  • Player emotions. Did you feel a loss of control? Did you blame partners? Did you feel despair?
  • Realism. What is unrealistic in the game? Why do delays exist? Why are distributors needed?
  • Causes of the bullwhip effect. Lack of information, chain structure, local optimization — three fundamental problems.
  • Global thinking. Accumulated chain costs: until the product is with the buyer, no one has earned anything. The first step toward collaboration.
  • Solutions. What will change if players start sharing inventory information and coordinating purchases?
Team at the Beer Game table — online session or board version
Formats

Three ways to play

Board game

The classic format with a game board, order cards, worksheets, and tokens. From 4 to 400 players simultaneously.

Online version

Participants from different cities and countries meet at the same game table. Video chat, digital worksheets, real interaction.

Training session

Our team runs the game turnkey: briefing, facilitation, debriefing with analysis of team decisions.

For whom

Who is The Beer Game for

University and college professors

Apply one of the most famous business games in teaching systems dynamics and logistics.

Startups

Understand the challenges that await when transitioning to industrial batch production and raw material procurement.

Established businesses

Show procurement managers what happens in other links and how to reduce the negative impact of uncertainty.

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