Consider different size rooms for Respect Games

I think that 6 participants per breakout group is generally best, though 4 or 5 participants works well too. I like the logic and natural inspiration for 6 participants that Dan Larimer explained in the first two minutes of the fractally brand identity video. It feels like 6 participants is best because it provides a lively atmosphere where conversation tends to flow naturally even if some of the participants aren’t very talkative and 6 participants also fits better into a rectangular screen than 5 participants.

The software we use for Optimism Fractal is designed for groups between 3 and 6 people. Another thing that may be worth considering is that consensus is easier to reach with 6 participants than 5 because it’s easier to reach 4 of 6 than 4 of 5. It might also be easier to reach consensus with 4 of 6 than 3 of 4 in some cases. Consensus might not be needed in future Respect Games that use with James Mart’s new shared submission algorithm, but I don’t think that’s being used anywhere yet.

In practice we’ve had many groups of 4 or 5 people and it seems to works out as well as 6 people, it’s just a bit of different vibe depending on how many people participate. I’d suggest trying 6 people for the reasons above and the fact that doing it similarly to other fractals might help reduce software changes/updates, but I’m sure you could make it work well either way and provide awesome experiences with 4 or 5 too. If you’re not sure then maybe it’d be helpful to A/B test and ask the participants what room size they prefer.