Dependencies

When working on a complex piece of software like a game, it’s quite common to have many interconnected systems and features that often depend on each other. Managing those dependencies properly avoiding bottlenecks and blockers can be tricky. In order to help you with that matter, we provide a task dependency system that allows you to define which work items depend on each other and block them until their dependencies are resolved. Blocked items are marked with a lock watermark and colored in a darker tone, and they can be edited but can’t be moved to another stage (except for admins).

You can set dependencies from the task editor, clicking on a task card on the kanban board or game design model section. Go to the lock icon tab and start writing the name or id of a task, the autocomplete will help you find the task you are looking for. Press Enter and the task will be added as a dependency. When the dependencies are added they are evaluated and the current task is blocked if the conditions are met.

The purpose of the dependencies feature is letting you know if a task can be started or not, so when one task is blocked the system is constantly checking for its dependencies. When all the blocking dependencies of a task are resolved (moved to a stage with status Closed), the task will be automatically unblocked. Alternatively, if a dependency was completed but moved back to one of the previous stages, the task will be blocked again. HacknPlan Studio offers the possibility of customizing the stages (kanban columns), including if the stage unblocks the dependencies of work items that are moved into it. This way you can unblock items when, for instance, they are being tested.