Video games play a key role in shaping the world. They provide entertainment for millions. They help the innovators, creators, and doers of the world relax amid countless late nights and stressful times. They open minds to creative notions, ideas, and problem-solving — benefiting nearly all facets of life, whether games are involved or not.
This is the philosophy of games shared by Colin Day. “Games do a lot more than entertain us,” he says. “They allow us to shift our entire mind and body from the everyday and recharge ourselves.”
Boomlagoon has achieved a large amount of success in a short amount of time, as far as new game studios go. Although they only opened their doors in 2012, they’ve already had success with two games, have secured major funding, and have just released another game.
The studio’s success can be traced to its founders’ growing team.
Starting Out
Antti Stén, CEO and Founder, Boomlagoon
CEO and founder Antti Stén always wanted to start a game company ever since first joining the industry at Digital Chocolate in 2004. Though he didn’t have the skills necessary then to launch such an endeavor, he learned as much as he could from companies like Digital Chocolate and Rovio.
In 2012, he and fellow founders Tuomas Erikoinen and Ilkka Halila (who shared his vision for games) teamed up and made their first game, Noble Nutlings. “We all knew each other from Rovio and all had a very specific skill set needed for game development,” Stén says. “We decided to jump on the opportunity and never looked back after that.” He continues, “We got a lot of help and encouragement from people in the gaming industry here in Finland (and) worked hard to get our first game ready.”
It paid off in a giant way.
The game only took a few months to complete, but was featured by Apple and got good reviews from both media outlets and gamers - being downloaded over 2 million times. They managed to gather enough capital to hire two employees, and also made a sequel that was specifically targeted to LINE Messenger users called LINE Nutlings Tournament, in which they took the game and revamped it so it was a better fit for tournament-style social play. The fledgling company had a lot of take-aways from the experience, both in terms of how to make fun games and how to monetize free-to-play games.
The Funding Phase
“The team, the style of games, and the level of polish were really the things that moved the needle.”
The game also served as a “solid track record” when it came to securing funding for Boomlagoon, though Stén notes that “the team, the style of games, and the level of polish were really the things that moved the needle.”
“Our investors were impressed by the team and the quality of our work,” he says. “The whole investment round went really smoothly. We met with a number of top tier investors and ended up with the ones that we really saw eye-to-eye with.”
The team ended up securing $3.6 million from various investors which allowed them to grow the team to 13 people and open up a second game track. “It also puts us in a solid place in terms of self-publishing our upcoming games,” Stén says.
Finding a Focus
Interestingly, one of the hardest aspects of starting Boomlagoon wasn’t securing funding but trying to decide what exactly the company should do. The company was initially going to make cross-platform HTML5 games, but the founders soon realized a clearer focus was needed. It was at that point they they decided to develop iOS games on Unity. “Once that decision was made, things really started to pick up,” Stén says, noting that getting to decide what to focus on is one of the most rewarding things about having your own studio - that, and being able to “work with absolutely awesome people every day.”
Indeed, the majority of Boomlagoon’s team are veterans in the industry or possess outstanding skills. Stén notes that the company tries to focus on getting people that are top performers in their field and mesh with the company’s culture.
The majority of Boomlagoon’s team are veterans in the industry or possess outstanding skills.
“From the culture perspective, we value transparency, creativity and initiative,” Stén says. “Everyone is free to contribute to all the game projects we have going on, and we feel that the discussion and the level of freedom really pushes our concepts to the next level.”
Additionally, the team seeks to “bring joy to as many people as possible regardless of time and place” and believes the mobile free-to-play business model fits that philosophy best - making it the market they have focused their efforts on. Stylistically, the company focuses on polished, cartoon style 2D games - an art style the company finds approachable to both Western and Eastern markets.
However, the company is always keeping an eye out for improvements in mobile hardware and operating systems and figuring out how to use them to bring even more immersive experiences to their fans. They also make sure not to restrict themselves to any specific game genres. “If the idea is fun and fits our process, we’ll jump on it,” Stén says.
Moving Forward
Monsu, Boomlagoon’s newest game
Currently, Boomlagoon launched their newest game Monsu - a platform game featuring collectible cards where you can run, jump, fly, and even ride a llama. Players start out with the main character Monsu, a “cuddly, little green monster,” and as they progress through the game, players can collect other characters that help Monsu in his quest.
Stén is quick to point out that despite the company’s quick start and successes, the company is just getting started. “We want to make awesome games that are played by hundreds of millions of players. That’s our next milestone!”
Find out more about how Boomlagoon is doing through their Facebook and Twitter!
The untamed wilderness is the last place you would think to find a game development studio. Yet that is exactly where Another Castle’s Best Newcomer Studio, Developer, or Publisher of 2013 winner Hinterland can be found. Established in 2012 in Northern Vancouver Island, a team of seasoned veterans formed to create captivating games they could be proud of. With everyone having 10-15 years of experience in the AAA industry, they decided to break free and make something personal.
Beginning Anew
Raphael Van Lierop, Founder and Creative Director, worked in various positions during his 13 years in the industry, but he felt it was time to do something different. It wasn’t because he wanted to “be an indie,” but he did want to work in a studio with a foundation he could believe in. “I wanted to be able to work on something that felt more personal, more artistic, and more of an expression of individual thinking,” says Van Lierop. “That’s hard to do in the established industry where teams and budgets are so big - we all know those dynamics really work against creating original games that are trying to push against the mainstream.”
Raphael van Lierop, Founder & Creative Director
Other veterans felt the same way as Van Lierop and joined him on this new path. “We’d all pretty much hit that same point in our careers, where we still wanted to work on great games with great collaborators, but wanted to do it under our own terms,” says Van Lierop. “Hinterland is about being independent.”
Alan Lawrance, Technical Director
Due to all the experience the team has, it took almost no time for them to get down to business. As with all studios starting out, they had their share of challenges, but they got through by evaluating the situation and making the best decision that could lead them forward. “This is one of the huge benefits of working with a small team – you can turn on a dime and you don’t have to lose time waiting for someone to give you the greenlight to make a major change or whatever,” says Van Lierop. “You just do it.”
Working Simply
David Chan, Audio Director
Hinterland was established to enable the team to create games they wanted without having to sacrifice themselves to do it. “So really, I had to found Hinterland to make the kinds of games I wanted to make in a more ‘humane’ way, which didn’t require people to uproot their families and lives to be able to do good work,” says Van Lierop. To be able to do this, they incorporate many online tools to keep things running smoothly, such as Basecamp, Skype, and Dropbox.
The day starts off simply: discuss what needs to be done and then work to complete it. Van Lierop determines the project direction and works with the team to distribute it into different areas. As pros, they are good at working together. “We test theories, try to evaluate – honestly and objectively – the strength of the ideas or implementation and make the changes we need to improve things,” says Van Lierop. “We’re not overly precious about ideas, which isn’t to say we don’t have a vision, we’re just all experienced enough to know that ideas are meaningless without a strong execution behind them.”
Emily Claire Afan, Community & PR Manager
When starting the studio, it wasn’t about going indie, and it isn’t like they are thinking of trying to incorporate AAA into indie development. It just happens. “You don’t stop to think about how you’re breathing, you just breathe,” says Van Lierop. “We just make games.” Rather than think of themselves as indie, Hinterland is independent, and Van Lierop believes there is a difference. “It’s not like, here’s my triple-A handbook, and here’s my ‘indie’ handbook, and I flip between depending on the game,” says Van Lierop. “I think there’s this popular notion that if you come from the triple-A space, you don’t know how to make an ‘indie’ game – like somehow your ability to think independently atrophies because you worked within an established studio.” Yet scope and agility are the only real differences between AAA and indie projects, he believes. Also, the lack of a publisher limits what they can do, but they still push forward with their mission of creating meaningful games.
Creating Thought-Provoking Games
Marianne Krawczyk, Writer
The public often does not take games seriously. Van Lierop wants to change the view into games being “a mature medium for delivering a variety of meaningful experiences that touch people on multiple levels.” Years from now, he wants to feel proud of the work he’s done. “It’s not about making a ‘product’ or a ‘best-seller’ or any of that stuff,” says Van Lierop. “It’s about creating something and knowing that other people thought it was good enough they were willing to assign a value for it, both in terms of their time and money.”
To do this requires making good choices about content, tone, and mechanics, according to Van Lierop, and investing yourself into creating a new kind of experience. They hope to accomplish this with their first title, The Long Dark. Coming from a concept Van Lierop had considered for years and enhanced by the team, they wanted players to have a fascinating experience. Without a combat mechanic, they hoped to immerse players through tone and content. Van Lierop says, “In terms of tone and content, a lot of this comes down to things like world design, art direction, narrative, etc., and for that, I think our approach is pretty simple – respect our craft, respect our audience, and try to do something that would be worthy of any medium, so that people don’t just say ‘Wow, that was a pretty meaningful experience *for a game*,’ they say, ‘that was a meaningful experience for *any medium*.’”
To realize the game, they decided to crowd-fund using Kickstarter, and believed it was a great experience. “We’ve never really been in a position to talk about a game so early in development, so it was simultaneously energizing and scary as hell,” says Van Lierop. The game was successfully funded on October 16, 2013, raising more than $50,000 past their initial goal. But for the team, it wasn’t just about the funds. “For us, the Kickstarter was almost more about announcing the game and studio, staking a claim on the concept, starting the process of building the all-important community, and basically saying ‘We’re here. Watch this space.’”
“We’re here. Watch this space.”
The team is excited to produce their first title, and are overcoming many challenges to make it a tribute to their mission, but Van Lierop thinks meeting both the team’s and players’ expectations is the most challenging. “What we want players to experience is really simple: something that impacts them, makes them think long after they’ve finished playing, and is unlike anything they’ve played before.”
Hinterland hopes to provide years of thought-provoking entertainment with the help of a dedicated, supportive community. But for now, the team is concentrating on The Long Dark, hoping to release it October 2014. Fundraising for stretch goals are continuing on the game’s website. Stay updated by following the team on Twitter and Facebook.
Just after Casual Connect Kyiv, I visited our friends at Gamepoint in their offices. It’s a friendly little spot on the coast of the Netherlands, and frankly, I’m a bit jealous.
Gamepoint - a friendly little spot on the coast of the Netherlands
I arrived in Den Haag Central station via train from Amsterdam. The convenient public transportation made my meetings very easy to get to. I decided to spend the time before my meeting walking from Central station to the Gamepoint offices, going from a modern downtown area through parks, historic houses and international embassies. The feel of the city was a wonderful balance of convenience, history, and open spaces.
When I arrived at the offices, I was greeted by Rik Haandrikman. If you have never met Rik, you should take the time to do so. He is a large, fit guy with a personality that leaves you at ease despite his formidable stature. We toured the offices, stopping in each of the departments, then had a nice chat with the CEO Amon Endt, and finished the morning by having lunch with the entire company in their cafeteria.
Everyone enjoying a delicious lunch at the office
Downstairs, I saw the Community Management Office, run by Jeffrey Otterspoor. This group handles customer support by email, phone, and in-game. They also organize on- and offline support for the community.
Upstairs, I first met the Web Development Team, who are responsible for backend and frontend website coding; then the System Engineering group, who takes care of the hardware, as well as keeping two million monthly players connected.
One of the most interesting stops on the tour housed the Game Development Team, led by Bob Christoff, who also remotely runs the game development coding team in Kyiv .This is the group that conceptualizes the games. There were a couple of walls covered with the latest top secret games, and Bob came over to show me some of the challenges. We briefly talked about the difficulties of moving games from a big screen to small mobile screens. It was a very engaging conversation for me because it just felt like the puzzle-solving room. Have an issue, a goal, or an idea? This is the place to hash it out. Maybe they should rename it the crime-solving department.
I also met the Art Team, run by Lenart Poort, where every piece of 2D art and animation is created for the games, the website and other forms of communication, such as online ads and magazines. Currently, they are working on buses that the studio will be branding in the Netherlands. The HR Department is, of course, also very important since it pays all the salaries. This department is the responsibility of Fleur van Rijmenam.
Finally, Rik showed me the Business Development or Growth Team, which he runs. This team is responsible for all types of user acquisition, retention through CRM and product improvements and monetization improvements, both in and around the games. Rik tells me his team is highly data driven, spending most of their time with their many backend tools, looking for ways to keep players engaged and paying.
During the tour, I really sensed the energy and atmosphere of the company. The offices are laid out in a typical open office environment with conference rooms and departments separated only by glass walls. Desks are turned in on each other with only a monitor and a seam in the wood to separate you from your neighbors. With this layout, the lively and friendly interaction of co-workers solving the various issues of the day came through loud and clear. Entering a department area didn’t feel like an intrusion. I felt like Norm from the TV show Cheers, walking into a bar where everyone knew my name. Of course, they didn’t actually know my name, but that is how it felt.
There is lively and friendly interactions between co-workers
Lunch time arrived, and I didn’t see anyone head out the door for food. Almost all of us went into the cafeteria where Anja Zoutenbier prepares lunch each day. One of her specialties is traditional Dutch fatty sausage, a favorite of the whole group. Once everyone had a plate of food, we all crowded into a spot around three long tables. Rik and I ended up next to a couple of people from the Customer Service Team. The conversation mainly focused on costumes and parties for Halloween (rarely celebrated in the area). Apparently some costumes of Sinterklaas are hanging around the office, which is an interesting story in itself.
While lunch was going on, another group was in the game room, playing Trials Evolution, intensely involved in the semi-finals of the competition. We finished eating just in time to see one of the competitors get knocked out of the tournament. Rik later told me the Halloween party included an epic competition of Trials Evolution, which had half the company crowded around the TV, watching a nail-biting showdown between the two finalists.
Gamepoint is a place where you work hard, but you play hard, too. I could see making a lot of new friends there, given any time to stay.
