Mighty Bear: 2020 Review
Mighty Bear 2020 Review: What We Did, What We Need To Do Better, What’s NextIntroductionEvery December we send a letter to our friends and investors reflecting on the previous year and sharing our thoughts and learnings. This year we decided to go a step further and share our thoughts with everyone.Photo by Markus Winkler
Why the App Store and Google Play Are a Force for Good
There’s been a lot of discussion recently around mobile app stores, most of it focused on their commission, and business practices. Much of the discussion has been heavy on hyperbole (and drama), but light on factual content. I can’t comment from a “service subscription app” point of view, but as someone who runs
Questions from the Mailbag Pt. 1
Every once in a while we get people writing to us for tips on how to get started in the industry (Clarissa Goh wrote an excellent piece on this here) or how to make games.This week I’m going to tackle some of the questions we’ve been asked over the past few weeks and share
Evaluating Employers After COVID-19
Disclaimer: This is written from a tech perspective, not all of this will hold true in other industries.We are currently living through an unprecedented and incredibly difficult period in modern history. Both from a wellbeing and financial standpoint we’re seeing untold suffering, with hundreds of thousands dead and millions of jobs lost with
Getting Things Done
FrameworkOver the years I’ve read many books on self-organisation and productivity. The best and most sustainable method I’ve found (most systems are hard to stick to beyond a week or two) is David Allen’s Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity. The good news is that you don’t need to read the
It’s OK to not be OK
Mental Health and the Games IndustryOver the past few years there’s been an increase in awareness around mental health issues and the effects of our working life on mental health. The games industry is by no means exempt from this, in fact I’d argue we’re one of the industries that has the most to
Company Culture as Principles Pt. 3
Mighty Bear back when our “offices” were my apartment (note the laundry in the background)RecapIn the previous two posts in this series (Pt. 1 and Pt. 2) I wrote about why we chose to define the company culture as a series of Principles early on, as well as taking a look at most
Company Culture as Principles Pt. 2
#mexicanmondays at Bear Force OneRecapIn the previous post in this series (Pt. 1: here) I wrote about the reasons why we chose to define the company culture as a series of principles early on, as well as taking a look at some of the first Principles in the document. In this part 2 of
Company Culture as Principles Pt. 1
#bearforceoneHow it StartedWhen we founded Mighty Bear, I spent a lot of time speaking to other founders about their experiences and the most valuable lessons they learned. During one of these discussions, a founder spoke about how they wished they’d defined their company culture at the start of their journey. Their point being that
Four Common Mobile Game Design Sins and How to Avoid Them
Context Mobile games are an inherently different medium to desktop or console games. The nature of how these games are played (on the go, in short bursts, and perhaps even while the user is doing other things) means that they have their own considerations. As a founder of a mobile games studio, I play a