Hello everyone!
We hosted an AMA with Richard Atlas, Creative Director at Clever Endeavor. They released Ultimate Chicken Horse back in 2016 and have recently released the Hippo-Party-Plus Update back in September of 2021!
[.c-highlight]You can listen to the full audio recording above! We’ve broken down all the questions and topics below so you can get a nice feel for what was discussed, and also included some memorable quotes from Richard![.c-highlight]
𝐐𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 / 𝐓𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐬
- Richard kicks us off by telling us about himself, his journey to where he is now, and also what Clever Endeavor is working on now.
- How Ultimate Chicken Horse went from a game jam to being commercially successful and the secret behind its success.
- How they prioritized staying small to stay within the skill set that the current team had and not spreading themselves too thin.
- Going from creating a game with friends to suddenly managing others.
- The big, amazing topic of cover letters!
- We already know you think the studio is amazing. Tell us why you’re amazing!
- How can your skills benefit the studio?
- Confidence versus cockiness
- Diversity & Inclusion
- How to manage all the applications one gets for their job posts.
- How do you evaluate people who have more years of experience and shipped games, with the understanding that many marginalized developers did not have those same opportunities?
- How do you set up a new hire for success at the company and in their new role?
- What does it look like to check in on your new hire(s)?
- The most prominent non-dev hobby in the office.
- Switching into the gaming industry from another when you have relevant experience.
- Is the open job position open to applicants outside of Canada if they are willing to relocate when the time comes to get back into the office?
- Should newbies have to put in their time with less fulfilling starting jobs before getting jobs at companies that they want to work with?
- How to define your design process as you grow your team.
- Portfolios! What are they looking for? Polished, completed works versus design breakdowns? What level of detail should one have?
- Opinion on inclusivity in terms of mental health.
- The narrative aspect of the new project Clever Endeavor is working on.
- Some notes that Richard wrote down when looking through the first pass of applications.
- The good and the bad.
- Things that really stood out.
- Relevant versus irrelevant experience.
- How to better support women in games.
- Final wrap-up!
𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐝
Richard’s Twitter - @RichMakesGames
Clever Endeavour Links
Memorable Quotes
[.c-insight]“I would rather grow in a way that is kind of like this metaphor, which is kind of like a tree. Instead of the tree branching out further and further and further from its trunk. It's like the leaves are just growing denser and thicker inside.
So you’re fostering those connections between the people and you’re making better processes internally and you’re creating better quality things, but you don’t necessarily have to spread yourself out too much.” - Richard[.c-insight]
[.c-insight]“The amount of time it'll take you to train somebody up to get them up to speed might be less than you think..." - Richard[.c-insight]
[.c-insight]“There is a fine line between confidence and cockiness.” - Richard[.c-insight]
