Questions and answers with professionals who have unique and exciting jobs: Robert Small, Founder of Miniclip
iaam: How did you become a successful games developer at age of 24?
Robert: I love games and spent most of my time at university playing them. Fortunately I still managed to graduate with good grades, but once I was out in the “real world” the thought of being able to make a living out of creating games was too much to resist.
As I hadn’t done a degree in IT or anything computer related I knew that no one would hire me, so the only option was to make games myself. I guess because I didn’t come from a more traditional development background, I was able to develop games that were different to anything else in the market. The Dancing Bush game was one of the most widely played pieces of viral content on the web; it was filmed in the kitchen of my flat and put together with the most basic knowledge of Flash, which is the software we still use to make most of our games.
iaam: How many games does Miniclip introduce every month? What’s your favorite game on the site?
Robert: We release around 6 games each month which I think is pretty impressive if you consider that it can take several months to build each game! As for my favorite game I like all of the games on the site (or we wouldn’t release them ) but usually I will get fixated on one of the games each month and play it obsessively, at the moment I am playing Dino Strike a lot.
iaam: When did you become passionate about video games? Do you still design video games?
Robert: I have been playing games since I was 10 years old. Nowadays kids of all ages are playing, which is great, but back when I was a kid games were still pretty basic. I was given a ZX Spectrum 128k for my 12th birthday and from that day onwards I spent a huge amount of time playing and even coded some basic games myself. It’s astonishing to think that my mobile phone is 390 times more powerful than that first computer.
iaam: How did growing up in a rural setting help you be creative?
Robert: I think this played a very important part in making me a more creative individual. Although in your teens you feel a bit cut off from your friends who live in the town, when you get older you really appreciate the countryside so much more.
My parents believed it was very important for my sister and I to be outdoors; we weren’t allowed a TV until I was 10 years old. I think this really helped in making me understand how to be more imaginative and make my own fun.
This has definitely stood me in good stead for my role at Miniclip, where we constantly have to come up with new game ideas and suggestions for ways to improve the website.
iaam: What advice would you give to young teenagers who are growing up in small and rural communities?
Robert: I would tell them to enjoy the opportunity as much as possible, because they will most certainly look back in years to come and realize that living in the country is a privilege. Most people will end up working in big cities or towns where there is more enterprise happening, although nowadays it’s possible to work from almost anywhere and log in remotely via the net
iaam: What are the skills needed to be a video game designer?
Robert: The most important skill to have is a good imagination. If you can create something that captures other people’s attention then you’re already half way there. With the advent of new platforms in the last 10 years like iPhone and Android and the advances seen on the internet it is becoming much easier to build games and release them to the general public. Of course you need to have a great idea and the talent to build a game that both appeals to the audience and makes them want to come back and play the game again and again.
iaam: How can a young game developer get involved with Miniclip?
Robert: Although the vast majority of our developers are adults, we do occasionally have younger people approach us who are involved in game development. If any of your users have games that are built in Flash or Shockwave they should send them to our games team to review at gamesdev@miniclip.com.
In our London studio we offer a limited amount of one-week work experience placements for teenagers who are interested in becoming game developers. The placement gives them an opportunity to experience what it is like to work for a games company and find out what skills they need to develop.
We also have a large beta testing panel who are able to try games before they are released and provide feedback to our games team. We occasionally recruit new people into this so anyone who is interested should look on our forums for more information http://forums.miniclip.com.
iaam: What guidance can you give teenagers who want to start their own Internet company?
Robert: The internet is a great platform to create a business on; it allows people who have good ideas, immediate access to a potential audience of 6.8 billion people and growing. The challenge for people nowadays is to find new ways of doing things or a niche to exploit more fully, which is becoming increasingly harder with so many websites online.
For me it was knowing that the potential gaming audience was NOT just men aged 16-30 playing expensive shoot ‘em up games on consoles, but everyone aged 5-95. You just have to look at the success of casual games on all platforms including, Miniclip, Facebook and Apple to see how mainstream they have become.
iaam: What do you do for fun?
Robert: I’m very lucky as my job is also my hobby so I still play a lot of games on all platforms. I also love cooking and travelling, although I have to do a lot of business travel nowadays to our offices in Switzerland, Miami, San Francisco, Portugal, Estonia and London. Keeping fit is also very important to me, as I believe a healthy body as well as a sharp mind is key to success.
iaam: What goals are yet to be accomplished?
Robert: I think it’s very important to set goals and I find it hugely motivating to focus on something short term and long term. My current goal over the next couple of months is for us to succeed in getting to the number 1 spot in the USA iPhone charts; our current best is number 2 with our hit game Fragger, so we are tantalizingly close.
A longer term goal is to ensure that Miniclip continues to be a really fun place to work, with great people, great products and over 100 million users a month
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