How We Work

How We Work

We Are a Remote Working Collective

No Private Meetings

Standup: We gather for standup every weekday at 9 am PT / 12 pm ET. Standup is held to 1 hour max (30 min for updates, 30 for social). All other work communication happens through asynchronous Discord chat and Open Huddle.

Open Huddle: An open video call is left running during working hours. Whomever is online first starts it, and whomever is online last closes it. Team members are encouraged to join this each day for open communication and collaboration. This is where work in progress can be discussed. Team members can mute the call and go off-camera if they need to focus. Any communication that turns into extended discussion or debate should be promptly cut off and turned into a project management task for the associated team members. If it can’t be solved quickly, then it can’t be solved by talking. We use the work itself to explore, test, and validate ideas.

No Private Meetings: If it needs to be discussed, it is discussed in Open Huddle. Everyone has transparency into the work. If two or more team members need to focus on an extended problem, they should schedule in-person travel to focus on the task together.

Standup: We gather for standup every weekday at 9 am PT / 12 pm ET. Standup is held to 1 hour max (30 min for updates, 30 for social). All other work communication happens through asynchronous Discord chat and Open Huddle.

Open Huddle: An open video call is left running during working hours. Whomever is online first starts it, and whomever is online last closes it. Team members are encouraged to join this each day for open communication and collaboration. This is where work in progress can be discussed. Team members can mute the call and go off-camera if they need to focus. Any communication that turns into extended discussion or debate should be promptly cut off and turned into a project management task for the associated team members. If it can’t be solved quickly, then it can’t be solved by talking. We use the work itself to explore, test, and validate ideas.

No Private Meetings: If it needs to be discussed, it is discussed in Open Huddle. Everyone has transparency into the work. If two or more team members need to focus on an extended problem, they should schedule in-person travel to focus on the task together.

Share Daily

Discord Updates: Every team member is required to share their work-in-progress each day in our private work channel. Do not wait until something “feels ready”. Even if it is small, share an update that team members can view/test/understand each day.

Feedback: Leave feedback in threaded comments below team members’ updates each day. Feedback can be positive encouragement, curious questions, and/or respectful critique for improvement. Integration of feedback is left to the discretion of the team member who posted the work. We are each experts of our own domain, and are each the final say on our own work.

Don’t Get Emotional: Don’t get emotional about receiving feedback. We are all trying to improve, and help each other see where those improvements can be made. Don’t get emotional if your feedback is not integrated. We all have a distinct perspective, and we respect that each person has final say over their own work.

Discord Updates: Every team member is required to share their work-in-progress each day in our private work channel. Do not wait until something “feels ready”. Even if it is small, share an update that team members can view/test/understand each day.

Feedback: Leave feedback in threaded comments below team members’ updates each day. Feedback can be positive encouragement, curious questions, and/or respectful critique for improvement. Integration of feedback is left to the discretion of the team member who posted the work. We are each experts of our own domain, and are each the final say on our own work.

Don’t Get Emotional: Don’t get emotional about receiving feedback. We are all trying to improve, and help each other see where those improvements can be made. Don’t get emotional if your feedback is not integrated. We all have a distinct perspective, and we respect that each person has final say over their own work.

Travel & In-Person Collaboration

In-Person Collaboration: Each team member has a quarterly travel budget allocated to them. In-person collaboration is an important part of our creative process. When collaborating with other team members on complex tasks, it is important to book travel time to spend a few days together. Your travel is yours to manage. Make time for it. You should be collaborating with another team member in-person at least once per quarter. This does not include company gatherings and events.

Events: Ludos events are a monthly occurrence. Team members should attend at least two Ludos in-person events per year. Travel may be required depending on location.

Team Gathering: The entire team meets together in-person once per year for a creative retreat and celebration of our work together.

In-Person Collaboration: Each team member has a quarterly travel budget allocated to them. In-person collaboration is an important part of our creative process. When collaborating with other team members on complex tasks, it is important to book travel time to spend a few days together. Your travel is yours to manage. Make time for it. You should be collaborating with another team member in-person at least once per quarter. This does not include company gatherings and events.

Events: Ludos events are a monthly occurrence. Team members should attend at least two Ludos in-person events per year. Travel may be required depending on location.

Team Gathering: The entire team meets together in-person once per year for a creative retreat and celebration of our work together.

Filming

Everyone Gets a Camera: As part of your onboarding package, you will be sent a portable camera and microphone. This doubles as both a webcam and travel camera. Each team member is expected to film and record examples of their work and creative life each month. This footage should be uploaded to the company’s online storage, where the Broadcast team will then integrate it into our weekly broadcast. Team members are NOT expected to edit their own footage.

Be Creative, This Isn’t Optional: Filming is a major pillar of this company. Find creative and novel ways to record footage for our broadcast. Show your personality. Be authentic. We do not stick to a static format for our recordings and broadcast. As creatives, this is a space where we can play.

Everyone Gets a Camera: As part of your onboarding package, you will be sent a portable camera and microphone. This doubles as both a webcam and travel camera. Each team member is expected to film and record examples of their work and creative life each month. This footage should be uploaded to the company’s online storage, where the Broadcast team will then integrate it into our weekly broadcast. Team members are NOT expected to edit their own footage.

Be Creative, This Isn’t Optional: Filming is a major pillar of this company. Find creative and novel ways to record footage for our broadcast. Show your personality. Be authentic. We do not stick to a static format for our recordings and broadcast. As creatives, this is a space where we can play.

Project Management

Waterfall: We plan our work in discrete chunks and manage it in a simplified traditional waterfall style. We do not use Agile. We should always be working from a structured overall plan and know exactly what we are building and what phase we are in.

Simple Boards: We use Codecks for project management. All tasks should be documented in a simplified and easy-to-understand manner. Do not bury documentation in our project management tool. If you have additional files, documentation, etc. that is connected to a task - link to it in the task description, and make it clear and concise.

“Lap Times”: Much of our work involves repetitive tasks (creating characters, designing levels, optimizing render performance, etc). We strive to improve with every attempt, both in speed and quality of deliverables. We call this a “Lap Time”. Each repeat task should have an associated set of consistent simple quality markers that the relevant domain expert on the team defines. With each attempt, this “Lap Time” is reviewed by the associated team member upon completion, with the goal being to always surpass our previous attempts. This encourages us to keep ahead of tools, process, and skill development. We should be getting better at this every single time.

Waterfall: We plan our work in discrete chunks and manage it in a simplified traditional waterfall style. We do not use Agile. We should always be working from a structured overall plan and know exactly what we are building and what phase we are in.

Simple Boards: We use Codecks for project management. All tasks should be documented in a simplified and easy-to-understand manner. Do not bury documentation in our project management tool. If you have additional files, documentation, etc. that is connected to a task - link to it in the task description, and make it clear and concise.

“Lap Times”: Much of our work involves repetitive tasks (creating characters, designing levels, optimizing render performance, etc). We strive to improve with every attempt, both in speed and quality of deliverables. We call this a “Lap Time”. Each repeat task should have an associated set of consistent simple quality markers that the relevant domain expert on the team defines. With each attempt, this “Lap Time” is reviewed by the associated team member upon completion, with the goal being to always surpass our previous attempts. This encourages us to keep ahead of tools, process, and skill development. We should be getting better at this every single time.

Personal Development

No Managers: We are a small team of senior talent. There are no people managers here. Everyone is expected to be a direct contributor to the work, and to self-manage their own time, process, and growth.

Domain Experts: Each team member has a specific domain they are the designated expert on. This team member always has final say when it comes to their associated domain. Domain experts are expected to openly solicit feedback from the entire team, and integrate feedback in a thoughtful manner.

Push, Pit, Train, & Cruise: We do not crunch as a team. Every team member is expected to self-regulate their own work. We use consistent simple language to explain the 4 categories of this work:

Push: Use this to describe a period where you are pushing beyond your normal abilities. Pushing can imply taking on an unknown challenge, working longer hours, and/or attempting to drastically increase final delivery quality. Everyone should push occasionally. No one should be pushing all the time.
Pit: Use this to describe a period of rest and recovery. Everyone needs time to slow down, recover, and integrate growth. Make sure you take the time to pit occasionally, or you will risk burning out.
Train: Use this to describe a period of education and skill development. Learning new tools & techniques is an essential part of improving our work. Make time for it on a regular basis.
Cruise: Use this to describe an extended period of stable effort. This is the “normal” state that each team member returns to eventually. Do not stay in Cruise mode for too long though. That’s a guaranteed way to fall behind.

No Managers: We are a small team of senior talent. There are no people managers here. Everyone is expected to be a direct contributor to the work, and to self-manage their own time, process, and growth.

Domain Experts: Each team member has a specific domain they are the designated expert on. This team member always has final say when it comes to their associated domain. Domain experts are expected to openly solicit feedback from the entire team, and integrate feedback in a thoughtful manner.

Push, Pit, Train, & Cruise: We do not crunch as a team. Every team member is expected to self-regulate their own work. We use consistent simple language to explain the 4 categories of this work:

Push: Use this to describe a period where you are pushing beyond your normal abilities. Pushing can imply taking on an unknown challenge, working longer hours, and/or attempting to drastically increase final delivery quality. Everyone should push occasionally. No one should be pushing all the time.
Pit: Use this to describe a period of rest and recovery. Everyone needs time to slow down, recover, and integrate growth. Make sure you take the time to pit occasionally, or you will risk burning out.
Train: Use this to describe a period of education and skill development. Learning new tools & techniques is an essential part of improving our work. Make time for it on a regular basis.
Cruise: Use this to describe an extended period of stable effort. This is the “normal” state that each team member returns to eventually. Do not stay in Cruise mode for too long though. That’s a guaranteed way to fall behind.

Community Co-Development

Bounty Board: Occasionally, we will designate tasks that we want/need help completing beyond our current team. Rather than overly rely on outsourcing, we go to our community first. These tasks are discussed as a team, defined by a domain expert, and then released into our community as “Bounties”. Anyone in our community can attempt to complete a bounty, and can submit their work for review by us. Once we have received a submission that we deem acceptable, we close the bounty and reward the associated community members with commensurate compensation and their name in the credits.

Feedback Channel: We maintain an open feedback channel in Discord. All team members are expected to engage with this channel, and use it as an additional feedback source for improving our work. Do not assume that we know better than our community, and do not assume all feedback must be followed. It is our job to be discerning and thoughtful in sifting through the ideas our community presents.

Test Builds: From first playable on, we release a new build at least once per month - if not more. We embrace that most builds will be incomplete, buggy, and not fun to play. This is the process, and our community understands it as such. If we have specific spoilers we want to hold back from our community, we will isolate those sequences from the current release build.

Bounty Board: Occasionally, we will designate tasks that we want/need help completing beyond our current team. Rather than overly rely on outsourcing, we go to our community first. These tasks are discussed as a team, defined by a domain expert, and then released into our community as “Bounties”. Anyone in our community can attempt to complete a bounty, and can submit their work for review by us. Once we have received a submission that we deem acceptable, we close the bounty and reward the associated community members with commensurate compensation and their name in the credits.

Feedback Channel: We maintain an open feedback channel in Discord. All team members are expected to engage with this channel, and use it as an additional feedback source for improving our work. Do not assume that we know better than our community, and do not assume all feedback must be followed. It is our job to be discerning and thoughtful in sifting through the ideas our community presents.

Test Builds: From first playable on, we release a new build at least once per month - if not more. We embrace that most builds will be incomplete, buggy, and not fun to play. This is the process, and our community understands it as such. If we have specific spoilers we want to hold back from our community, we will isolate those sequences from the current release build.

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