How to Build a Mobile Game without Coding Skills Part II

With no in-house coding, illustration, or animation skills, we've had to throw ourselves straight into the fire by learning the fundamentals of mobile gaming. Read on for Part II in our series on how we’re building our first mobile game where we get into how we found experienced contractors to work with that are bringing our ideas to reality.

Finding an Artist

We started off by looking at freelancers on Upwork that specialized in Illustration and Animation. We reviewed their portfolio to get a sense of their aesthetic and work, and made note of any samples that drew us in. From there, we reached out and messaged specific artists to see if they’d be interested in working on our project and if they would send us more examples of characters or objects that they had designed/animated specifically related to mobile games.

Depending on how well the discussions went and if we agreed upon a fixed price for the job, we proceeded to send the artist an official offer along with a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) to sign.

Finding a Programmer

To find programmers, we took a slightly different approach. We wrote out a high-level job description along with some initial screener questions and posted it on Upwork for developers to openly apply. Screener questions included:

• Provide an App Store link to a game that you built that you are most proud of and why.
• Highlight any previous experience you have that would be beneficial in working on our specific project.
• Provide an outline of phases/milestones in which you think the project can be best completed.

Applicants that submitted a generic copy & paste of their qualifications and did not a) address any of the screener questions and b) bring up any specifics related to our job description were screened out.

For those that did answer the screener questions, some made very good use of Cover Letters by informing us that they understood our project and had the necessary skills to deliver the goods.  Others asked additional questions about the project to get clarification on items that were not detailed enough. These applicants stood out from the rest of the pact.

From there, candidates were selected for interviews to further assess technical and communication skills as well as their ability to adapt.  Based on how well these discussions went and if we were able to agree on a fixed price for the job, we proceeded to send the developer an official offer along with an NDA to sign.

Unexpected Issues

We used Skype to interview prospective candidates and had a lot of connection issues. We ended up resorting to do a lot of instant messaging instead of voice chats, which was less than ideal for interviewing.

Also, a lot of the folks on Upwork are very persistent, which is both good and bad. Good in the sense that you don't have to remember to follow-up with them if you’re busy because they will certainly follow-up with you. Bad in the sense that you may continue to be contacted by folks who have been turned down and are no longer being considered for the position.

What We’ve Learned So Far

A few major lessons have come out of the hiring process so far.

• Determining fit is hard. Hiring the right candidate takes a lot of time and investment in determining if they are going to be a good fit. We received over 45 applicants for the developer job. And that is before any real work is even started!
• Communication is key to getting on the same page. Once the work starts, expect a lot of back and forth communications and revisions until things start aligning with your vision unless you have given very detailed instructions to the contractor.
• Establish multiple milestones and checkpoints. Also, split your job up into several milestones so that you can do incremental payment as well as maintain checkpoints where deliverables received can be evaluated.