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Now Hiring a Senior Generalist Games Programmer
You’re an experienced games programmer who’d like to have a large and central impact on a stimulating game project? Then come live the indie experience with us. We are the makers of the award-winning Operation: Tango, and we are looking for someone to guide our programming & technology decisions.
ABOUT CLEVER PLAYS
Welcome to Clever Plays! We’re a small, passionate, and tightly-knit team based in the vibrant city of Montréal, Canada, shaping the future of indie gaming since 2013.
WHO WE ARE:
At Clever Plays, we craft immersive, mold-breaking experiences for PC and console gamers. From the cyberpunk roguelite, Leap of Fate, to the award-winning espionage co-op game, Operation: Tango, we pride ourselves on delivering bold and unforgettable adventures.
Clever Plays also has a sister-company: Indie Angels Marketing Services, which provides fantastic marketing support to other indie studios and to ourselves, thus ensuring that Clever Plays’ games benefit from great marketing strategy and discoverability.
OUR CREATIVE OUTLOOK:
Dare to dream with us! Our game development journey is all about defying conventions and exploring uncharted territories. We embrace ideas that challenge us, ensuring our players embark on journeys that are as unique as they are thrilling. Forever curious, always creative. We are Clever Plays.
WHY WORK AT CLEVER PLAYS ?
ROLE
Clever Plays is on the lookout for an experienced generalist programmer to join our dynamic team and to share all of the programming tasks, including but not limited to gameplay, UI, AI, network, integration, tooling, and debugging. As a senior, the candidate would be assigned a large proportion of architectural and pipeline tasks, as well as being tasked with finding the solution to various technical challenges.
RESPONSIBILITIES
Day-to-day programming tasks (60% of role)
Management and development (20% of role)
Teamwork and communication (20% of role)
SKILLS PROFILE
Training
Experience
Other requirements / knowledge
Not necessary, but valuable experience
Intangible criteria
please send resume to info@clever-plays.com
Hi there! My name is Mattieu Bégin, or just Matt. I am the co-founder and game director at Clever Plays. I live in Montreal, Canada, where Clever Plays is based. Here are some fun facts about me: I have been married for more than 20 years, I have two wonderful children, a dog and two geckos. I love board games, science (I actually used to be a biologist/geneticist before changing careers), I enjoy heavy music, science fiction books, team sports, and of course video games.
I play three main roles in the team: that of being director, producer and game designer of all of our games. But since we’re a small studio, with typically around 6 to 8 people in the production team, I end up doing a ton of other things, including writing, QA, integration, UI art, publishing, and anything else we don’t have a specialized person for.
Being creative is my main and most powerful driver. At Clever Plays, our philosophy is to make sure our games have something unique, something that will surprise gamers. But innovating is really hard. It’s like choosing to walk in the thick of the forest when you could use the trail. But it is oh so satisfying when, after weeks or months of work, a feature finally clicks. That’s what makes me wake up every morning.
The sheer breadth of the tasks that I have to perform, given the size of the studio. Like most people, I can’t possibly be good at everything, so I need to find ways to work around my weaknesses and focus on my strengths.
Playtests. Most people probably don’t know that, but the development of Operation: Tango was very challenging on many levels. It is sometimes hard to keep the faith when things don’t seem to be working out. But whenever we ran playtests, it was such a joy (and a relief) to witness players genuinely have fun with what we were creating. It kept me running.
I have been creating games since I was 10 years old, although they were board games, card games and role-playing games back then. That has always been my passion. I just did not know I could make a career out of that until my late twenties. Then I worked 6 years for a AAA company, and it was the game Bastion that made me realize that indie games were a thing, and that it was realistic to found a studio and follow in their footsteps.
Although my childhood was in the 80s, I guess the golden age of video gaming for me was the second half of the 90s on PC, with games like Baldur’s Gate, Civilization 2, Starcraft and Diablo 2.
Because of my profession, I do try a large amount of games every year. However, having a work approach to games has the negative effect of sucking some of the fun out of it. When I am not studying games, I find myself returning to a few not-so recent favorites such as Darkest Dungeon, Battle Brothers, Slay the Spire, and Super Auto Pet.
Success for the game we’re currently working on, what else? I think we have a rough gem in our hands currently, with many ways this game could appeal to people. We’re in the process of refining and shaping it. Let’s hope we can match the great vision we have for it. In the longer term, it is to keep making innovative and immersive game experiences of all kinds.
PC or Console? – I have “PC” tattooed on the heart, what can I say …
Coca-Cola or Pepsi? Water when I work, otherwise fresh organic juices.
Cats or Dogs? I like animals in general, I actually spent years studying them.
Halloween or Christmas? Both are great. The two best special days of the year.
Pancakes or Waffles? Not a fan. My son makes awesome waffles however!
Want to learn more about the Clever Crew? Check out our post all about our Community Manager! Read it Now!
Bonjour! My name is Annie-Kim Robitaille. It’s been a year since I worked at Clever Plays as a junior programmer, here in Montréal. A fun thing to know about me, I’m not a typical gamer. In fact, I came from the literature field and I mostly fancy narrative games.
I’m a gameplay programmer, which means that I code a little bit of everything that will be in the game. It can be a little UI panel as much as an AI feature. And since we’re a very small team, I sometimes get to give my opinion about the game design.
I don’t know if I can mention it, but right now we’re prototyping a new game which will hopefully be really nice! Also, I like to chat with the other programmers, from whom I learn a lot everyday.
Since I’m new to the job, I’d say that the most difficult part is to find some foundations. Everything is always new to me, and it’s tough to acquire confidence when you feel that you don’t thoroughly master what you’re doing. But fortunately, I know this will get better with time.
I wasn’t part of the studio at that time, but I really enjoyed the game as a player. I completed it both as the hacker and the agent. When I got the job at Clever Plays, I was so excited and proud to meet the team; I felt a bit like a crazy fan!
My favourite game of all time is Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales from CD Projekt Red. It’s a card RPG derived from The Witcher’s Gwent in which you play Queen Meve of Lyria. Every little detail of this game is flavoured, from the score to the incredible story!
PC or Console? – PC
Coca-Cola or Pepsi? None of them, that’s not good for your teeth!
Cats or Dogs? In fact, I prefer rodents.
Sweet of Salt? 100% salt!
https://www.linkedin.com/in/annie-kim-robitaille
Want to learn more about the Clever Crew? Check out our last post all about our Community Manager! Read it Now!
Hi there! I’m Liz Macdonell, or LizMac for short, and I’m the Community Manager here at Clever Plays Studio. Unlike most of the team, I’m located in the rainy but beautiful Vancouver, Canada where I live with my partner and our dog Karina.
I’m the Community and Marketing Manager for Clever Plays Studio! This means that I handle everything from helping players with any bug reports, to coordinating events such as PAX or GamesCom, running social media pages, and more.
Getting to talk to the players and community and seeing them play our games! It’s absolutely a magical experience to be able to pop into a Twitch stream, or be at a convention, and see players having laughs, creating inside jokes, and having fun playing a game I helped create.
Making sure you have a good work/life balance! Social media and community is going on 24/7 and it’s difficult to not respond to questions as soon as you see them but it’s important for mental health and to prevent burnout. Having to set boundaries with the community so they know when it’s your off time is extremely important.
A personal highlight for me was getting to watch Felicia Day and Amy Okuda, two amazing women in the TTRPG industry whom I’ve looked up to for years, playing the Operation:Tango Demo and getting to speak to them about the game. It was such a marriage of my two loves: TTRPGs and Video Games.
Video games have always provided an escape: get to become the knight in shining armour, run your grandfather’s farm, save the world! No matter what game you play you get to experience something new and exciting. I wanted to help craft the stories people escape into, and the memories that come with that. My dream was to help make someone’s favourite game, and I am uncountably happy that I made the leap to follow that dream.
The first console I ever had in my house was a PS2 (a little late in the gaming game I know!) and I absolutely loved the three games I got with the console: Spyro Year of the Dragon, Harvest Moon: It’s A Wonderful Life, and Dark Cloud. Without those three games, I’m not sure I would have fallen in love with gaming as much as I have.
This is such a hard question because I have played so many wonderful games this year! I’ll narrow it down to two for you: My favourite experience playing a game was Unpacking by Witch Beam. It was unexpectedly heartfelt, cozy, and satisfying to play! The game I have spent the most time on this year is another indie gem: Beneath Oresa by Broken Spear! Roguelike deckbuilders are my kryptonite and with this one feeling like a fighting game, I was instantly hooked!
I hope we continue to make games that people love, that we grow our community even more, and my specific goal for 2023 is finally getting to be in Montreal to meet the whole team for the first time!
PC or Console? – Console! I’ve been a PlayStation kid my whole life
Coca-Cola or Pepsi? Coca-Cola!
Cats or Dogs? Dogs (but I love cats too!)
Halloween or Christmas? Christmas!
Pancakes or Waffles? Neither! French Toast has always been our family’s favourite!
You can follow LizMac on Twitter at @LizMacD22
What a year 2022 has been! We can’t wait for what 2023 has in store, but for now, let’s take a look at what we’ve been up to this last year.
Over these 6 years, we’ve learned a lot, always striving to make our games better, but we will never forget the love we have for our first game, Leap of Fate. If you haven’t seen it before, be sure to check it out on Steam, especially if you like roguelikes!
This year we sent our community manager out to both PAX East and West! Now that conventions are happening in person again, it was finally time to get to reconnect with our community. From Boston to Seattle, a wonderful time was had! We even got to give a panel talking all about how the pandemic changed co-op games and co-op game development.
We celebrated Operation:Tango’s first birthday with giveaways, community streams, Discord parties and more! It was fantastic to have the community celebrating with us. Operation:Tango is absolutely a labour of love and we are so proud of the game, and of the community that has come to love it.
All year we hosted a Speedrunning challenge in our Discord for the Operation:Tango DLC! We had entrants from all over the world; some were friends, siblings, and others were just random players, all trying to win that top spot! It was exhilarating for us as developers to see how quickly they could speed past, or sometimes through, the challenges we had made.
Our studio co-founder, Angela, got to represent the Clever Crew at this year’s Game Awards! It was absolutely amazing to see all the reveals of new games, as well as getting to recognize some of the fantastic games to come out this year!
With that, the 2022 season has come to a close! We can’t wait to see what 2023 brings us and are extremely thankful to have you all along for the ride!
~LizMac and the Clever Crew
There are so many fantastic indie games coming out this year, but we wanted to highlight a few that are sitting at the top of our wishlists.
One of the best things you can do to help support indie game developers is to wishlist their games! It lets us, and others, know that people are excited for the games we are creating, gives us a sense of our community and audience, and makes us feel all warm and fuzzy inside!
Be Jack! Get an axe! Take Jack (and her sisters) on an axe tossing, single or multiplayer, platforming adventure in a vibrant open world inspired by Filipino and Norse mythology. This platforming, pixel-art game not only looks gorgeous, it features strong women with axes! The multiplayer also supports up to 4 players and looks like a fantastic time with friends. Want to grab an axe? Wishlist it on Steam now!
Deepest Chamber is a single player deck building card game with roguelike elements, that is set in a dark fantasy themed world. The player is tasked to overcome an increasingly challenging descent into the murky depths of a dying medieval city. Build your deck from a mix of different classless ability cards, scrounge for handy consumables or ancient powerful relics and uncover the story of an array of mysterious characters who can prove to be either friends or foes. If you like games like Slay the Spire, make sure you wishlist Deepest Chamber here!
Kickflips and pop clips while you carve the cool waters in Wave Break, the world’s first skateBOATING game. Score sick trick combos and shoot down opponents in an 80s Miami Vice inspired world, with outlandish characters, online multiplayer and a fresh synthwave soundtrack. The art style and vibes of this game are magnificent, and if you want to get vapourwave fresh and rock it old school? This game is absolutely worth a wishlist. Grab a lifejacket, some shades, and sunscreen as you wishlist it.
Take control of an adorable turnip who happens to be an absolute menace to society. After failing to pay taxes and getting evicted from your home, you must go on an epic quest to pay back your massive debt to Mayor Onion. Garden tools to solve plantastic puzzles, meet eccentric vegetables and fruits, and take on treacherous fights against animals both big and small. Along the journey uncover what’s spoiling this garden community and rise to tear down the corrupt vegetable government! Wishlist this turnip right now!
AK-xolotl is a top-down arcade battle arena shooter featuring the cutest amphibian. You’re an axolotl with an AK (duh!) and you must defend your pond from enemy invaders to score big! If you love bullet-hell games like Enter the Gungeon or Binding of Isaac, this one cute creature is right up your alley. Wishlist it here today!
Thought we would forget our most anticipated indie title of the year? On it’s own website? Okay so we may be a little bit biased but make sure you have Operation:Tango wishlisted on Steam, and grab a friend to check out the demo which is available for free download on Steam right now!
Working from home may not be as exciting as being in the field saving the day, but our resident hacker Alistair has some tips for making your work from home space as great as it can be!
For smaller homes this may not always be possible, but having a designated working space helps to set a place where productivity can blossom. Getting some cute knick knacks for your desk can also help make it more fun and exciting as your work space.
Working from home has the advantage of being able to dress more casually, but even our Hacker can’t save the world in his pyjama pants! This helps you get into the working mindset and also is good overall for your mental health.
It’s important to keep your body moving and step away from your desk during breaks and throughout the day. If you can get an adjustable sit-stand desk, even better! Alistair likes to stretch his legs and stand tall while helping Angel navigate her missions. If you can’t get a sit-stand desk? Make sure to have a good monitor or laptop riser for ergonomics and take stretch breaks often, even if it’s just to dance around your kitchen to your favourite song.
It’s important to make sure you’re eating well, even if you’re working from home. Being able to use your full kitchen is a huge benefit to not having to commute, and will save you money on takeaway lunch, but it’s also easy to fall into the habit of working through your lunch break or just grabbing something quick in between meetings.
If you’re going to be sitting at your desk working, support your back with a good chair. Alistair has his custom made to give him the full support he needs to assist Angel in saving the world, but that might be out of the budget for some. Talk to your employer about making sure you have all the tools you need to create a safe and conducive workspace, including a supportive and comfortable chair.
Working and living in the same place can often lead to cabin fever, so try to get some fresh air once a day, even if it’s just for a quick walk around the block. You can often find Alistair walking to his local bakery to pick up some fresh bread every day after he’s done work.
Having a safe and productive place to work from home is more important than ever right now, and we hope these tips can help you create that perfect place for yourself. Take it from Alistair, staying in doesn’t have to be boring.
New Year, New Art!
We worked with our friends at Volta and together created some amazing new art for Operation:Tango. Take a look at our inspirations and how we ended up with these fantastic characters and beautiful environments.
Our original goal behind the art style of Operation:Tango was to create characters with distinct personalities and styles, and fit perfectly into our ‘near-future’ setting. Technology improves and changes extremely quickly these days; seeing a world not too far from ours in Operation:Tango helps to foster the feeling of the action/spy movies we know and love.
We’ve got gadgets and gizmos aplenty! Behind the screen of a lot of those gadgets is our hacker, Alistair. Our agent, Angel, uses all the new gizmos to survive out in the field. From communicators and high tech cameras, to powerful computers and vehicles. We also wanted to make sure to give our characters the tools they needed to save the world, without guns or specific weapons.
We were influenced by some of our favourite media and artists, such as the Incredibles and Robert Valley. The artists at Volta did a fantastic job listening to our dreams of a vibrant and bold art style. They helped turn those dreams into the art you see today.
We have lots more in store to share over the coming months! Make sure to check back for more in-depth updates.
Want to get announcements first? Make sure you’re following us on our social media or joining our Discord where we give sneak peeks, do giveaways, and host community nights.
Make sure to wishlist Operation:Tango on Steam and if you haven’t already, grab a Player 2 and dive into the world of Tango yourself by playing our Demo!
New Year New Art
Hey everyone!
In Operation: Tango, you and a friend must work in tandem as Field Agent & Hacker to infiltrate, investigate, and eradicate the forces threatening the free world. Communication and teamwork are key to completing missions, as “It Takes Two to Save the World”.
But at Clever Plays, that’s so much more than a tagline. To celebrate the release of the playable demo on Steam, we’ve organized the “It Takes Two to Save the World” charity campaign, benefitting Oxfam in their global efforts to fight poverty.
The concept of the charity is to raise money for each demo play-through video we receive, and we already had the pleasure to have many videos from the gaming community! Here are a few we selected :
We hope that you enjoyed participating in this great initiative, and if you didn’t have the chance, you still can! So go play the demo on Steam with a friend and come share your experience!
Cheers,
– Val and the Clever Plays team
Hey everyone!
We have the pleasure and tremendous honor to announce that Operation: Tango was awarded Best Multiplayer Game at the 2020 Gamescom Awards.
It is an incredible recognition for us, as winners from previous editions were games like Borderlands 3 and Destiny 2!
We want to reiterate our gratitude to the Gamescom organization for this wonderful token of appreciation!
We also got nominated for Most Original Game, alongside Cyberpunk 2077 and Voidtrain, that will be unveiled this Sunday!
If you’re curious about why they might have chosen our humble indie title, we recommend that you and a friend go try the demo on Steam and see for yourself!
Cheers,
– Val and the Clever Plays team