Chapter 1: Who are we?

"Some kids want to be football players. We wanted to be the creators of football"

Most people who have played games like Football Manager have thought at one time or another 'I wonder how they make games like this...' - we are a few of the lucky ones who get to do just that.

We, Stanga Games, are a remote company. We're just like any other startup, except that our team is spread out across the world. Through the course of this blog, we will not only dive into how this has affected our development and the various interesting stories that have come about as a result, but also our flagship (and primary) application - Football Underworld.

So just like any introduction to a new group of people, I should probably introduce the team....

First off we have the CEO, the big cheese.... actually, he probably wouldn't appreciate being called that since he's vegan... the big hummous, Noam Ben-Zvi. If a company is a ship, this man is wearing the captain's hat. He's in charge of, well, being in charge - keeps the company rolling and making sure everyone knows what their tasks are week-on-week. Football Underworld is his brain-child.

Secondly we have Anthony Copus - the jack of all trades. He's dabbled in everything from flex programming, to community work, to the business side. Safe to say if anyone's ever unsure of what's going on with regards to any part of the project (or a diplomatic solution to a problem is required) then Anthony's the man to ask.

Since we mentioned flex programming, it seems only right to mention Adi Ohaion. Adi is our server guy and flex programmer - if you go any play Football Underworld on Facebook right now then most of the engine you're interacting with there is his work. His ability to produce quick, regular server and flex upgrades (as well as cutting right to the chase when a feature isn't as simple as we first thought) has quickly turned an idea and a couple of pages of code into a fully-fledged gaming sensation.... we do hope you feel the same.

Of course, where would a fully-fledged gaming sensation be without it's GUI? Unfortunately the self-titled "Mean Machine", our Graphics Guru, recently left Stanga. He was unable to be named for his recent run-in with a Photoshop file which turned out to be an undercover cop - let's just refer to him as Gozza. Gozza designed, drew and re-drew (about 100 times) all of the graphics we have to date. Could we fit this set of features into this space? Of course we could - we had Gozza. What about a design for this really weird concept? Done. Never afraid to tell it like it was, Gozza made our development work look pretty and professional.

In the interest of being fair I figured I wouldn't put myself in at the top, but I'm Cush. Mainly on mobile development and community management (hence the blog), I've been a bit of an "everything" guy like Ant. A web developer by trade in daily life, I'm just waiting for the green light to turn our Wix website into something to marvel at - I'd like to think the future of our website is good hands.

Next up we have my fellow mobile developer, Gili Werner. As amazing as it is to have a woman doing something as nerdy as programming, the myth is true in Stanga Games. Gili is known for her rapid turnaround of new versions, especially on Android. She's spent a long time travelling the world with Adi, so the synergy between mobile and server is always the best it can be.

"But hang on Cush, how do you find a successful way of getting your game out to the people without spending a fortune on marketing?" I hear you ask... enter our marketing man. This guy is so high-profile we couldn't even afford the rights to his name, so we're going to call him Mr Hyde. His job is to know (because, somehow, he does just know) what you, our Tycoons, want and how we should be giving it to you. His main skills are an innate knowledge of the market and writing lengthy presentations.

Last, but by no means least, we have Roi Sharir. At his standard he should really be playing for the Israeli national team, but he chose instead to use his powers for good and use his knowledge to be our top QA tester. Determined to see a casino be added into the game soon, Roi spends his time picking apart the game and letting us know when things aren't good enough for a release.

There you have it - the Stanga Games lineup. Originating as two men in Barcelona staring at the stars thinking about the future we have sure come a long way in 3 years - a team of 8 young idealists just looking to change the world and bring peace to all nations. If we can't do that, though, we'll settle for releasing games which you can enjoy. Keep your eyes on the blog for more posts; the next one will be focussed on introducing you to Football Underworld.