[Interview] Game Programmer - Woo Byungchan & Remi

1. Woo Byungchan and Remi, please introduce yourself.

Woo Byung-chan: Hello. I’m Puzzle1studio team S5 game programmer Woo Byungchan.

Remi: Hello. I’m Puzzle1studio Team S3 game programmer Remi. I’m from France.

 

2. Byungchan, you’ve been in office since 2012, before Puzzle1studio separated from BitMango. What was the driving force behind your long-term job?

Woo Byung-chan: I love the atmosphere in the office. When I joined the company, there was one development team.

At that time, there were few companies that challenged puzzle games not only in Korea but also abroad. It was impressive to see the passion for pioneering a new market with the efforts of the CEO and employees.

Also, Puzzle1studio has little emotional response at work. So it’s very comfortable when communicating. We have no qualms about sharing our know-how.

I think it is an organizational culture that cannot fail to produce results. I think this office atmosphere is the charm of Puzzle1studio, where I was able to work for a long time.

3. Byungchan produced the representative work of Puzzle1studio through an in-house contest in 2014. Please tell us about the overall production process.

Woo Byung-chan: The idea submitted to the in-house contest has led to the launch of Roller Ball. I named it “Roll the Ball” myself.

At that time, I think I thought a lot about how to make a fun game while writing a plan.

There were times when I almost dropped it, but through steady improvement, the current roller ball was completed.

I think it was able to be completed thanks to the CEO and employees who supported and helped me with small ideas.

As a planner, I am proud to see that there are a lot of organics and 40,000 to 500,000 work installations.

 

4. Remi, why did you come to Korea from France?

Remi: Because I love Korea! Originally, I was interested in Korea. I like Korean culture enough to watch Korean variety shows and study Korean hard.

I wanted to live in my favorite culture. So I came to Korea. Now that I think about it, I think it’s a great choice!

 

5. What was the most impressive thing you’ve ever done since joining the company?

Remi: Isn’t that the moment when you passed the probationary period after three months? After the probationary period, I became more attached to Puzzle1studio.

That’s why I worked harder. I still remember the moment when the People & Culture team told me that I passed the probationary course. Thank you so much for congratulating me.

 

6. Did you have any difficulty adjusting to the company as a foreigner? If you had (language, culture, etc.), how did you overcome it?

Remi: There’s still a little bit of a difficulty in terms of language. But I know a lot about Korean culture, so I’m adapting to the company

It wasn’t that hard. Staff members explain in English again if there’s something I don’t understand.

I’m not fluent in Korean yet, but my company is trying to communicate in Korean as much as possible. My Korean conversation skills have improved a lot.

 

7. When did you feel the most rewarding while working?

Woo Byung-chan : We make the best puzzle games step by step! As you all know, it’s a Puzzle1studio mission. I can’t forget “the best puzzle games” even after time passes

It’s a game that keeps playing. I feel the most rewarding when I keep updating existing games so that they can withstand them with merchantability over time.

I am attached to my work in that it continues to play a vital role in existing games so that it can remain the best puzzle games, not the game that flashes and disappears for a while.

I feel very proud when new attempts such as adding in-app products bring positive results.

Remi: I feel the most rewarding when I complete a new task without any problems. Because I can feel that I’m growing.

Recently, I was most proud when I was working on upgrading the speed of lollipop. As a new programmer, I want to learn and grow a lot while working.

 

8. What are you doing to strengthen your job competency?

Woo Byung-chan: Through the development of one person, I have submitted more than 100 games under my personal account. Android is listed under Palmpage4u and iOS under BYUNG CHAN WOO.

It’s been over 8 years. Rather than making personal gains, we aim to develop our ability to see trends by putting them on the market and looking at users’ responses.

It helps a lot with maintenance work.

I’m embarrassed now because I’ve made some before. But it’s nice to be able to see how I’ve developed by looking at the history.

Whenever I have time, I plan and try new things and have fun working on them.

Remi: I try to work on my own projects whenever I have time. Even if it’s a prototype, we can make games by developing one person.

I think these efforts are all helpful for work.

 

9. What advice would you give to juniors preparing for the same job?

Woo Byung-chan: The most important thing for a programmer is programming competence. I don’t think major is important as long as you have programming skills.

I majored in chemistry at the University of Natural Sciences and had a minor in computer science. The next most important thing after programming is communication skills.

When communicating to prevent misunderstanding in the future, it is really important to follow up on whether you understand each other well by organizing the other’s opinions again.

When there is something you don’t understand, you should ask right away and have an attitude to actively resolve the conversation.

Remi: For programmers, it is very important to prepare for coding tests because most companies take pre-interview coding tests.

But that shouldn’t neglect portfolio management. This is because the portfolio shows both programming capabilities and gaming passion for games.

It’s important to show that you’ve produced games before, even if they’re prototypes, while continuing to work on your personal projects. I think portfolio is more important than major.

 

10. Why did you choose Puzzle1studio among various game companies?

Woo Byung-chan: It’s because of the environment that’s good to achievement. Puzzle1studio has made decisions based on users and data, and has improved results by measuring success/failure

Since its establishment, we have accumulated know-how such as good strategies and examples. It’s good to be able to refer to past data when working. As success cases accumulate,

I feel more stable than other companies. There’s no company like Puzzle1studio that analyzes and checks data really thoroughly.

No matter who comes and goes through it, you’ll feel that it’s a very reasonable company.

Remi: It is very open about hiring foreigners, and it seems to have a free atmosphere compared to other Korean companies, so I found it attractive.

Also, I could feel that the employees were very considerate when communicating, and I was able to adapt quickly to the company because they took good care of me.

 

11. Please tell us what you want to accomplish in the future at Puzzle1studio.

Woo Byung-chan: Like I said before, it gives life to the existing games that Puzzle1studio has and continues to play ‘the best puzzle games’ that are not forgotten over time

I want to make it. I want to be a developer who can help improve stability and establish a system while continuing to follow up existing games.

Also, I want to be a great senior who helps junior programmers adapt well through the probationary period.

Remi: I want to be a programmer who continues to improve while faithfully performing the given tasks. I want to make a lot of fun puzzle games with the colors of Puzzle1studio.