Month: March 2021

Book: Victor Hugo “Les Misérables”

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Almost everyone from my generation is familiar with Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables in one way or another, even if they don’t realize it. How is that possible, you ask? Easily! During my childhood, there were a few heroes every Soviet schoolchild was expected to look up to. Off the top of my head: Malchish-Kibalchish, Arkady Gaidar himself (legend has it that he commanded a regiment as a teenager), Pavlik Morozov (whose heroism is now questioned, but back then he was unequivocally a hero who suffered for the revolution), and—Gavroche. The boy who was shot by cruel soldiers at the French barricades while trying to gather bullets for the rebels.

We all knew about Gavroche because the episode of his death was included in the school curriculum for foreign literature. It was even explicitly noted that this was an excerpt from Victor Hugo’s novel Les Misérables. However, I doubt many paid much attention to that detail back then. Moreover, the way literature was taught in schools was such that few students were inspired to revisit or explore the works of these authors in depth later on.

So, I knew about the novel, I fully understood that it was a classic of world literature, and I could even point out exactly where it sat on the bookshelf at home 😉 But I never really felt inclined to read it. Then, in 2012, Hollywood released a film adaptation of the musical based on the book. Since I enjoy musicals, I watched it with great pleasure—without having the faintest idea what it was about. I loved Hugh Jackman’s performance (I like him in everything, really) and Russell Crowe’s as well. And a couple of scenes with Sacha Baron Cohen as Thénardier were pure burlesque! Several songs made their way into my playlist, and the story itself seemed intriguing, even though the musical presented it in a very superficial way, often leaving questions about what was left out. That’s when I decided—it was finally time to read the book.

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Book: Alexey Savchenko “Game as a Business”

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Alexey Savchenko is a name well-known in the Russian gaming community, and not just there. For some time, he officially held the position of Evangelist for the Unreal game engine, and even now, many still refer to Alexey by that title. Open in communication, always ready to help—a remarkable colleague. When he announced that he was planning to release a book about the gaming business, I had no doubt that it would be worth purchasing and reading.

Although Alexey is now primarily involved in working with business partners, he has had a long journey and knows game development from many different angles, including as the owner of his own studio. In his book Game as a Business, he set out to describe all aspects of the gaming industry and project development—”from dream to release,” as the subtitle states.

Alexey structured the book along this very path, beginning with “I have a dream… I want to make games.” From there, he meticulously yet accessibly explains what awaits an aspiring game developer on the road to creating their dream game and, ideally, achieving fame and fortune.

It is evident that the author has a deep understanding of the subject, and the book is both accessible to industry newcomers and engaging for professionals. Despite my many years in the gaming industry, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book.

One of the most valuable aspects is how Alexey begins his advice by helping newcomers understand what lies behind their dream. Does the aspiring developer truly want to create their own game? Are they ready for the challenges this path entails? This guide is specifically for people who have decided to start their own business and are willing to risk their time, money, family relationships, and ambitions. Because if all you want is to make games, then joining an established studio is also an excellent path to consider.

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Book: Alexey Krivitsky “Agile Retrospective Kickstarter”

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Lately, I have been actively rereading various books and articles about Agile, and sometimes even exploring new material. In my opinion, Agile methodologies offer a lot of valuable practices, but one of the most useful ones is retrospectives—meetings where the team can look back, reflect on what has been done, analyze their experiences, and choose a few experiments to improve how things are done.

When people implement different Agile methodologies, they often forget that flexibility is not just about introducing daily stand-ups and breaking tasks into short sprints. It is fundamentally about learning from experience, adapting, and evolving. Without retrospectives, this does not work. That is precisely why retrospectives are so important. However, even these meetings can either be conducted properly and effectively or simply for the sake of formality (“because it is required”). For this reason, retrospectives are sometimes the subject of not only individual articles but even entire books.

Agile Retrospectives Kickstarter is one such book. Although it was written by a Russian-speaking author, Alexey Krivitsky, it was originally written in English, with the Russian version created later with the help of his colleagues.

The book itself is relatively short, just over 50 pages. The author, a practicing Agile coach, shares his experience in conducting retrospectives. However, he does not do this by providing an extensive set of examples or academic knowledge. Instead, he has compiled experiences from many sources into a highly condensed “retrospective cheat sheet,” offering a collection of possible exercises for conducting effective retrospective meetings. Alexey candidly admits from the outset that he did not invent any of these exercises (or at least does not remember inventing any) and even borrowed the methodology for breaking a meeting into several stages from other coaches. His contribution was to compile all of this into one relatively short guide that can be kept handy and used whenever preparing for a retrospective.

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