If you’re a game developer, you would know how complex the development process is. There is planning, design, development, testing, releasing, and many other aspects. However, you can not create something captivating if you follow those obsolete practices.
Old practices make the development process quite hard. The schedules clash, there’s miscommunication, dependencies, and most importantly, everything is happening simultaneously. These problems limit innovation and creativity.
Fortunately, there’s a solution to all of this. And it goes by the name ‘Agile‘. If you want to know how Agile transforms the game development process, read along.
But before moving forward, let’s understand what Agile is.
Agile, unlike the regular development process, is an efficient process of app development. It’s a process where the team manages small chunks of projects. The entire project is divided into consumable parts with the collaboration of stakeholders, managers, and developers.
Agile makes the game development fast, well organized, and flexible. And there’s a lot more time to add innovation and creativity.
Now, let’s discuss what Agile methodologies or practices can make game development better.
Here are some effective agile practices which will make your game development better: –
Have you heard of Scrum? Well, it’s one of the most widely used agile game development practices. You can think of Scrum as a technique to implement Agile as a whole. Following scrum methodology requires the team to work together.
The product owner gets to decide what’s the work that is to be done. He communicates the requirements to the Scrum Master or the manager.
Now, the scrum master is the commander of the team which engages in development. He is also the link between the team which develops and the Owner of the Product. The Scrum Master has to make sure that Scrum practices are followed on both ends.
The team, based on instructions, develops the complete product step by step.
The managers divide the team’s tasks into short spans known as sprints. Sprints are a time frame under which the team has to clear the backlog. Now, the backlog accommodates tasks required to construct the product as set out by the Product Owner.
Usually, the time frame is two weeks or fewer. But according to the task, it can extend anywhere up to four weeks.
Teams can follow daily Scrum for added efficiency. It’s a meeting held daily where the team reports on their backlog status. There is a discussion and a brief review of the completed tasks. Also, there’s a discussion about how to prepare for the next sprint.
It enables every team to remain on the same page. However, you need to have a reliable Scrum board. It’ll convert the entire procedure into a cakewalk. The board will ensure smooth assigning of backlogs and preparing the team for the next sprints.
You can think of Kanban as a visual implementation of the Agile system. In this process, tasks from backlogs are picked and are completed as required. It’s also known as the Just-in-time approach. It works with the help of a Kanban board.
Sticky notes are placed in each column indicating the status of individual tasks. The tasks in progress go into the ‘Doing’ column. Those tasks that are accomplished lie in the ‘Done’ column. And those tasks which are to be touched in the future lie in the ‘To Do’ column.
It is easy to track when you see it.
Kanban aims to reduce work in progress to speed the development process.
This principle focuses on monitoring and improving the workflow to improve the entire process.
It focuses on increasing the clarity of workflow among team members.
After implementation, the team must focus on providing feedback to the system and improving the same.
XP or extreme programming is an Agile methodology meant for improving the software development process. It helps developers embrace changes according to customer requirements.
The developer’s craft Unit tests before programming begins. It helps in keeping the issues minimal and the entire app bug-free. As the tests are automated, it saves time and capital spent. This process also involves a unique system of programming in pairs.
Here two programmers take a turn to program and use the same screen. When one programmer is programming, the other views the code and gives the required inputs. Whatever progress is made is integrated into the project and is tested several times a day.
Once a working system is ready with minimal functionality, it’s uploaded to production. And when the team receives any updates, the project is upgraded there and then. Another important point is that the customer is always involved. The customer gives feedback according to which the team introduces new changes.
Definitely, Agile is a proven way to achieve success. It helps in easy tracking of the progress and turns the whole process into a scalable one. Also, if you follow Agile in your development company, there’ll be full transparency. And this is what most companies lack in their teams.
As an International Game Development Company, we at Juego Studios understand the importance of Agile to the fullest. We know how hard it becomes when it comes to managing a huge game development project.
That is the rationale why Agility is the primary step of every project we shoulder. Juego Studios has game development experience of over ten years. Our company is a full-stack game design company. If you have a fascinating idea, we have a team with ample experience to turn it into reality.
You can outsource your next game development project to us and expect the best. Here are some popular applications we’ve developed: –
Also, check our full portfolio here. If you want to develop a memorable game with the best agile practices, contact Juego Studios now!
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