Developing fresh game ideas as a Gameplay Programmer
Time for Talent – with Riccardo Argiolas
Hi, my name is Riccardo, it’s nice to e-meet you! đź‘‹
I’ve been part of Tactile for about four and a half years, working as a Gameplay Programmer. I started on Lily’s Garden, where I helped bring new content and features to the game. Later, I joined our Content Tools team, supporting designers and artists in shaping their creative visions. Most recently, I moved to the prototyping team, exploring new concepts and developing fresh game ideas.
As a programmer, I collaborate with colleagues across many different disciplines, so my work ranges from implementing UI to bringing gameplay designs to life.
🚀 Before Tactile
I’ve always loved not just playing games, but also creating them. As a kid, I was endlessly curious about board games and video games, always wanting to tweak them or invent my own versions.
Over time, this curiosity expanded into a passion for electronics and robotics. I spent countless hours designing circuits, soldering components, and programming microcontrollers, trying to make my little creations come to life.
After university, I decided to combine my creative interests with my technical ones, and that’s when I entered the games industry. I first worked as a gameplay designer, but soon realized I missed the technical side of development. That led me to move toward more technical design roles and eventually fully into gameplay programming.
đź’ś Joining Tactile
Joining Tactile has been a major step in my career. I’ve had the chance to work with highly experienced colleagues, learning from them in both hard and soft skills. The scale of the projects here has taught me how to structure and maintain code in a way that keeps it robust, readable, and enjoyable to work with.
Changing teams throughout my time at Tactile has also given me the chance to experience game development from many different angles. Each move – from a live game team, to internal tools, to rapid prototyping – came with its own rhythms, challenges, and ways of thinking. Shifting between these perspectives kept the work fresh and exciting, and it pushed me to adapt, learn new approaches, and see how all the pieces of development fit together.
On top of that, I’ve benefited from internal workshops, book clubs, and knowledge-sharing sessions that have given me new perspectives on how to solve problems and improve my craft.
đź’Ş Having an impact
For me, the best part of working at Tactile is the people. It’s not only about competence and learning opportunities – it’s about how seamlessly ideas flow. Communicating, sharing opinions, and giving and receiving feedback happens naturally and genuinely. This environment makes it easy for me to contribute with my own ideas and grow both personally and professionally.
Being able to collaborate closely with my teammates is what makes the work truly rewarding, and I think that shows in the products we create together.
đź“š The keys to success
🏗️ Be curious, and make things! Try building small games, join a game jam or two, talk to people, hear their stories, and learn from those experiences.
🗣️ I remind myself that success isn’t just about hard skills – soft skills matter just as much, and sometimes even more. Writing good code is important, but so is communicating clearly, understanding others, and learning how to turn ideas into reality.
🤝 A key to growth is embracing collaboration. Even a simple conversation with a colleague can reshape a problem or spark a new idea. Asking questions, sharing early drafts, and working through challenges together has always helped me reach better solutions than working in isolation.
