It’s Time for Talent – with Anna Diekelmann

Hi, my name is Anna, it’s nice to e-meet you! 👋

I joined Tactile in the spring of 2023 as a People Partner. My role here has two major focuses: I support our team leads, acting as a coach and partner on all people-related matters, and then I also spend a great deal of time designing new initiatives and processes that shape how we onboard, develop, and support our people.

Meet Anna, our People Partner 👋

🚀 Before Tactile

I’ve always wavered between pursuing a career in marketing or HR – both wanting to work creatively while also being driven by a wish to make workplaces a more meaningful place (after all, we do spend ⅓ of our lives here).

When I joined Tactile, I was brand new to the gaming industry. Coming from a similar role in an e-commerce company in the knitting industry 🧶I had a LOT to learn about games (to be honest, I still do).

But whether it’s within knitting or games, I’ve found that I really thrive in creative companies with a lot of freedom and little hierarchy – where things never stay the same for long, and where we have room to be playful and a little nerdy with what we do.

And in that sense, I think I found the perfect sweet spot between marketing and HR 🤝

💜 Joining Tactile

I joined Tactile right after the big growth phase following the success of Lily’s Garden. At that point, a lot of people had joined, and our team had the big task of helping Tactile transition from being very start-up-like into a more established company. That meant putting more structure in place around onboarding, development talks and leadership development. At the same time, it was really important to us not to lose the special ingredients in our culture: the flat and organic structure and the freedom to take ownership.

A lot has happened in the last 2 years. It’s been great to follow how our team leads have grown as leaders, see how projects like Tactile Bootcamp have helped build a bridge between the old and the new culture, and how we continue to learn and evolve as an organisation.

💪 Having an impact

I’m really grateful for the amount of trust and freedom our team has to decide how we work. There is a lot of room for new initiatives, and there is often a short timeline from when we come up with a new idea to when we start executing, which just makes work more fun and dynamic.

With agile and lean being at the core of our culture, it also allows us to never get stuck in old ways. We always ask ourselves, “Does this actually provide value?”, so we don’t end up adding processes just for the sake of processes. When we do develop new processes, we have a “no size fits all” approach, meaning we tailor everything to the individual teams. It forces us to stay flexible and constantly iterate and optimize how we do things, and I find that so rewarding.

Looking back, I’m really proud of all the things we have built that have made an actual impact for our teams – I feel that is kind of rare in an HR position.

📚 The keys to success

With fear of it sounding too buzzword-y, I want to say adopt a growth mindset. This industry is moving fast and things change all the time, which is fun and refreshing but it can also feel overwhelming at times. Be ready to adapt and lean into the chaos. And don’t be afraid to ask a lot of questions – it’s the best way to learn.

Written by our People team – Sarah and Anna, who are running the Bootcamp project 🙌

It’s hard to believe that it’s already been a year since we first launched the Tactile Bootcamp! An idea that had been in the works for over a year before finally coming to life in August 2024.

What started as a bold experiment has now evolved into a core part of the Tactile experience. Over the past year, around 140 Tactilers have gone through the program, and we’re proud to see how it continues to make an impact long after the Bootcamp itself ends.

Why we started the Bootcamp

When we (Sarah and Anna) first joined the Talent & Culture team here at Tactile, one of the initial tasks was to interview Tactilers across the Copenhagen office.

A recurring theme quickly emerged: as the company grew, many felt a growing sense of disconnect between new and seasoned team members. At the same time, we were working on improving the onboarding experience for new joiners.

That’s when the idea clicked! Why not combine these two needs? What if we could design an experience that not only welcomed new team members but also fostered connection, collaboration, and shared learning across the organization?

And so, the Bootcamp concept was born.

Not just another team-building event

At Tactile, we value a flat structure, no rigid hierarchies, and teams empowered to execute on vision and strategy. Our culture thrives on people being self-driven, curious, and ready to see opportunities instead of challenges.

With that in mind, we didn’t want the Bootcamp to be just another fun night out with dinner and activities. Instead, we envisioned a transformative learning experience. 

The result? A Bootcamp that combines practical learning modules, strong human connection and personal growth – culminating in an outdoor adventure tying it all together.

How participants are chosen

To make the Bootcamp experience as impactful as possible, we designed the groups to be:

This intentional mix ensures that every Bootcamp cohort mirrors the rich diversity of Tactile itself.

What the Bootcamp includes

The Bootcamp is built around three core pillars that drive success for individuals and teams at Tactile:

These modules are paired with engaging activities:

This approach transforms the Bootcamp from “just another team-building event” into a practical, memorable experience that equips Tactilers with tools they can apply every day.

Measuring success

When we launched the first Bootcamp, we knew it would take time to see results. People were excited, but also a little unsure about what to expect.

Fast forward a year, and the impact is clear:

Ultimately, the Bootcamp delivers on the three goals we set out to achieve:

  1. A stellar onboarding experience
  2. A bridge between new and seasoned Tactilers
  3. A relevant, practical learning journey for everyone

Words from the “Troopers”

“I really appreciated being outdoors, it added a refreshing dimension to the experience. More specifically, what stood out to me was the time we spent upfront discussing team dynamics before diving into the exercises. Those initial conversations provided clarity on where to focus our efforts and what behaviors or patterns to observe during the missions. I also enjoyed that the exercises allowed for multiple approaches to problem-solving. Each team could choose a different path, which made the planning and execution vary significantly. This diversity created a great opportunity to observe and reflect on different teamwork strategies and ways of thinking.”

“The mix of different missions that required different skills, and had different levels of making you feel a bit uncomfortable. all of this really helped to bring together the team and go through the norming, forming and storming stages relatively quickly.“

“The highlight for me was seeing how different personalities and approaches came together to solve challenges in real-time. It was insightful to observe how each team member contributed in their own way, and how collaboration evolved as we progressed through the activities. I think this was enabled by how well the teams were structured. It was clear that thought went into avoiding overlaps in workplace hierarchy, which really helped level the playing field. When people aren’t placed in their usual roles, especially where one might typically have authority over another, it encourages more open collaboration and honest contributions. That setup made it easier for everyone to engage as equals, and I think it brought out a more genuine team dynamic.”

“I loved spending time with new people from the company, not only for the social aspect but also to work together and solve challenges. It was interesting to see how we connected and focused on the important part, specially having fun.“

Until next time, Troopers! 🏕️

Double Time for Talent – with Eduardo Prado and Said Bahçeci

Hi, we’re Eduardo and Said, it’s nice to virtually meet you! 👋

Eduardo: I joined Tactile in October 2024 as a Game Monetization Manager. In my role, my main responsibility is to ensure that Lily’s Garden players are presented with sharp, relevant, and up-to-date content to support their journey through the game. I really enjoy this role because it delivers an interesting mix of technical and creative work.

Said: I joined the team shortly after Eduardo, in December 2024, as a Monetization Manager, and I’m currently working on Lily’s Garden and Simon’s Cat Match. My work mainly revolves around segmentation, contextual offers, balancing, and of course, testing, evaluating, and iterating on these initiatives.

Meet Eduardo and Said 👋

🚀 Before Tactile

Eduardo: I have an extensive marketing background, and before I entered the gaming industry, I was working mostly with marketing and customer relationship management. My first contact with digital products was in the Fintech industry, and from that moment onwards, I knew the path I wanted to pursue. Some years later, I had the opportunity to join Miniclip in a Liveops/Monetization role, where I worked for over 4 years, and I absolutely fell in love with it. Today, I can confidently say that this is what I’ll be doing for the rest of my life.

Said: Back in 2022, while I was still at university, I joined Gram Games as a Product Management intern. I then moved into a Product Manager role for the LiveOps team. Eventually, when the Monetization team was formed, I transitioned there and focused on monetization initiatives full-time.

💜 Joining Tactile

Eduardo: Moving to Copenhagen during winter was a bit challenging, especially for me, coming from a much warmer country. But everyone at Tactile was so careful with the relocation process that things ended up happening super smoothly. Learning everything about a new game, and how everything works in a new company also demands some adaptation period, but all my colleagues were supportive in helping me and integrating me into the product. The routine of working in a big game can be hectic sometimes, but with a little time and patience, all the pieces come together in no time.

Now, almost a year later, I feel fully integrated into the product and responsible for a significant pillar of Lily’s Garden, the main game of the studio. I also made good friends within the company and can say that Copenhagen has a lot to offer as a city. There are endless things to do here.

Said: When I joined, Tactile already felt like a very welcoming place. I noticed early on that people were always ready to help, no matter their title or position, even in one-on-one situations and that’s still true today.

What has changed is that we now evaluate our tests in a more structured way, and our internal tools have grown in both capabilities and use cases. During my time here, I’ve had the chance to see many tests deliver results, and I also got to work on a new game as we launched it globally. Overall, I can say I’m happy with the company I joined and the place I’m in now.

💪 Having an impact

Eduardo: The Liveops & Monetization Team is responsible for designing and delivering meaningful content to players. This content can be in the form of special offers, time-limited events, progressions, collections, and much more. We also define segmentation parameters to ensure that different groups of players receive in-game content tailored to their experience and the way they interact with the game. Nearly everything we release is thoroughly tested, so we can confirm that each addition meets its intended purpose and, most importantly, that players are enjoying it. Tactile has amazing tools built in-house, which allow us to act on things faster and be more agile when planning events, promotions and A/B tests.

Said: As the LiveOps team, our goal is to create a calendar of events and offers shaped around our players’ enjoyment, preferences and needs, and then keep iterating and improving it by introducing new features and updates.

What I find most exciting about LiveOps is being able to see the impact of our work reflected in live data within a short time, and being able to react accordingly. On top of that, Tactile’s flat structure and advanced internal tools give us a fantastic playground to try out ideas and push things forward without unnecessary barriers.

📚 The keys to success

Eduardo: For anyone looking to enter the gaming industry, it’s crucial to understand that games are, above all, products. And as such, it’s important to maintain a critical perspective on everything that happens within them and on how all the pillars of a game connect together.

Don’t be afraid to make mistakes or try new things, stay up to date with others in the industry, play games with a critical mindset, and above all, have fun. Working in gaming can be incredibly rewarding, and that’s what makes it so enjoyable to me.

Said: Play a lot of games, do market research, and have at least a basic understanding of statistics. I think those are great starting points.

I’ve also always believed that curiosity is one of the most valuable traits in this industry. Whether it’s diving into data to find unexpected patterns, exploring new monetization strategies, or just playing a game to understand what makes it fun, I think staying curious is what keeps you learning and improving. And honestly, that’s what makes the job exciting.

Thanks so much for sharing, Eduardo & Said! 💜