Mind Candy Reviews

Pros

A must for fake grass fetishists. Some great people hidden away in the shadows.

Cons

This is my personal opinion... I think management is particularly directionless and run the shop like Lord of the Flies. Grand statements and devious cliques plotting to stay in the spotlight by undermining anyone who shows signs of brilliance. One day you're working your heart out on your life's passion, the next you're being 'managed out' because of some knee-jerk change of direction. You're one of five types at Mind Candy: 1) Management - Either new (and bold/reckless) or old (and super-cliquey). 2) The Slytherins - mates of the management - been there ages - will undermine you in their secret social meetups only the cool kats are invited to. 3) The Freshers - new, excited, talented. Lured by the potential. 4) Muggles - Been there, super-talented but know how it works. Keep their heads down and don't make waves. Park their aspirations and enjoy the ride. 5) The Walking Dead - you said something challenging in a meeting last week or one of the management u-turns mean your a scapegoat. Very rare they are aware of this situation as it's usually so random and fast. Too many talented people have been through the mill at Mind Candy. Such a shame.

Pros

Smartest and most creative people I have ever worked with. Everyone is keen to continuously learn, share and improve. And the most friendly and social work place ever. The company has little bureaucracy that gets in the way and uses best of available tech and tools, and if not quickly changes so that they do. Free snacks and drinks but that is limited to mostly coffee now. Big communal kitchen table where everyone used to mix and eat lunch together which created a great culture and knowledge share, although now people mostly eat at their desk as too busy. Has always been able to recruit good people and salaries are very good.

Cons

There are reasons that this company has a higher turn over of staff than a call centre. Benefits are non existent. 5 to 8 days less holiday than with competitors. Pensions are not offered. Whilst senior management do try to communicate openly, they do make some awful decisions, and in the last few years have hired only Silicon Valley background senior managers with similar bad traits and drastically changed the company culture. The company struggle to be agile or lean, with a lot of micro management, big teams and knee jerk copycat change of directions often mid sprints. The new culture of frequent prolonged crunch mode has resulted in low quality software and bad company vibe. Partly due to unrealistic hard deadlines pulled out of a woolly hat. A fear of failure postpones or cancels most releases.

Pros

Hugely exciting products in the pipeline, with the change to pitch your own for the future Moshi brand is still huge (in the UK) Amazing people who aren't just there for the paycheck Fantastic connection to the customers who are super passionate about the games Lots of opportunities to learn and grow and change your role Most approachable senior management team of anywhere I've worked - though hugely busy they are alway open to talk to Very high profile tech company in the UK - deserves to be higher elsewhere in the world Aiming and thinking big

Cons

Having 'difficult second album' issues at the moment, so lots of changes and some mis-steps. Being without CTO for a year resulted in over-focus on product ahead of sustainable development, which has caused some folks to leave. But I believe this can be fixed! Needs to make more smaller bets and be more agile - but senior management are aware of this and taking steps to change Until very recently didn't have a pension (but now does).

Pros

No day is ever the same - Mind Candy is a very fast paced company where achievements are celebrated. It is full of lovely, super-smart people who care about one another and the company. A collaborative bunch where no question is ever stupid, too big or too small. At Mind Candy you are continually encouraged to take ownership of your work. There are now a lot of communication forums as this was something which was seen to be a problem in the past. Employees are also encouraged to get involved with events outside of work such as charities, tech meet ups and the running of school clubs.

Cons

Can sometimes feel slightly chaotic as it is so fast paced. The company has changed a lot over the past few years (good & bad) which has in turn lead to pockets of negativity.