How did they end up in Estonia? Dev9K guys found out about GameFounders programme through an article in the local Italian newspaper about Bad Seed Entertainment who participated in the first batch. According to Andrea, his team was really lucky: when they discovered the mentioned article, the application deadline was already in 10 days, which meant they had to react fast. Fortunately they had already built a prototype for their game called “Conspiracy!” which is strategy game about a raging war between evil organizations. Then it was the perfect time to take the development further. GameFounders seemed the best option to them.

These three brave guys arrived in Tallinn in the beginning of March, into a perfect snow-stormy day! The snow was falling, wind was blowing, everybody was freezing – just a typical Estonian weather. Nevertheless, they were really excited about the three intense months waiting ahead of them. After being in Tallinn for 6 weeks already, guys are still happy about their decision to come here.

Even though they are mostly working and have really little free time on their hands, they have got to know the city and its people too. Andrea surprisingly likes the northern way of being: “What I really like about the people here is that they are really quiet”. He is probably an exception on that topic!

Yet they miss their friends and some other aspects of their everyday life back home. Massimiliano, being the artist and philosophic soul, misses the most his city, Rome: “I love Tallinn, but I’m deeply connected to my city. It has always been an inspiration to me”.

When talking about their free time activities, Andrea explains it like this: “We steal free time from sleeping hours. During the first month we went out only a couple of times and mostly participating GameFounders events. After that we started to go out Saturday evenings, on Sundays we use half of the day to clean the house – this is our free time!”

As Italians are famous for their food and coffee, it was interesting to know how they have adapted to the Estonian kitchen. “We spend most of our time at the office, so we are usually cooking here” says Antonio. Problem solved! Unfortunately they all agree about the fact that the coffee culture is way behind Italian one. “The worst thing here in Estonia is the coffee”, says Massimiliano with an apologizing voice. But no need to feel bad about it, because Antonio reveals their future plans: “We are thinking to come back with a new startup to import coffee!”

To sum everything up, Dev9K Games is taking the maximum out of their experience in Estonia. Their advice for the new teams applying/coming to take part of GameFounders is following: “Be prepared. Don’t be lazy. Try to create something that you would show to your grandchildren and say – Damn, I’m proud of it! And it’s really worth it!”

dev9k (532x800)

Picture (from the left): Andrea, Massimiliano and Antonio