Shereen Fares
Ragdoll Games
Shereen is the co-founder of Ragdoll Games, a self-taught game development company based in West London. Coming from an unconventional background, she transformed personal challenges into a drive for entrepreneurship and creativity. With no formal training, Shereen pursued business, earning an honorary master’s degree while building a company from the ground up.
At Ragdoll Games, she plays a key role in strategic planning, project management, and business development, ensuring the studio’s vision becomes reality. Passionate about innovation and inclusion, Shereen is dedicated to creating immersive gaming experiences while paving the way for underrepresented voices in the industry.
Shereen Fares is speaking at the following session/s
Breaking the Cycle: Our Journey from the Streets to Game Development
My lecture touches on our journey into game development & focuses on how we've learnt to be adaptable by using structured project management tools to plan realistic timelines. We break projects into smaller tasks - we aim big but plan small. Managing timelines & avoiding scope creep & burnout is crucial - i will talk about how we deal with this, & how we break each task into smaller milestones, setting flexible deadlines, and prioritising our well-being - we'd like to share our time frame challenges & how we manage them with you.
We aren't your “standard type” of game developers. Our journey was shaped by crime, gangs, & hardship, where survival took priority, trapped in cycles of petty crime with no clear way out. We needed a change.
My Co-founder Dwayne, passionate about video games, became a self-taught game developer, mastering Unreal Engine and 3D design & I explored entrepreneurship, eventually earning an honorary master’s degree in business. Starting Ragdoll Games was a bold leap, driven by passion and determination, without formal training or a business plan, requiring us to juggle multiple roles while self-funding. I'll touch upon us facing obstacles, managing disabilities, and tackling the immense challenge of learning and planning as we progress.
We continue pushing forward through obstacles, proving that with risk-taking, planning & perseverance, transformation is possible. Game development is a marathon, demanding patience and persistence. Create your own starting line, keep pushing, and believe in your vision.
Session Takeaway
- Think big but plan small - how to use a work breakdown structure
- How to manage your timeline
- How to avoid burnout, time & Scope creep
Session speakers
