A fun place to work, great people, but ultimately games I was working on were not desirable to play.
Pros
It's a fun and relaxed place to work. They give you a fully stocked fridge like many startups, and try to make a relaxed atmosphere. You can even play video games in the break room. I met some great people there who are passionate about technology and games and were dedicated to what they were doing. There were some nice benefits like matching 401k, health insurance, and a free bus pass. It's a good company to learn about video games industry. The office is next to Puget Sound and there are some great views, especially at dusk. When I initially joined, the company had more of a startup vibe which was very empowering. If I didn't know how to do something, I simply learned how to do it and got things done. This environment seemed to change later on as the organization got bigger.
Cons
The fun factor of Big Fish Games is sometimes forced and coerced. There is a "shiny happy disneyland fascist" feel about the fun you have. For example, they stage these fun company parties which are juxtaposed by a nefarious, cruel, opaque, yet public way in which some employees were surreptitiously fired for no justifiable reason (at least none that my coworkers or I could surmise). I've never seen this type of behavior at any other company I've worked for and it created a culture of fear amongst me and my fellow coworkers which was counterproductive. Ultimately I helped produce games that I was not proud of. I really love video games and it's something I'm extremely passionate about, but I felt that management and many people I was working with did not necessarily have the same passion for video games I did; instead all they really wanted was money or a day job. At the end of my tenure, I left because I could not be honest with myself and feel a sense of pride about the games I was working on. I still feel like there's a lot of innovation in this market segment, but unfortunately a lot of my ideas were drowned out. A previous reviewer on here stated that , if you want to be successful at Big Fish, be prepared to 'play the game'. I feel that this is sadly true. The leadership team does not want to be challenged by better ideas or better directions, and unfortunately it hurts your career to be overly critical. Many of the folks being promoted are ladder climbers that care little about video games or business strategy, and instead want to suck up to management for the benefit of their own careers. I felt like the company could be ten times better if the politics surrounding it didn't feel like a fraternity, and if more honesty was exchanged.