The First Hash Rush Team Meetup

Making video games is fun!

So for those of you following the progress of Hash Rush, you’ll be no stranger to our team interviews. You’ve met a fair amount of the team already (but there are still more to come!). However, what you may not have been aware of is, that there are quite a few of us who work remotely.

Team Hash Rush — In all its glory

Being a distributed team can have its drawbacks, but thanks to the dedicated nature and sheer professionalism of the team — we’ve been able to work with nearly no hindrances! Phew!

However, it was long overdue that the whole team was in one place, and that’s why founders Kris and Nathan; along with CEO, Archie decided it was time to make this a reality!

To get everyone together is no small feat, with people hailing from 8 different countries — there was a lot of planning that needed to be executed. Thankfully we had the perfect team for the job!

Left to right — Sintija, Laura, and Dita

The trip started out with a visit to the KGB Building in Riga, which, for those of you planning to visit Riga — I couldn’t recommend more. There’s a depth to the history of Latvia, that many of us were unaware of, however, this tour really shone a light on some of the hardships the country has seen. Without a doubt, it also shows why the sheer innovative nature and progressive outlook of the Latvian startup community is what it is.

“The Corner House” — The KGB Building

But, despite the somewhat downbeat nature of the history we had learnt, we were actually infused with a deep connection to Latvia, its history and its people. However, it was without mention that this had left us in need of a stiff drink. So, off we went to get some food in us and fuel us for the week of workshops and team activities we had in store.

The team that eats together, stays together.

If you ask a gamer what team building means to them, there’s a strong chance they will reference playing games… So that’s exactly what team Hash Rush did. Indulging our competitive sides and working together in teams we proceeded to embark on the age-old bonding ritual that is Counter-Strike.

The “get-carried-by-Rudolph” team

The team had hired out Exanimo eSports Cafe for the night, and with the beers flowing and the games all good-to-go — everyone set out to show off their skills. A notable mention to Rudolph our Project Manager, for his complete and utter pro-level domination.

The “get-owned-by-Rudolph” team

After some highly competitive matches, the team relaxed a little and feel back to the casual gaming vibe and enjoyed getting to know the people they had been working with up until now.

Nick our Concept Artist fully immersed in VR

Let’s Get Down to Business

With our tutorial quest completed and everyone now firmly bonded, it was time for us to embark on our main storyline. We kicked off our Monday in the office with a presentation from Archie.

Archie kicking off the week

For all of us travelling to Riga, this was our first time physically seeing the office. We’d all seen photos and backgrounds in video calls, but for us, this was a humbling moment to be here with everyone. The team had done an amazing job of welcoming us and even presented us with some gifts!

But the real reason for us all being here together was to get some serious work done. Having us all in one place is a rare opportunity and it’s one we had to take advantage of. We promptly broke up into groups and got to work on some interesting workshops. I would love to tell you about some of the developments, however, for now, they’re super top secret! But, if you’re interested in learning more don’t forget you can sign up for our newsletter to be the first to hear about these developments!

Fuelled by coffee

With a day’s work firmly completed, some amazing conversations had and A LOT of coffee drank — we were ready for our evening team building event of laser tag!