Indie developer Frogmind's rise to the top has more than a few hints of fairytale magic about it.

The Finnish developer was barely on the radar when it set up shop back in 2012, but by combining passion and determination with unwavering belief, it wasn't long until the team found success with its breakout hit, Badland.

On their own though, the right ingredients are worthless. You need to know how to convert them into something tangible, and by knowing how to manage a team overflowing with creativity, Johannes Vuorinen, Frogmind's CEO, co-founder, and studio coder, was able to ensure that Badland didn't become another indie pipe-dream.

Plan your attack

It's imperative to know your strategy inside out, explained Vuorinen, speaking at this year's PG Connects conference in Helsinki.

Frogmind knew exactly what it wanted to do, what sort of developer it wanted to be, and what type of games it wanted to create, from the get-go. It had identity, and more importantly, it had purpose.

"We wanted to make a game just for ourselves – a perfect game for us," opened Vuorinen.

"We wanted to remain 100 percent independent, and we also wanted to focus 100 percent of the game experience rather than monetisation, so that's why we chose the paid model."

The firm had to start from scratch in every sense of the word, and although they had nothing at their disposal that would give them a head-start in the business game, they did have barrels of development experience.

"[We had] no press contacts, no platform contacts and no marketing experience, but we did have real game development experience, lots of indie spirit and lots of tips from fellow Finnish developers," said Vuorinen.

Those tips proved invaulable, and after coming out of the development war relatively unscathed, Vuorinen came to PG Connects in order to pay it forward and share some fresh tips of his own with those in attendence.

Now, thanks to the miracle of video, you can cut yourself in on Frogmind's five steps to indie success.

Pocket Gamer Connects is the biggest mobile games show in Europe, which brings together the best speakers and delegates from across the industry and from all over the world.

To-date, Pocket Gamer Connects has been held in London and Helsinki, and the show will be heading back to the UK in January 2015. To find out more about the latest show, head on over to www.pgconnects.com.