I’m Ruben Farrus. I’m a Product Manager with 17+ years of experience working with partners like Disney, Apple, and The National Film Board of Canada.

I’ve delivered 12+ PC, console, mobile and VR experiences to happy users.

In 2016, I co-founded Casa Rara, my own independent game studio. Seven years as head of studio taught me the ins and outs of running a small company and managing teams of highly talented individuals.

I’m currently senior producer of Disney SpellStruck, a word puzzle game for Apple Arcade by the co-creator of Words With Friends.

My responsabilities include:

  • Approvals from 20+ unique Disney IPs

  • Product roadmaps with Apple (incl. 15+ updates post-launch)

  • Marketing synergies between Disney and Apple (5+ major promotions in one year, incl. Chinese New Year, Halloween & Xmas)

  • Managing a global dev team across 5 time zones

“Start your own company they said, it’ll be fun they said…”

I count my time as studio head in dog years —a truly humbling experience full of lessons in business, management and human nature.

Between 2016 and 2022, we raised close to $1M and produced:

But also:

  • Pitched too many unmarketable or undercooked game concepts;

  • Were too close to running out of money too many times;

  • Made all the first-timer mistakes in the book.

All these experiences taught me how to think as a business owner and gave me a go-to-market mindset.

More importantly, it's rare that new obstacles shake my confidence now, as past hardships gave me the right tools to handle whatever comes my way.

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I bring people together towards a common goal.

Providing vision and strategic planning while running all day-to-day aspects of a business.

Developing win-win relationships with external partners as well as internal cross-functional teams.

Communicating effectively with executive leadership as well as dev teams of all seniority levels.

Building strong and empathetic teams that work collaboratively and maintain high-quality standards.

Managing production efficiently throughout the equally treacherous R&D, development and live-ops phases.

Don’t just take my word for it:

“Ruben has that precious blend of practical knowledge and wild ingenuity. I would work with him again in a heartbeat.”

—Maral Mohammadian
Producer @ NFB

“Your work was amazing and inspiring! Thank you for bringing both your professionalism and genuine warmth to the project.”

—Emanuelle Kirouac
Producer @ Messe Basse

"Ruben is comfortable wearing so many different hats and finding solutions from multiple points of view. A truly priceless skillset."

—Roger Mendoza
CEO @ Nomada Studio