Your nice hosts talk about saving both your position in a game and saving your secrets from being spread around. Also in this episode: Stephen's birthday is coming up, Lydia's been presenting in webinars for a while, and Mark's got a new game coming soon! Category Quest - ELB Learning Webinar | Let’s Play! Category Quest: ELB Learning’s Newest Game…

Mark rushes through the introduction to talk about his two rush projects, one of which, Blippo+, was announced on Sunday during the PC Gaming Show! You'll hear more about that next week, but until then, Lydia talks about feeling seen in Anime, Stephen laments that his filmmaking class has not only ruined movies for him, but also music, and Dale doe…

This week in the club house Adrian Sandoval describes how video games are speed running art history. Your nice hosts have their minds blown many times and Steven discovers he might actually like history!? Stay tuned to find out where the 90 day return policy came from. Little Nemo and the Nightmare Fiends - Team Nemo Chris Totten, co-author of Adri…

Your nice hosts all secured a Switch 2 pre-order... from a certain point of view. Then, Stephen examines the body, Mark attempts a vocabulary, and Lydia has recommendations. Chants of Sennaar - Wikipedia Nintendo Switch 2 preorders were a total mess — at first - Jay Peters , The Verge Missed out on a Nintendo Switch 2 pre-order? GameStop and Best B…

The clubhouse welcomes Ashley Phipps, producer for the game Clock Out at 2, to discuss the topic of mental health and discrimination. Mental Health and Discrimination Game Design Gaming Narrative Clock Out at 2 Demo - Borderless Studios , Steam What to know about microaggressions - Anna Smith Haghighi , Medical News Today Queerty Gamers - Queerty G…

In this episode the club house talks about the games that they have been playing. Mark attempts to define the terms good friction and bad friction, declares his distaste of rouge-likes, and talks about friction in his current projects. Lydia shows us how to make scoring sound way more academic. Civilization VII Age of Mythology Retold Blue Prince 0…

Your nice hosts get a crash course on video game IP law from lawyer and MinnMax cohort, Haley MacLeon. We learn about incorporating, publishing agreements, the difference between a lot of commonly used terms like "copyright", and the joys of contract templates. MinnMax - MinnMax Game Informer Revival - Game Informer Video Game IP Law Marketing Misc…

A new Nintendo is on the way, and your nice hosts talk about both it and the world it's being born into. It kicks off a longer than usual episode where Lydia just wants a way to experience horror games, Mark has an unpopular opinion, and Stephen thinks players have too much agency already. 0:31:57 Let's Plays Endoparasitic miziziziz itch.io Let’s P…

Your nice hosts settle their differences in opinions when it comes to food to serve up a fresh game design document in a new Nice Games Jam episode. Prompt Create a game with one of my favorite things, food! It cannot be about/or have mechanics that are cooking. Think: growing food, pairing foods, making an international food court, menu design, us…

Mark is still out sick, so Dale takes his place in the clubhouse and brings a topic! The club makes a prediction that by the time that this episode comes out, Mark will still be sick, and if you are listening on Patreon, that is absolutely true. If you aren't listening on Patreon, you probably should be. The group talks about how often and when to …

Roles reverse as Dale joins Stephen and Lydia for a Nice Game Jam prompted by Mark. The results are an antiques-fueled jaunt through time, and an unexpected win for Stephen. Costcodle - Zak Kermitz , Costcodle Timeline Inventions - Zygomatic , Zygomatic Hypodermic Needles - Sawbones: A Marital Tour of Misguided Medicine , Maximum Fun Prompt "Come u…

Beth leads Mark and Stephen through a therapy session. Stephen talks Kickstarter, Mark talks Patreon, and everyone agrees Beth's game Verdant Skies is great. Part-Time Hero: I'm Broke But I Have To Save The World! - Future Club , Kickstarter Dreamsettler - Tendershoot , Patreon 0:06:40 Begging for Money 0:52:09 Quality of Life Quality of Life Micha…

Beth Korth, board member of Nice Games Alliance, enters the clubhouse to talk about the purpose of the NGA and how to best fulfill that mission. They discuss how workshops, talks, and conferences fit into their plans. And how they can provide unique experiences and services that the gamedev community can't get elsewhere. They also emphasize the imp…

Lydia joins the clubhouse for her first regular episode as a host (it's calendar math)! The clubhouse discusses the release of Civilization VII and how it is taking up all of Stephen's time. Lydia brings to the table the question of how she can learn more games, and how tutorials don't work for her. Stephen regrets not being able to fully develop t…

The clubhouse gets Cretaceous this week; your nice hosts have been challenged to create a game about dinosaurs and their feeding habits. Prompt Make a game about the feeding habits of dinosaurs or of paleontologists, bonus points if all the dinosaurs are from the same era. Game type Design document Player count 1 Rules Cretaceous period Flowering p…

NEWS! New episodes now come out a week early on Patreon!! Sign up to listen to next week's episode now! We talk about why, and the silly reason why now, in this episode, along with another, much bigger piece of NEWS. And of course, your nice hosts continue the show's annual tradition of recounting what they did during hiatus. SO. MUCH. NEWS. Nice G…

#373 Puzzle Systems Interview 2024.11.15 Releasing 2019's "Baba is You" after more than a decade of making puzzle games was a milestone for this week's guest, but it was also just the beginning of his design journey. Arvi "Hempuli" Teikari talks to your nice hosts about the balance between giving players freedom and constraining their expression, t…

#368 “That’s way too many pawns.” Roundtable 2024.10.11 This week, Ellen kicks things off with a chat about how games tell players, “This might be tough!” and how to make that fun and fair. Stephen and Mark jump in with their takes on what makes difficulty settings shine. Then, Mark thinks about the practice taking familiar game mechanics and twist…

#366 Optimization Interview 2024.09.26 Entering the clubhouse this week is our the third Owl (employee of Owlchemy Labs) and first Peabody Award winner (as lead developer for We Are OFK), to talk about the "dos," "don'ts," and "good enoughs" of optimization. Cleveland video game designer Jarryd Huntley wins Peabody Award for ‘We Are OFK’ - Joey Mor…

#349 Dialogue Through Goals Nice Thinking 2024.05.29 Stephen brings a half-baked thought into the clubhouse for this Nice Thinking episode: how can we improve dialogue systems? He's got some opinions, which Mark and Ellen immediately debunk, but it leads to some engaging conversation. Dialogue Through Goals Stephen McGregor Game Design Narrative…

#361 "The lensing effect of the window." Roundtable 2024.08.22 It’s hot in the clubhouse and hot in Ellen’s greenhouse this week, so your hosts are eager to crunch through some discussion. Ellen introduces the concept of the MDA framework, and the differences between Theming and Aesthetics, and Stephen comes to a major conclusion about parrying. Th…

#371 Tutorialization with Puzzles Interview 2024.11.01 "Tutorials shouldn’t feel like tutorials!" Like most aspects of game design, it's an easy concept to summarize but a difficult one to pull off. Luke Spierewka and the team at Afterburn Games have mastered it, using their charming approach in successful titles like Golf Peaks and Railbound. Come…

#347 "A slow meat computer" Roundtable 2024.05.16 In the episode, Mark, Ellen, and Stephen talk local events, including (don’t worry everyone’s fine) a fire in the clubhouse’s building, construction, and the games they are playing, so if you are just here for the topics, go ahead and skip to minute 23. Ellen learns about King Making, Stephen humble…

#338 Eddies Nice Games Jam 2024.03.11 The clubhouse is caffeinated and ready to jam, game jam that is. The clubhouse is giving a prompt where air movement is the main mechanism of action and they create a physical game for a tabletop (in the style of 'Hungry Hungry Hippos'). The notoriously unpredictable 'Eddies' of air movement gives this game it'…

#354 The Intersection of Puzzle and Story Interview 2024.07.05 Narrative designer and pal of the program Beth Korth fills in for Ellen as guest host this week and next! Your nice hosts welcome famed designer Ron Gilbert (Monkey Island, Thimbleweed Park) into the clubhouse to discuss the virtues of inexperience, friction for its own sake, how it's a…

#353 "The super-powerful beam or whatever." Roundtable 2024.06.27 This week, your nice hosts talk about code that isn't yours and ask about the natural conclusion of the narrative. Mark is handy, Ellen kinda wants to add a note, and Stephen is grounded. It looked so easy in the brochure, but the brochure lied - Antony Ingram , Hagerty Code Librarie…

It's a cheery and bright episode to get you through the dark cold days of winter! ☃️ Your hosts (plus guest Joanna May) wrap up 2024 with a readout of their nicest things from the year—nicest games, nicest accomplishments, and nicest procrastinations. Plus, plans and projects for 2025, some soft resolutions, and a review of some exciting upcoming t…

We invite Joanna May into the clubhouse to discuss serialization. We get ever so slightly closer to discovering what serialization even is with Joanna's help! We also have a little time to throw a little shade at Stephen's commenting style and brackets on their own line. Chickensoft Tibo, artist of the Chickensoft mascot. Eating your own dog food (…

In this episode Lydia is back in the clubhouse to discuss her first job, and to help make a game about said job. But, because your nice hosts couldn't choose just one, it is also about Ellen's job at her parents' pet store, and Stephen's first job. Mark's also. When introducing Lydia to the concept of a nice games jam, the stages of the nice game j…

All of your hosts are together in the Clubhouse for a special interview! Lydia Symchych is an impact game designer who has been working with Ellen over the last year. Today, she shares her experience of making an escape room that needed to be rendered in both "physical" and and digital environments. Also, sound effects and pillows. In the USA, Nove…

Your nice hosts chew over a concept Stephen brings into the clubhouse: a series of "game jams" where participants iterate on one specific idea in each session. Playdate Update - Fall 2024 - Panic , YouTube Noble Engine - Noble Robot IGDATC Events - igdatc 0:04:30 Iterative Game Jam MeditationsBy Lydia, Stephen, and Mark

Releasing 2019's "Baba is You" after more than a decade of making puzzle games was a milestone for this week's guest, but it was also just the beginning of his design journey. Arvi "Hempuli" Teikari talks to your nice hosts about the balance between giving players freedom and constraining their expression, the pacing and sequencing of individual pu…

In this episode Ellen usurps the normal process for a nice game jam prompt to explore her own idea on tabletop mechanics. Who would have thought the scoring system for this game would be 'Points for the Future War'? Stephen's One-Minute Movie - Stephen McGregor's Group , YouTube Discussion during development Subbuteo Soapboxderby.org Bullet Bill So…

"Tutorials shouldn’t feel like tutorials!" Like most aspects of game design, it's an easy concept to summarize but a difficult one to pull off. Luke Spierewka and the team at Afterburn Games have mastered it, using their charming approach in successful titles like Golf Peaks and Railbound. Come learn the arcane secrets of the puzzle game tutorial! …

This week, your nice hosts talk a little bit about our civic duty before getting into two very on-brand topics. Make a plan to vote on (or before!) November 5th. Information at https://vote.org/ Everything You Need to Vote - Vote.org What States Allow Same Day Voter Registration and When? - Rock the Vote The Only Patriotic Choice for President - Th…

We welcome Timothy Staton-Davis into the clubhouse to talk both the broad strokes and the nitty-gritty of combat design. Melanated Game Kitchen - itch.io Combat Design Art Game Design We talked about "juice" in game design way back! You can find links related to the topic here as well. "I am a Juice Journeyman!" Pacing - Robert Yang, Andrew Yoder ,…

This week, Ellen kicks things off with a chat about how games tell players, “This might be tough!” and how to make that fun and fair. Stephen and Mark jump in with their takes on what makes difficulty settings shine. Then, Mark thinks about the practice taking familiar game mechanics and twisting them into something fresh. Think pacifist runs or li…

This week, learn about what Ellen was like as a student. Stephen wonders if he’s made a huge mistake, Ellen does some work research, and Mark insists that there is no such thing as magic. Stephen started a new class: Film making Ellen forced her parents to play another game! Parks Board Game Mark saw the Badger Badger Mushroom song for the first ti…

Entering the clubhouse this week is our the third Owl (employee of Owlchemy Labs) and first Peabody Award winner (as lead developer for We Are OFK), to talk about the "dos," "don'ts," and "good enoughs" of optimization. Cleveland video game designer Jarryd Huntley wins Peabody Award for ‘We Are OFK’ - Joey Morona , cleveland.com We are OFK - Peabod…

There are now episodes of Nice Games Club for each new day of the year! When you get to the last day of that year, you'll hear about Audio Middleware and Psychic Distance from us in the clubhouse. About the Fair - Minnesota State Fair 0:17:06 Audio Middleware An example of audio tech conversations we've had in the past. Game Audio Tools and Workflo…

In this episode the boys are back in Minneapolis, but they are still thinking about their time with Ellen in Duluth, or Roboluth ;) s So they are using this episode to talk about instructions, again, but this time though the lens of the different types of "user personas" who will be reading it. Instructions What is Roboston? Roboston is a tabletop …

Once again from hilly Duluth, Minnesota! On Day 2 of a game design weekend retreat, your nice hosts tackled rules—writing rules, rewriting rules, and playtesting them. It was a long day, culminating with a family playtest of Roboston, featuring a newly written rulebook. How did it go? Well, there's more work to be done, but we learned a lot. Your h…

It's a nice sleepover as this (and next) week's episode is recorded from Ellen's basement in Duluth. Mark has an angle, Ellen shares her topic, and Stephen manages. The view from the rotating resturant that Mark took Stephen to - Ragnar Eythorsson , YouTube Karen Puzzles - Karen Kavett , YouTube 178 (TNG) + 176 (DS9) + 7 (TOS movies, including "Gen…

It’s hot in the clubhouse and hot in Ellen’s greenhouse this week, so your hosts are eager to crunch through some discussion. Ellen introduces the concept of the MDA framework, and the differences between Theming and Aesthetics, and Stephen comes to a major conclusion about parrying. 0:06:40 Theming vs. Aesthetics The MDA Framework Wikipedia Ellen …

We invite music producer and sound designer Dave McKee into the clubhouse to talk about accessibility in games this week. Accessibility Accessibility Game Design Control Accessibility Report - "Vivek Gohil, Ben Kendall" , Family Gaming Database Inclusive Gaming: How Game Developers Can Make Video Games More Inclusive And A… - Accessibility.com Visu…

We face complexity head-on this episode with two topics that will get your neurons firing. Mark walks through considerations involved with publishing a game to multiple platforms. It's not easy, but it's a lot easier if you plan for it from the start! If you've listened to recent episodes, you'll know that Stephen has been obsessed with the tableto…

"Pillar of the community" and creator of Chipmunk2D Scott Lembcke visits the clubhouse to talk velocity, constraints, and rigidbodies. Ellen gets the music in her head, Stephen didn’t learn the opposite lesson, and Mark makes a pretty good joke about friction. Physics 101 Programming Chipmunk2D - Scott Lembcke , GitHub Gopher (protocol) Building Ex…

In this episode, Stephen gets excited about Summer Games Done Quick, reveals some Doctor Who spoilers, and then is shocked that Flappy Dragon has more dragons. Ellen ponders rituals, and why she comes back to some games and not others. And finally, Mark wonders if it is okay to get lost in a super-fun mini-game. 0:12:21 Familiarity Ellen asks the i…

In the first Nice Games Jam in a few months (and we made it a long one!), your nice hosts explore the history of bicycles to develop a racing board game. Our last Nice Games Club episode: Eddies Two Wheels Good - Jody Rosen Safety Bicycle - Wikipedia Prompt Design a racing game in a historical setting. Game type Tabletop game Player count 2 - 4 Mat…

Time is money, friend! Okay, not always. Sometimes time is a puzzle involving many interlocking responsibilities. That’s Beth’s situation, and she asks Mark and Stephen for advice on time management in the second half of this roundtable episode. During the first half, Stephen shares some BIG NEWS that will soon place some additional responsibilitie…