Nice Games Club - a gamedev podcast!

Latest Episodes:

"The Corrupt Goo." Gamepads; Nature in Games Jul 23, 2021

Show notes

In this episode, Mark gets defensive about his fair city, Ellen declares her love of Big Buttons, and Stephen almost forgets Fingeance, the game he worked on for seven years.

0:14:00

Gamepads

The Evolution of the Xbox ControllerAlessandro FillariGameSpotThe Evolution of the PlayStation ControllerAdam BankhurstIGN List of Nintendo controllersWikipedia0:54:54

Nature in Games

Minneapolis Named Best City Park System in U.S. on Trust for Public Land’s Annu…Minneapolis Park & Recreation BoardMinneapolis slides to third in urban park rankings; St. Paul rises to second (2…Susan DuStar TribuneSpend Time Outside in Twin Cities Parks and LakesCinnamon JanzerExplore MinnesotaEndling: Extinction is ForeverHandy GamesFirewatchCampo Santo

Nice Games Jam: "Palace of Versailles" Jul 14, 2021

Show notes

Your nice hosts come together for their first Nice Games Jam in person in a very long time! Did seeing each other together result in even wilder game jam shenanigans than you'd expect? Listen to the episode to find out!

PlayThinker Deck - The Game Crafter

PromptWe used Ellen's PlayThinker Deck to make this game! Goal card was "Efficiency", interaction cards were "Combination", "Approach", and "Exploration".Game typeCard gamePlayer count2-4Materials

Basic 52 card deck (no jokers)

4 Meeples

12 Powerup tokens (3 different colors)

Setup

Shuffle deck and place cards in a 4 by 4 grid.

Give each player one meeple to represent them.

Rules

Player can move onto any card on their side of the grid as their first turn.
On their turn each player moves one card and reveals it, potentially giving you an ability
Revealing a face card gives you an item, which gives you one of the following abilities:
- One gives the ability to move one more space.
- One gives the ability to peek at one more card.
- One gives the ability to move diagonally.
Getting three items allows you to take one turn to bank three items, losing those three abilities but giving you one point.
Revealing an Ace removes all items that player’s have not banked. Bank your items to prevent losing a point!
Revealing the four corners refresh all unrevealed cards except cards that a player is on.
When the deck runs out, the game ends when all the board is revealed (no more refreshes, fill out the rest of the board with a shuffled discarded deck).
Whoever has the most points after that last round wins the game!

"To whom it may concern." Ethical Consumption; Grind Jul 09, 2021

Show notes

Holly Harrison, aka "Best Friend of the Show," is back in the clubhouse! And we recorded this episode in person again! Can you tell? It probably comes through in the goofs...

There's plenty of silliness in this week's episode, even though your Nice Hosts explore some serious topics. Holly asks us what we can do to become more ethical consumers (and developers) of games. Ellen examines the dynamics of grind. Stephen finally admits to something BIG, and Mark takes a break.

Join Lobby - Video Game Culture Feed - Holly Harrison, Instagram
Holly joined us for episode 40...Community Managment
...and for episode 88...The Gaming Press
...and for episode 89..."A mean secret that stays in this room."
...and for episode 201..."Not like Beauty and the Beast."
...and for episode 202!Business Speak
Ellen's new laptop: Alienware M15R4
Gris (a game, not a musical) - Steam
Noble Engine - Mark LaCroix
Here's episode 217, in which we discussed open source.Open Source Software
Photo by Helmi Lutvyandi from Pexels

0:13:06

Ethical Consumption

Conflict minerals: Which gaming companies may have funded human rights abuses i…Rebekah ValentineGamesIndustry.bizIs There Really Such a Thing as “Ethical Consumerism”?Maya SingerVogueSummary of sexual and non-sexual allegations (megathread)Reddit0:47:59

Grind

r/truegaming: For those who like talking about games as much as playing them.Reddit

Ellen’s take on grind: “Going through the same content multiple times as a means to progress towards an in-game goal that doesn’t pertain to the player’s skill.”

"So, you made a game engine?" Jul 01, 2021

Show notes

Back in March, Mark created a game engine in an unfamiliar programming language for an unreleased console... and in June he explained himself in a presentation at IGDATC's Gamedev Meeting.

The full video presentation of Mark's talk

"So, you made a game engine?"

Noble Engine, a li'l game engine for PlaydateNoble RobotGitHubNoble Engine Project TemplateNoble RobotGitHubPlaydate console Playdate developer portal

Co-op Studios (with Reese Valentine and Mackenzie Denker) Jun 24, 2021

Show notes

Starting an indie studio is hard, starting a worker-owned cooperative is harder. This week your nice hosts interview longtime friend of the show Reese Valentine and their fellow co-founder Mackenzie Denker, both of Amelore. It's co-ops 101, which happens to be exactly the info Stephen needs right now!

Amelore Coop website
Amelore on Twitter
Reese previously visited the clubhouse for one of our earliest episodes, in early 2017:Games Education

Co-op Studios

IRL Production The 7 Cooperative Principles - The National Cooperative Business Association CLUSA International Mission Statements - Adam Schwartz, The Cooperative Way Co-ops in Spain’s Basque Region Soften Capitalism’s Rough Edges - Peter S. Goodman, The New York Times Embracing the Co-Op Studio Model in Indie Games - Scott Benson, Ted Anderson, Steve Filby, Ian Thomas, Bethany Hockenberry, GDC

A screenshot of a Google News search for — **"The anitidote to hype." Storytelling; Exploits** Jun 19, 2021
Show notes

This week, Mark talks about Star Trek, Stephen wants to talk *more* about Star Trek, and Ellen hypes the website.
We made the papers!
Dreams: Awake - Charity EP Jam, Bandcamp
Itch.io Palestinian Aid bundle raises over $900,000 - Danielle Partis, GamesIndustry.biz
Serious Play Conference
0:10:00
Storytelling
The Game Debate: Video Games as Innovative StorytellingMelissa SomerdinThe Oswald ReviewThe Importance Of Video Game NarrativeAdeyemi ThompsonSliced Bread AnimationThe Unique Storytelling Power of Video GamesAnthony JondreauMedium3 approaches to storytelling in gamesSimon K JonesMedium0:36:36
Exploits
Wavedashing in Super Smash Bros MeleepahlzInstructables8 of the Most Notorious Video Game Exploits of All TimeBrandin TyrrelIGN What's the biggest game exploit you'll admit to using?PC Gamer

A photo of your nice hosts at the recording of this episode. — **“My face is over here.” Special In-Person Special** Jun 10, 2021
Show notes

Your vaccinated hosts return to the clubhouse to record their first in-person episode in over a year. This one's for us, but you might like it, too.
There was a lot of hugs before the recording.
Charity EP Jam (the new album drops June 11th!) - Chel Wong
Indie bundle for Palestinian Aid - Alanna Linayre, itch.io
Mark's "Widget Satchel II" was featured in Panic's E3-style announcement video.
Special In-Person Special
South Korea’s COVID Success Stems From an Earlier Infectious Disease Failure Jiyeon Kim and Neil RichardsSlate

Photo of a large helping of cheesy nachos in a bowl styled like an upside-down baseball helmet. — **Therapeutic Games (with Adam Davis)** Jun 03, 2021
Show notes

Can games be used for therapeutic purposes? Absolutely! In this episode we talk with Adam Davis, therapeutic Game Master, and a co-founder and executive director of Game to Grow, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. The organization is focused on "the use of games of all kinds for therapeutic, educational, and community growth."
Adam shares his experiences from over a decade in therapeutic play—how Game to Grow began, how he thinks about games as part of therapeutic experiences, and how he once managed SEVEN tabletop RPG campaigns simultaneously. We hope you enjoy our inspiring conversation with this really cool guy!
Helmet nachos! Source: Target Field Eats on Twitter https://twitter.com/tfeats/status/1039672499892576256
Therapeutic Games
Game Design Tabletop Game to Grow blog Critical Core on Kickstarter Drama Therapy - North American Drama Therapy Association Wheelhouse Workshop Individualized Education Plan (IEP) - Understood.com Collaboration vs. cooperation: What's the difference? - The Ripple Team, Ripple Intranet Game to Grow Keynote at the 2018 Washington Therapy Conference - Adam Davis No Thank You, Evil: The Award-Winning Game of Make-believe for Creative Kids an…

"Kids like cubes these days." Novelty; Intuition May 27, 2021

Show notes

This week in the clubhouse, your nice hosts discuss the not so-intuitive nature of novelty, and the novel method of using intuition in games. Featured in the episode: Ellen reveals secrets of her home, Stephen relates a topic to fighting games for the 218th time, and Mark brings up the best parts of the Mass Effect trilogy.

Matias Ergo Pro Keyboard
Ellen mentioned screen burnout, a topic we've covered in this episode."Empty the bucket."
Tweet on writing 'structure'

12:27

Novelty

45:19

Intuition

Educating IntuitionThe University of Chicago PressJason Silva on IntuitionBrain GamesNational GeographicIntuition, Expectations and Culture: Learning from Psychology to Build Better G…Ara ShirinianGame DeveloperNumerical IntuitionBrain GamesNational GeographicThe unique power of games in building intuitionBryan Braun

Open Source Software (with Mark Mandel) May 20, 2021

Show notes

There's a second Mark in the clubhouse! This week we're joined by Mark Mandel, who is involved in many things worth mentioning! Mark is a Developer Advocate at Google Cloud for Games, leading the Developer Relations team; he founded Agones, a game server hosting platform; he has a dog. What else? Listen to find out.

During this episode, Mark talks about open source software in the gamedev scene—why it's important, what developers can gain from supporting open source, tips for participating in open source projects, and more.