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    Games & Hobbies

    Nice Games Club – a gamedev podcast!

    The podcast where nice gamedevs talk gaming and game development. Nice!

    Advertise
    • Apple Podcasts
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    Latest Episodes:
    Nice Games Jam: "Dinosaurs of North Dakota" Mar 13, 2025
    Show notes

    The clubhouse gets Cretaceous this week; your nice hosts have been challenged to create a game about dinosaurs and their feeding habits.

    PromptMake a game about the feeding habits of dinosaurs or of paleontologists, bonus points if all the dinosaurs are from the same era.Game typeDesign documentPlayer count1Rules
    • Cretaceous period
      • Flowering plants evolved here
      • Early mammals here too
      • Velociraptors too!
    • Different sized dinosaurs
    • Name: Dinosaurs of North Dakota
      • Play as big (T-rex), small (dog-sized) and medium (triceratops)
      • Survive a day as each of these creatures
      • Order of play
        • Medium first (herbivore)
        • Big next (T-rex)
        • Small last (scavenger)
        • Then Paleontologist discovers (eats chicken with a PLASTIC fork)
      • Where you die determines how preserved the bones are during the paleontology phase
        • If you want more preserved bones you have to choose to not live as long (due to how the preservation works)
      • Gameplay
        • Play as the different creatures, the player chooses when that phase of the game ends
          • Can also end after a certain time played
        • Then you swap to a new creature and play as them, choosing when to end
        • When you get back to a creature, time has passed and things are different in the world (partly due to player influence from other creatures)
          • Player knocking down trees might be knocked down in future scenes, eating a lot of plants may make the area sparse in the future
        • Keep playing as the different creature until enough time has passed
        • Afterwards, play as a paleontologist and rediscover what you’ve done
        • Record what you’ve done with the knowledge the paleontologist has (and not the player), so it won’t actually be accurate to the player’s playthrough
        • Based on what the player’s done, it can affect what things the paleontologist will be able to say about the state of things after

    "More Ellen in the future." What We Did On Our Winter Break (2024-25) Mar 06, 2025
    Show notes

    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 Games Club on Patreon

    What We Did On Our Winter Break (2024-25)

    Twin Cities Gamedev community

    Join the IGDATC serverDiscordDonate to Nice Games Alliance ("no" relation)IGDATC 2025 gamesGlobal Game Jam

    Stephen

    UFO 50Civilization VII

    Lydia

    Play Lydia's team's GGJ game, Meowlogue MittensMeowlogue Mittens - Main ThemeEdison BoerkeSoundCloudA photo of a whiteboard, with a list of names and tally marks. A header reads Lydia's team invited everyone at the event to vote on the name of thier game's main character.

    Mark

    Play Mark's team's GGJ game, Gachamari

    Ellen

    Mars First LogisticsSteamMartian ChessLoony LabsRoboCoSteam

    Puzzle Systems (with Arvi "Hempuli" Teikari) [Nice Replay] Feb 27, 2025
    Show notes #373Puzzle SystemsInterview2024.11.15

    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, the pacing and sequencing of individual puzzles, what happens when a "cool" design annoys players, and more.

    Arvi's cats basking in the Finnish sun:Arvi's cats make a spirited apperance in the back half of the episode. Here they are basking in the Finnish sun.

    Puzzle Systems

    Game DesignToolsMultimedia Fusion 2 - ClickteamClickteam Fusion 2.5 - ClickteamConstruct - Scirra LtdMP2MP2 Chowdren EngineBring the ice cube to the goal without exposing it to heat. - IncreparePuzzleScript - IncrepareCovechrome - Hempuli, itch.ioYou nice hosts previously discussed what happens to players who become developers in:"Numbers go up."

    “That’s way too many pawns.” Communicating Difficulty; Remixed Play Modes [Nice Replay] Feb 20, 2025
    Show notes #368“That’s way too many pawns.”Roundtable2024.10.11

    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 twisting them into something fresh. Think pacifist runs or limited equipment modes. Why limit yourself to one way to play when you can remix the whole game? As always, there are some goofs in here, too.

    Unity 6 Preview is now available - Nancy Larue, UnityUnity is canceling the Runtime Fee - Matt Bromberg, UnityUnite Conference - UnityHasbro Game Night (for Switch)We Were Here Series - Total Mayhem Games, SteamLoopy: a tool for thinking in systems - Nicky CaseMachinations: Create digital twins for your systems, processes or economies

    Communicating Difficulty

    0:21:44Ellen Burns-JohnsonGame DesignReally Bad ChessPuzzmo - Orta Therox & Zach GageAggro Crab Studio"Why Quitting Is Usually Worth It" - David Duchovny & Stephen Dubner, Freakonomics Radio Network

    Remixed Play Modes

    0:40:35Mark LaCroixGame DesignMetro Nexus - Noble Robot10 Most Unique Multiplayer Modes In Video Games - James Kennedy, The GamerExtra game modes - Universal Videogame ListPARKS Board Game - 59 Parks

    Optimization (with Jarryd Huntley) [Nice Replay] Feb 13, 2025
    Show notes #366OptimizationInterview2024.09.26

    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 Morona, cleveland.comWe are OFK - Peabody AwardsCleveland Game Developers - Linktree

    Optimization

    HardwareProductionProgrammingIs Using LINQ in C# Bad for Performance? - James Vickers, The Startup For Vs Foreach In C# - Sagar Gavand, C# Corner

    Nice Thinking: "Dialogue Through Goals" [Nice Replay] Feb 06, 2025
    Show notes #349Dialogue Through GoalsNice Thinking2024.05.29

    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 McGregorGame DesignNarrative

    "The lensing effect of the window." Theming vs. Aesthetics; Parries [Nice Replay] Jan 30, 2025
    Show notes #361"The lensing effect of the window."Roundtable2024.08.22

    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.

    Theming vs. Aesthetics

    0:06:40Ellen Burns-JohnsonGame DesignThe MDA Framework - WikipediaEllen promised Dictionary.com definitions, so here you go:Aesthetics - Dictionary.comTheme - Dictionary.comWe talked about theming and aesthetics for a GameJam Game from a previous episodeThe Bike BoomAlien Isolation Themes explored n : Demystifying the Terror of Alien Isolation - Andy Robertson, Wired

    Parries

    0:28:56Stephen McGregorGame DesignStephen's list of why parries are so popular: 1) A way to reward mastery or paying attention 2) Rewards participation 3) An appreciable way to consider mastering the game The different variations of Parrying 1) Just Dodges 2) Traditional Parrying (miss = block) 3) Dynamic Parrying release parrying 4) Alternate button (paper mario parrying) EVO Moment 37 - Wikipedia

    Tutorialization with Puzzles (with Luke Spierewka) [Nice Replay] Jan 23, 2025
    Show notes #371Tutorialization with PuzzlesInterview2024.11.01

    "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 learn the arcane secrets of the puzzle game tutorial! Also featuring some great room sound.

    Afterburn Games (studio)

    Tutorialization with Puzzles

    Game DesignOn crafting Railbound, a cozy track-bending puzzle game - Evgeny Obedkov, Game World ObserverDynablaster (game) - Wikipedia

    "A slow meat computer" King Making; Thinky Bits (Off-Screen Gameplay) [Nice Replay] Jan 16, 2025
    Show notes #347"A slow meat computer"Roundtable2024.05.16

    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 brags about being good at Smash Brothers, and Dale plays kingmaker in naming the second topic!

    News

    Masu Fire - Paul Walsh, Star TribuneBus Rapid Transit (BRT) - Jared Brey, Governing

    What We are Playing

    Dragon's Dogma 2 - WikipediaPrincess Peach Showtime NPR Review - Rakiesha Chase-Jackson, NPR

    King Making

    0:23:00Stephen McGregorGame DesignStephen has been QA testing Harvest Kingdom - Ben Hunder, DiscordThe YouTube video that Stephen references - Distraction Makers, YouTubeKingmaking in Root (Leder Games) video - Cole Wehrle, GDCSmallworld - Board Game Geek

    Thinky Bits (Off-Screen Gameplay)

    0:49:17Ellen Burns-JohnsonGame Design

    Games discussed

    Return of the Obra DinSpirit Island - Board Game GeekDeath Drives a Bus - itch.io

    Nice Games Jam: "Eddies" [Nice Replay] Jan 09, 2025
    Show notes #338EddiesNice Games Jam2024.03.11

    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's name. The main challenge for the team - a more sanitary air blower mechanism than drinking straws: a tiny bellows, small whoopie cushions, slide whistles, or party noisemakers?

    Prompt"Create a game where the main mechanics are fans and or leaf blowers."Game typeTabletop gamePlayer count2 - 8Materials

    Blowing mechanisms - one per player (drinking straw in playtest)

    A bunch of small peices of junk

    A container for the small peices of junk

    Playing feild (box, 8 sided)

    Rule Card Deck

    Setup

    This is a game about some young teenagers who find some leaf blowers in their (octagonal) cul-du-sac and make a game with them.

    Each player will select a side of the playing field (the box) as their home territory. The goal of the game is to have the least amount of junk (points-wise) fall off of your side of the field.

    Rule Cards:

    • Separate the Rule cards into the three categories: Puff Variants, Point Variants, and Zone Variants. Shuffle the cards from each category, and pull three of each category to start each of the three rounds.Cards rule examples
      • Puff: Each player has 3 puffs per turn
      • Point: Each black item is worth +1 point, all other items are worth -1 point
      • Zone: The windy end of your blowing mechanism may not be placed within zones 1+2 of the playing field
    • Shuffle the remaining rules cards from three categories together.
    • From the combined deck, deal 4 cards to each player.
    • The player may look at their hand of cards

    Place Junk (perform at the start of each round):

    • Gather some junk and place it in a container. Typically dice and pieces from other games will make up the majority of the junk, but this may also be dodads from your junk drawer like golf pencils, nails and screws, magnets etc.
    • At the beginning of each round a different player will grab a handful of junk from the container and place it in the center of the 8-sided playing area.The junk placer may not arrange the junk when placing it down. Any junk that falls off of the playing field will be returned to the container of junk.
    Rules

    After the junk is placed the rule for each category is revealed, by flipping over the top rule card from each of the three piles: Puff, Point, and Zone. The displayed rules are now in effect.

    The player who placed the junk will go first.

    Each player turn has three phases:

    1. The play may put a rule card from their hand into play by stacking it on top of the exsisting rule for the category which it belongs to (puff, point, or zone). That rule is now in effect and the rule that was covered up is no longer in effect.

    2. The player uses their "leaf blower" to puff the objects in on the playing field the number of times indicated by the Puff rule. They must follow any Zone rules in effect.

    3. The player's turn is scored according to the rule cards in effect. The player draws back up to 4 cards in their hand.

    The round ends when each player has had 5 turns.

    New junk is placed in the center of the playing field, new rule cards are revealed and the next round starts.

    The object of the game is to have the least scoring junk blown off your edge of the playing field. Highest scoring player (usually player closest to 0 wins), as most junk is worth negative points.


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