Nice Games Club - a gamedev podcast!

Your nice hosts Lydia and Ellen are on a seriously playful adventure in beautiful Rochester, New York for the Serious Play conference! They discuss game accessibility, D&D therapy, lexical gaps, validation, and more.In addition, Lydia beats the pavement and gets the hot scoop on what attendees learned at the conference and the games that shaped them.Many thanks once more to: Serious Play for Lydia's press pass.Ellen for the cute little lavalier microphones that made interviews possible.Ellen and Nikita for being the best travel buddies ever.Interviewees for sharing their thoughts with our nice listeners.Serious Play ConferenceEllen's previous trip to this conference was recounted in:Serious Play Conference 2023Serious Play ConferenceXbox Adaptive ControllerXbox.comPlayStation Access ControllerPlaystation.comQuadstickAble Gamers

In this episode, Mark and Stephen talk about what they are excited about. Lydia deals with a existential crisis about keeping too much stuff. And nobody talks about the full motion video game that Dale made during a Global Game Jam during the topic on video content, where they talked extensively about FMV games. Don't worry! Dale edited this episode and linked the game in the show notes below. ;)Lydia played some Dutch gamesGeharrewar in de Sushi-bar - Board Game GeekPort Royale - Board Game GeekStephen is very excited about Kirby Air Riders. Is it as good as he anticipated? Past Stephen sure hopes so!Kirby Air Riders Direct 8.19.2025 - Nintendo of America, YouTubeMark went to L.A. for the Blippo+ ExhibitionBlippo+ - SteamPre-order Blippo+ on Switch - NintendoMark's favorite museum: LACMANice Games AllianceNice Games Alliance is the org that supports the local communityBeth Korth was recently on the show in Episode 382 to talk aboutNice Games Alliance WorkshopsWhen the club plugs the Discord, Mark mentions a Discord conversation the podcast's outro in Episode 400"From apocrypha or experience." 400th Episode SpecialVideo ContentBlippo+Telling LiesWikipediaDinosaur Hunter (aka 3D Dino World)WikipediaQuantum BreakWikipediaControlWikipediaWitnessWikipediaDragon's Dogma 2 Steak videoYouTubeAlan Wake 2Global Game JamGlobal Game JamThe FMV (Full Motion Video) game Dale and Beth made for Global Game Jam 2020, Corporate Espionage, is very campy. Enjoy!Use the Dang Potion!The reasons Lydia doesn't use the Potion:1) She might need it (more) later, I don't want to waste it2) Everything could matterAnd more reasons:3) Things are power in a power fantasy game, and it's hard to give up power 4) Potions feel like an assist mode, because you want to be better than that 5) Gambler's funCombatting the natural emotional response for players to keep their stuffMake stuff very abundant, and add use ware (like Zelda Breath of the Wild) Add narrative context that the intention is to sell it for in game money (like in Spirit Farer) Add explicit indicators that an item is required for a quest.Create items that are specific to a single purpose.Discourage gathering more items by making them annoying to collect

Stephen Business is back! And he’s attempting to make a meme into a reality. The clubhouse attempts to answer these (and other) questions:How many fishing minigames is too many fishing minigames?Is it okay to shoot fish with lasers?Who are those teenagers with emo hair in the Bentley?Should Stephen make something on the Playdate?Why do people go fishing?Does anyone actually like fishing?You can wishlist 'Blippo+' on Steam! - SteamFishingLydia kicked of this topic with a comment an episode, maybe this one?Revisiting Your GamesFishing Minigame MemeRedditLydia learned about noodling from this youtube channelBon AppetitYouTubeFeeding time at a Fish Hatchery is bonkers!YouTubeLydia's nice list of games with fishing minigamesTales of Arise Pokemon Animal Crossing Stardew ValleyLegend of Zelda (many) SkyrimKirby The Forgotten Land Verdant Skies Spiritfarer Red Dead Redemption 2 Final Fantasy (many) Sonic Frontiers Far Cry 5Hades

Attention Sega nerds! This Nice Bonus episode is for you!During our episode on 90's consoles Mark found out there were so many obscure Sega accessories that they couldn't fit in the episode and deserved their very own spotlight. Please enjoy this Nice Bonus short episode all about them!Sega Consoles

It is a joyous day for pancake lovers everywhere, and a joyous week in the Clubhouse for Lydia who successfully made a thing using code! WOW! She shares her experience learning how to make buttons (and everything else) in microStudio. Then the Nice Hosts get real about their experiences with min-maxing in games. You know it's a good topic when it promises at least one spinoff topic so buckle up. Also in this episode: Mark is doing level design when he should be playing Donkey Kong Bonanza, new laptop(!), and the existential horror of the cozy game genre.0:12:09microStudioLydia's starting point for her incremental learning plan."A Paragraph Signing"microStudiomicroStudioLydia's Experiment 1 - TutorialPress space to start. Use the arrow keys to move the slime to the cookie. microStudioLydia's Experiment 2 - Buttons PracticeClick the heart to add it to the skeleton’s chest microStudioLydia's Experiment 3 - Build a SkeletonClick on the buttons to add silly organs to the skeleton. Keep clicking the button to cycle through your options for that organ. microStudioLydia's Experiment 4 - Despawn PracticePress space to add 10 seconds to the timer. Click correct or incorrect to add or subtract points to the score. Clicking spawns sparkles! microStudio0:37:00Min-Maxing

Returning "favorite" Laura Onderwater re-enters the clubhouse to talk about task tracking, naming conventions, and paper trails of various kinds in an engaging discussion on concept art workflows. Even if you’re not part of an art team, there’s a lot to take away from this one!We spoke with Laura previously in an episode onVisual WorldbuildingConcept Art WorkflowsArtProductionLaura on ArtstationLaura on Bluesky

As promised, the three Korths, Andy, Beth and Gabe, join us in the clubhouse for our hundred and two or so episode tradition! The clubhouse was too crowded to fit Mark in, but having five hosts makes up for it. Your nice hosts design a game about fixing the messes your child makes and then returning the favor as you age.Andy had brought up a chaotic game where you need to prevent your infant from getting into trouble, turns out there's a lot of those but here's an example!Who's Your Daddy -  Evil Tortilla Games, SteamPromptCreate a game where you need to follow around a person or a thing that is breaking stuff. You gotta fix it!Game typeDesign documentPlayer count1RulesChild causes destruction and you have to fix itChild become adult you have to fix parent stuffParent needs to work (remotely) and also fix whatever the kid has brokenYou want to fix the things as best as you can before your partner gets homePartner will do some fixing at the end of the day (to prevent negative feedback loop)Each level is just one day in the life of this familyThe last level, the parent retires and now the kid is an adult and has to fix parents’ messesAnd maybe also has a kid they need to take care ofMess examplesOlder parentFind keysKnocking a pot off the stoveInstall rail in shower/toiletBookcase falls downToddlerPulling things with cords (as toddler)Crayons on the wallsLegos (or any toy)Pulled shower curtainTeenagerGet mad at a thing and punch a hole in the wallLeave the fridge openShave without cleaning sinkDirty clothesPlates everywhereDart boardSticky slimeLeave milk on tableWhat does cleaning look like?Different minigamesCo-op modeTwo parents, or parent and grandparentOrthographic camera angle that slides from one room to anotherMaybe the daycare couldn’t take the kid todayBasically these are snapshots of unexpected parenting that the player needs to deal withNeed moments of time for narrative/exploration timeWhen you find an important item, time stops so the player can appreciate itYou can find things that you made as a kidMore preventative tasks for the player to doPlace paper around so kid doesn’t draw on wallsParent simDecisions impact future decisions and might cause problems dependingHow you parent changes how you recover energy/your stats during elderly stagesIntroSet the tone of the homeAsk questions for the player to adjust the game for them somewhatHow does a messy home make you feel?How do you respond to criticism? How do you respond to conflict?Center questions on the parent, not the child.What kinds of appliances do you have in your home?

As is tradition, a couple of episodes after a hundredth we invite one or more of our pals the Korths into the clubhouse. This time we were lucky enough to have all of the family Korths (coming soon), and a bonus interview with Andy Korth! We talk with him about his recent work updating Verdant Skies.Revisiting Your GamesGame DesignProductionUI / UXVerdant Skies - Howling Moon SoftwarePreviously we had Beth Korth on to talk about Narrative Design, in general and related to Verdant Skies.Narrative Design We had the whole Korth family on in this episode.Families in GamesAndy and Beth were both on in a deep dive into the code of Verdant Skies in this video episode.Code Comment: "Verdant Skies"And here's the episode that started the tradition!Steam GreenlightGamers using game controllers for PC gaming has tripled since 2018 — Steam surv… - Christopher Harper, Tom's Hardware

It's a big one for your nice hosts... and your newest nice host wants to know more. Lydia takes Mark and Stephen though the history of the program, in three acts.0:02:04Act I: Interview0:57:38Act II: Quiz1:12:47Act III: Jam

Ellen's back for a serendipitously in-sync pair of metacognition-rich roundtable topics. In this episode, Lydia shares a chapter from one of her favorite books and tries to explain ganache while Stephen laments how easy it is to duct tape on features instead of solving problems. Together they discover four brains are better than one when it comes to figuring out how to get out of your head. 0:09:56CompostingWriting Down the BonesNatalie GoldbergBonbonWikipediaThe Croissant Express diner mentioned in the book, formerly located on the corner of the Uptown Theater building.0:36:00OverdesigningMuralMirovia. "Writing at Night: Lewis Carroll, John Milton, and Me" by Mike Mason. https://www.mikemasonbooks.com/writing-at-night-lewis-carroll-john-milton-and-me/

Ellen’s back in the clubhouse, let’s see what she remembers. Lydia brings a Dungeons and Dragons mechanic about recovering memories called 'Untitled Mechanic,' Stephen feels part of a club that is not Nice Games Club, and Mark brags about playing 2nd Edition in middle school.Untitled Memory MechanicLydia's websiteLydia SymchychOneshot inspirtationZacSpeaksGiantYouTubeLydia's google docLydia Symchych

Your nice host return to the complex and sometimes underappreciated world of quality assurance in the game dev space, and also explore discovery as a design focus. In this episode: Lydia is still looking for recommendations while at the Serious Play Conference (answer in Discord!), Mark hates on Jira and Stephen finally catches up to the latest gaming trend a couple of months late.Chants of Sennaar -  Rundisc, Steam0:06:27QA WorkflowsWhat Is A Kanban Board? The Ultimate GuideLaura Hennigan, Cassie Bottorff, Rob WattsForbes0:50:37Designing Discovery

We welcome Freya Holmér back into the clubhouse to talk about 3D game development for independent game developers. We get into the specifics of the tools available for devs and why they work and don't work for different teams, but it's mostly an excuse to talk about Freya's new 3D modeling software.Half-Edge - Freya HolmérShapes - Freya Holmér, Unity Asset StoreShader Forge - Freya Holmér, GitHub3D Workflows for Indie DevsGame DesignToolsUI / UXValve Hammer Editor - Valve Developer CommunityPicoCAD - Johan Peitz, itch.ioTrenchBroom - GitHubCrocotile 3DWhat’s the difference between OBJ and FBX? And when to you what - Reddit

This week, your Nice Hosts have a new prompt from a new source. Lydia's husband, Ian, draws from a rainy source of inspiration and the Hosts are all-in. We brush up on the water cycle, requisition the equipment, practice our Trans-Atlantic accents, dunk on hot dogs, and puzzle over water-based cloud economies.Big Pharma - SteamLe Ballon Rouge - WikipediaWater Cycle - WikipediaLoop Hero - SteamHuman Resource Machine - SteamPromptto match the current weather - what goes on inside the clouds during a thunderstorm?Game typeDesign documentPlayer count1RulesYou control a cloud factory and manage what the cloud distributesMission-based, scenariosPlenty of fun fantasy optionsCondition optionsSunshineWaterStatic (use a balloon?)WindThe shape of your factory/cloudWater is your core resourceUse it to build the factory, use it to make the rain and complete tasks, use it to expandGain it from water vapor and such (water cycle)Your factory is also water, you can reuse itYou go through a campaignPick between a set of jobs each time, bigger jobs give more repIsometric viewLevel 1: rain on the hot dog cartHave the cloud rain over an area for a specific period of timeThe mission before you just needed to dump some waterThe player needs to collect water to have enough rain on the hot dog cartAutomation is the gameYou need to shape the cloud to fit all of the machines that you order from a catalogCatalog has a ton of options, with their own efficienciesLevel 2: rain on a hot dog festivalLevel ??: Flood the Nile 

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 LearningWebinar | Let’s Play! Category Quest: ELB Learning’s Newest Game - ELB Learning, YouTubeWebinar | Escape Room Rx: Innovating Game-Based Clinical Education - ELB Learning, YouTubeEpisode we interviewed Lydia on before she became a host!Digital Escape RoomsBlippo+ - PanicBlippo+ on Steam - Panic, Steam0:09:50Save SystemsBuilding Cognitive Accessibility Into Your GamesGame Developers ConferenceYouTubePassword SaveTV Tropes0:33:20Keeping Secrets

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 does a good job editing out Lydia’s coughs.Blippo+, coming to PC and Switch this fall!You Need To See FMV Cable TV Simulator Blippo+ - Wesley LeBlanc, Game InformerEmotional Effects of MusicA New Foe Has Appeared!

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 NemoChris Totten, co-author of Adrian's book, has been on the showTeaching Gamedev to Young People, Again!Adrian SandovalGame DesignHardwareMarketingSpacewar! - WikipediaAdventure (Atari 2600) and its designer's easter egg - Atari OnlineAlex Smith, They Create Worlds - They Create WorldsEp. 22: Remembering Atari with Howard Scott Warshaw - Robin Kunimune, Video Game History HourTeach Me Something in 5 Minutes 2 - What Games Can Learn from Theatre w/ Adrian… - Adrian Sandoval, YouTubeConsole Wars: Sega, Nintendo, and the Battle That Defined a Generation - Blake J. Harris, Goodreads

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 - WikipediaNintendo Switch 2 preorders were a total mess — at first - Jay Peters, The VergeMissed out on a Nintendo Switch 2 pre-order? GameStop and Best Buy will have mo… - Demi Williams, TechRadar0:22:17What Happened With Future ClubPart-Time Hero Campaign EndingFuture ClubKickstarter0:48:57Design Surface AreaRubber duck debuggingWikipedia

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 DiscriminationGame DesignGamingNarrativeClock Out at 2 Demo -  Borderless Studios, SteamWhat to know about microaggressions - Anna Smith Haghighi, Medical News TodayQueerty Gamers - Queerty GamersSpooktober 2023 Clock Out at 2 Build - itch.ioDepression Quest - Zoe QuinnAdventures with Anxiety - Nicky CaseFight, Flight, Freeze, or Fawn: How We Respond to Threats - "Olivia Guy-Evans, MSc", Simply PsychologyGood Reps for Mental Health depictionFinal Fantasy XIV - SquareEnixThe Cosmic Wheel SisterhoodTales of Arise - Steam

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 VIIAge of Mythology RetoldBlue Prince0:18:21Friction by DesignMark tries to define some terms: Good Friction - something that was designed into the game, or that could be described as a bug, or only confuses a player Bad Friction - unintentional friction0:45:47Diversity in ScoringHuffington Post News Triva GameHuffington Post