Nice Games Club

This week your Nice Hosts break open Power Fantasies and Indie Game Trailers and analyze what makes them work! Can boredom be a game mechanic? Is the age old storytelling rule "show don't tell" actually bad advice for indie game trailers? Can a power fantasy game really ever have too many explosions?? If you have a trailer for your game and want to get some feedback on it send us a link on Twitter to see if it gets the "Stephen Would Actually Watch This" Seal of Approval! Content Warning: We briefly discuss Not Nice News about gun violence in the meta section- if you don't want to hear that please skip from 16:20 to 18:08! Picture credit Gearbox Software Meta Game Devs of Color Expo Talks Friends of the show gave talks! Aubrey Scott talks at 49:57 and Evva Kraikul is on a panel at 4:07:54. Swimsanity (If your team includes two brothers it has to be sea themed) Worker Bee is publishing Widget Satchel in Japan! The Ooblets team is amazing and you should plan on buying the game on the Epic Stor

This week in the clubhouse, Stephen is still away in New York, so Ellen is back to help out with a Nice Games Jam! Our prompt: create a JRPG-inspired game in under an hour. But like any good JRPG, it took twice as long to complete as expected... Ellen's handwritten notes are worth a look! (PDF) And here's the Wikipedia page for Weevil, which Ellen wanted you to see. Rules for "Ants of Destiny: Morsels of the Queen" A two-person pen-and-paper RPG. One player portrays the party of ants, and the other player controls all enemies and narrates the story as the GM. The Story Your queen is dying, and for unknown reasons (foreshadowing!) your colony is running out of resources. You, a young worker ant, and your party of misfits must set out from your home to collect the extra food and supplies needed to save your colony, battling foes and overcoming challenges along the way! The Party Worker Ant (Player protagonist) Bite (attack): 2 Carry (inventory): 5 Exo (armor): +0 Ability: "Defend" - Once per encounter, s

While Stephen is away at the Game Devs of Color Expo in New York, Ellen Burns-Johnson joins in the club house to discuss organizing your game library and what to do when you actually know nothing about marketing. Martha throws it in the 'eh' pile, Mark delegates, and Ellen has it all under control. Meta Game Devs of Color Expo 2019 Depression and the Solace of 'Grinding' in Online Games - Julie Muncy, Wired [0:02:49] Game Libraries How to deal with your Steam backlog - Michael McWhertor, Polygon Adobe Flash Debug Downloads - The "Flash Player Projector" can open SWF files from your desktop or from a URL. It is a portable application that doesn't need to be installed. 2064: Read Only Memories - Turing Collector's Plush (SOLD OUT, to Martha's lament) When your nice hosts went to Seattle for PodCon this year, they visited the Living Computer Museum. Mark has been watching a lot of "old tech" content on YouTube lately: Technology Connections The 8-Bit Guy [0:28:08] Marketing 001 How,

This week, your nice hosts are joined by Marina Kittaka, artist and co-developer on the upcoming Anodyne 2: Return to Dust. Marina made the 30-foot journey from her desk to the clubhouse in order to discuss Anodyne's theme of nostalgia, the "personal" authenticity of the game's lo-fi PS1-era aesthetics, jumping in to her first 3D project, leveraging your limitations, and more! Wishlist/purchase Anodyne 2: Return to Dust on: Steam | Itch.io | Kartridge | GoG Our Nice Guest! Marina on Twitter: @even_kei Sean Han Tani (@sean_HTCH) is Marina's development partner. His solo game All Our Asias was a inspiration for their current collaboration. Analgesic Productions' previous titles: Anodyne Even the Ocean

This week your Nice Hosts appear out of nowhere to discuss Stealth Games and Motion Controls! Mark shoots lasers, Stephen time travels and Martha joins a geriatric gang. Dishonored 2 cover art copyright Bethesda. [0:01:30] Stealth Games "Banana Bread" (Griffin & Justin of Polygon play SpyParty) Giant Bomb Plays Hitman Let's Plays "Why Fashion in (Most) Games Sucks, and Why You Should Care" -Victoria Tran, GDC Vault Our Interview with Freya Holmér of Neat Corporation maker of Budget Cuts Spider-Man is (Definitely Not) Murdering People -Brian David Gilbert, Polygon Video Level Design Workshop: A Narrative Approach to Level Design -Jolie Menzel, GDC Vault (Or, why Die Hard games should have been stealth puzzle games not shooters) [0:28:52] Motion Controls Sega Activator Sega Pods Microsoft announces an Azure-powered Kinect camera for enterprise -Brian Heater, Techcrunch Rhythm Game Accessories on Wikipedia (including the Rock Band pro controller)

This week, your nice hosts talk about a pair of game genres that none of them are that wild about, and Mortho returns to brighten the proceedings! Meta Our previous episode on "unloved" topics: “Try it once!” You Never Realized Fonts Could Be This Exciting - Mike Fahey, Kotaku Donut County is the Anti-Katamari - Marcus Estrada, Hardcore Gamer Slay the Spire is my favorite game to lose - Jeff Ramos, Polygon [0:16:46] Designing Horror Games Download Stephen's horror game Infectious! How the Resident Evil 2 remake's Mr. X actually works - Wesley Yin-Poole, Eurogamer The Difference Between Horror Movies And Horror Games - Heather Alexandra, Kotaku [0:44:37] Designing Sports Games Mark couldn't find anything about the Minnesota professional basketball teams discussed in the episode, but he did find "Who wins a fight to the death, Lynx vs Wolf?" on Quora. Why Is Tennis Scored So Weirdly? - Merrill Fabry, Time Michael Chabon Will Showrun Star Trek: Picard - James Whitbrook, io9 Anti-loot

All the news that fit to pod! Mark makes a Mario, Martha adds things to her wishlist and Stephen gets mad at his TV. Recent releases Super Mario Maker 2: Building On Success -Kyle Hilliard, Game Informer Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night: The Kotaku Review -Joshua Rivera, Kotaku The making of Samurai Showdown (2019) -Alex Kane, Polygon Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled: No Rust On This Ride -Andrew Reiner, Game Informer Cadence of Hyrule is the best Zelda spinoff ever made -Russ Frushtick, Polygon Harry Potter: Wizards Unite Improves On What Makes Pokemon Go Great -Gita Jackson, Kotaku News Summer Games Done Quick raised over 3 million dollars for Doctors Without Borders Devs hit by Steam promo confusion as games are pulled from Wishlists -Chris Kerr, Gamasutra Dr. Disrespect Doesn’t Seem To Be Taking His Twitch Ban Very Seriously -Nathan Grayson, Kotaku Twitched app removed from Roku -Reddit thread The Human Cost of Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 -Jason Schreier, Kotaku Valve Index Review

This week, we welcome friend of the show Matt Gravelle into the clubhouse to talk about the ups and downs of, and lessons learned from, the decade-plus history of his indie game company, Graveck Interactive. Topics include the early days of Unity, holding the top-selling spot in the iOS App Store for months(!), weird guidelines from film studios on licensed web games, creating VR experiences for medical applications, and more! Get Optica on Android, iOS, or Steam! Get Strata on Android, iOS or Steam!

Stephen has been working on patches for Treasure Stack and Mark has been busy getting age ratings around the world for Widget Satchel so this episode is jam packed with knowledge! Mark tricks his parents, Martha hides from E.T. and Stephen balances the game. Meta Game Devs of Color “Black Mirror’s ‘Striking Vipers’ uses fighting games to flirt with the theme of queer desire” Gretchen Felker-Martin, Polygon The Black Mirror Fighting Game Episode was Out of Control Gita Jackson, Kotaku [0:15:29] Patches and Add-on Content Treasure Stack on Steam (check out the patch notes to see an example of the patches Stephen has been working on) Asset Bundles Unity Docs [0:39:45] International Age Ratings Systems PEGI Ratings (Europe + Israel) ESRB Ratings (USA + Canada) IARC Ratings  translates to many different international rating systems (like PEGI and ESRB) through surveys in digital storefront submission processes. Notable rating boards that do not participate in IARC are JERO (Japan) and GRB (Ko

Stephen's back from E3, and brought back tales of standing in line, going out at night, and staying in on Thursday. But before hearing about all the unreleased games Stephen played while in Los Angeles, your nice hosts discuss all the news and announcements from the show. [0:05:28] Google Stadia [0:16:57] Microsoft "E3 2019: ID@Xbox Shines the Spotlight on Amazing Independent Games" - Lisa Trott, Xbox Wire "The SDK 'Power Mac G5' for the Xbox 360" - Soutenir le blog "Ultra-high-speed SSD is 'the key' to next-gen PS5" - Anthony Garreffa, TweakTown [0:22:49] Bethesda "How to make a perfect E3 press conference (or drinking game)" - Polygon (YouTube) "Deathloop: Everything we know so far" - Heather Wald, GamesRadar [0:28:50] Ubisoft "Here’s Why Ubisoft is Releasing a Game on Nintendo Wii" - Jasmine Henry, Game Rant "LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga Gonk Droid Run" - Dalton (YouTube) [0:34:50] Square Enix "Marvel's Avengers: Is it Connected to Spider-Man PS4?" - Rob Leane, Den of Geek

This week is another Nice Games Jam! We got a prompt from Martha's Boyfriend Dylan to "make a puzzle game that includes a written document that updates as you play." You can play the game we came up with in the episode using the rules in the show notes below! Rules for "Rules" Two players Some set of blocks (we used 10 cubes), different colors The Codemaker comes up with sequence of blocks They create a list of four rules to help the Codebreaker player guess the sequence Rules cannot specifically place a cube in a place in the sequence Rules can only involve one relationship between two sets of cubes Read first rule, and the Codebreaker creates a pattern based on rule If the sequence is not correct, read the next rule and have the Codebreaker make a new pattern based on the revealed set of rules Repeat until the player has created the correct pattern If the Codebreaker needs more than the four rules, the code maker then makes a new rule immediately, and the Codebreaker makes a new sequ

This week in the clubhouse, Stephen wants do more with less, Mark wants to do more with more, and Martha wants to do less to more. Meta "Because Internet: Understanding the New Rules of Language" - Gretchen McCulloch "Your conference is too damn big" - John Pavlus, Fast Company "The Game Design Studio on a Boat" - Clinton Nguyen, Vice Evil Games Club co-host Dale is now tweeting for us! Follow us for behind-the-microphone goodness: @nicegamesclub We're always trying to get feedback, but it's hard! So Dale is encouraging gamedevs to start using #FeedbackFriday on Twitter as a way for to get opinions from their peers on things they're working on. Try it out this Friday! [0:07:06] Extra Modes "Assassin's Creed Isn't Necessarily Done With Multiplayer" - Jordan Ramée, GameSpot "Why City Trial is the most memorable part of Kirby Air Ride" - Chris Hovermale "Fortnite Battle Royale Took Two Months to Develop and Launch" - Derek Nichols, GameRant "Riot got rid of League of Legends’ URF mode becau

This week we have Beth Korth of Howling Moon Software back to talk about Narrative Design and her process for designing and writing Verdant Skies! We talk all about the creative process from creating ideas in her head to writing in a markup language Andy created so she could control the game as she wrote dialogue and cut scenes. Beth's Notebook: Naming the game: Designing Heart Events: Our Nice Guest! Verdant Skies on Steam, Itch.io, Humble Store, Kartridge Verdant Skies Steam Green Light Episode Verdant Skies Code Comment Beth on Twitter

This week in the clubhouse, Stephen breaks the ice, Martha dreams of writing passwords, and Mark makes a Jurassic Park reference (@ us if you recognize it!). Meta Our pal Abdiwak Yohannes is making Boji: Boji at Play/Test! Boji theme song on Soundcloud! Boji in action! Boji animation test! "Super Mario Maker 2 news dump" - Sam Machkovech, Ars Technica Mark "invented" the Semi-Automatic Mario level genre for the original Super Mario Maker! It did not catch on... We played the Japanese version of Super Mario Bros. 2 for one of our Nice Plays video episodes. Martha hated it. [0:13:08] Game Length "Assassin’s Creed Odyssey really picks up after the first 15 hours" - Ben Kuchera, Polygon "Length Matters" - Ben Lindbergh, The Ringer [0:44:41] Saving and Loading Systems "Saved, But Not Forgotten: The evolution of saving in video games" - Mark Christian, Tedium "In Dishonored, You're Either a Cheater or a Serial Killer" - Chris Kohler and Chris Baker, Wired LOVE, a “challenging but

This week on Nice Games Club we rack up a ridiculous number of points while discussing scoring systems, lives and continues! We debate whether these systems are relics from the arcade past or are still relevant game mechanics. Martha makes up numbers, Mark quantifies the Star Trek Universe and Stephen gets the high score. Show notes: Meta Mega Minne Multi Indie Mini Arcade The Greatest Discovery podcast [0:15:10] Scoring Systems Clicker Heroes [0:38:52] Lives and Continues

It's another dispatch of the Nice Games Bulletin! Your nice hosts talk E3, Star Trek, and weaponized nostalgia, then eventually get around to discussing the latest news and releases in video games, including important developments in workers rights, console certification mishaps, and the live-action debut of more than one ugly rodent. Meta “The Deep Space Nine Anniversary Documentary Is Hitting Theaters for One Day Only” - James Whitbrook, io9 [0:06:24] Recent and upcoming releases "Ronda Rousey Being In Mortal Kombat 11 Is Bullshit" - Heather Alexandra, Kotaku "Labo VR: how Mario and Zelda look and play in virtual reality" - Thomas Morgan, Eurogamer "Bubsy: Paws On Fire! Comes To Switch In May Whether You Want It To Or Not" - Ryan Craddock, NintendoLife "F. Gary Gray Is Working on a Saints Row Movie Adaptation" - Julie Muncy, Wired [0:28:15] News Just saw Avengers: Endgame and want to talk about America's Ass? Subscribe to "Felix Drags Dale Through the Marvel Universe" (available whereve

This week on the program is another Nice Games Jam, where we are given a prompt from Martha’s boyfriend (and Evil Games Club co-host) Dylan, which we have to use to create a playable game prototype by the end of the episode. The prompt was to create a paper prototype of a game that combines "hilarious movement" like in games like Gang Beasts or Octodad with a card game. You can play the prototype of our creation "Blob Ball" at home using the rules below. Maybe we'll actually make the video game version sometime! Rules for "Blob Ball!" Number of players: 3 players- 2 as game opponents and 1 as AI physics Materials for Paper Prototype 3 Decks of cards 2 decks for the two players Separate out the face cards Place on the starting line for each player Put all other cards aside 1 deck for AI physics Sort into suits Pull out Ace-4 and the face cards from the Hearts suit to make the blob movement Heart deck and set all other hearts aside Give one suite deck other than hearts

This week, Martha fills the clubhouse with tales of her trip to the League of Legends Spring Split event in St. Loius, Mark gets to talk about another of his wonky "nonsense topics," and Stephen can't quite explain what he doesn't like about a thing. Meta “Long Lost ‘Zork’ Source Code Uploaded to GitHub, But Few People Understand It” - Nicole Carpenter, Motherboard Play The Hitchhiker’s Guide To the Galaxy - 30th Anniversary Edition for free in your browser. [0:09:21] Video Game Events “Out of traffic, into a ditch” - Rachel Kraus, Mashable City Museum on Wikipedia “The Overprotected Kid” - Hanna Rosen, The Atlantic Martha took pictures at the 2019 League Championship Series event she attended in St. Louis: “My Hunt For The Mysterious Man Or Machine Controlling The Blizzard Arena's Light-Up Halo” - Maddy Myers, Compete [0:32:58] Color Theory “A Bullet Hell Set In Hell That's Heaven To Play” - Ethan Gach, Kotaku “Color Harmony: Why Hulk Wears Purple Pants” - Rikard, Zeven Design “St

This week on Nice Games Club we talk all about Resource Management in Games and Boss Battles! Join us as we discuss mana, cooldowns, super meters and how to make boss battles unique but not frustrating. Martha takes the train, Stephen takes a test and Mark wonders what the appeal is. [0:07:58] Resource Management in Games [0:35:12] Boss Battles Shadow of the Colossus speed run The Phantom Train    

Extra! Extra! Hear all about it! It's another Nice Games Bulletin... Join us in the Nice Games Clubhouse/Newsroom to hear the latest and greatest news from the video game world. Mortho makes a return (and another and another), Stephen doesn't want to say "git gud," (but...), Mark wants to press all the buttons, and (STOP THE PRESSES!) Martha likes board games now. Recent releases "Risk Of Rain 2’s real monster is capitalism, not the ravenous alien horde" - William Hughes, AV Club Games “Needle Felting Gives Us All the Feels” - Ashley Little, Bluprint “Islanders is a bite-sized palate cleanser of a civilization builder” -  Cass Marshall, Polygon “‘Super Mario Odyssey’ and ‘Zelda: Breath of the Wild’ are both getting VR support” - Jacob Siegal, BGR Labo VR kit launches April 12th, Mario/Zelda support coming April 25th. “The Division 2 has a lot to say, but it’s very hard to hear over all the gunfire” - Charlie Hall and Cass Marshall, Polygon Martha mentioned a GDC talk about the UI in the fi