Nice Games Club

Mark and Dale are at GDC so Ellen Burns-Johnson joins us to talk all about Team Building and Game Identities! Join us for this chill evening recording session and discuss the more existential side of game development. If you change a game completely is it still the same game you started with? Stephen builds a house, Ellen is a game feedback therapist and Martha gets lost in the waveform. Meta Welcome back Ellen! Mark and Dale are at GDC! The episode of their adventures actually came out *last* week (calendar math) so you can listen to it RIGHT NOW if you haven’t already Nice Games Club is on the GLITCH Discord! [0:01:57] Team Building Dicer and Clasp: Dungeon Skedaddle Claw Breaker Our episode on Game Writing Cat Crib [0:22:37] Game Identities “Producer Bootcamp: How Saying 'No' Can Help You Make a Better Game” -Ruth Tomandl, Oculus Research (GDC Vault Video) Ruth Stone, Poet who caught poems on the wind

Mark (and special guest Dale!) got back from GDC on a red-eye flight, took a quick nap, then immediately joined Martha and Stephen in the clubhouse to recap the year's largest gathering of game creators. Meta/News Nindies Showcase Spring 2019 "Developer Is Making an Official Zelda Game" - Tom Marks, IGN Microsoft Pushed for Cuphead's Switch Port According to Studio MDHR, GameXplain Press X to Jason (remastered) [0:08:06] GDC session recap GDC on YouTube #notGDC gamedev.world Indiepocalypse 14 v 18 "Valve redesigns Steam game library, adding Steam Events" - Michael McWhertor, Polygon [0:25:17] Dale makes GDC magic Amir’s game about anxiety: @unboxedexperience Kate Compton’s “Illegal zines.” The Full GWU @ GDC 2019 Schedule! Copenhagen Game Collective's "The Undie Game" Schell Games Unveils Virtual Reality Sword Fighting Game ​‘Until You Fall’ [0:49:05] The MIX Untitled Goose Game Falcon Age Away: The Survival Series Beast Pets The Sojourn [0:53:56] Mark does bus

In this episode your Nice Hosts talk all about two important aspects of game design that can help more people play your games- Localization Systems and Accessibility! Stephen drives in the snow, Martha gets her nails done and Mark tries to get the baby to go to sleep. NOTE: The CVAA law that Martha talks a lot about in this episode applies -only- to chat systems in games not to game play. She didn't realize this at the time of recording- but all the things we talk about are still things to strive for in every part of your game! Photo credit: Microsoft [0:07:03] Localization Systems “What languages to localize your game into?” -Jacob Stempniewicz, Gamasutra [0:46:30] Accessibility “About CVAA: US legislation affecting communications functionality in games, networks and platforms” -IGDA Game Access SIG “CVAA for Fostering Innovation and Change” -Sarah Horton, The Paciello Group “2018's Accessibility Advances” -Ian Hamilton, Gamasutra Able Gamers Game Accessibility "What It's Like To Play Gam

This week, August Brown (senior producer for Kongregate Publishing) enters the clubhouse to reveal the secrets of successful developer/publisher relationships! Your nice hosts learn what publishers expect from a pitch, how forming a relationship with a publisher isn't always strictly business, and that publishers also think you're not charging enough money for your game. Our Nice Guest! August on Twitter: @augustjbrown Wanna talk games? email: august@kongregate.com Kongregate Publishing Self-publish on Kartridge Show Notes: Martha mentioned the Sokpop Collective. August brought up The Flash Games Postmortem that his colleague John Cooney presented at GDC 2017.

Your nice hosts are big fans of video games, video game makers, and podcasts. So in this episode we talk all about both sides of the creator-fan relationship and how to create perfect balance in both communicating with fans and telling them to go away so you can work on balancing your game design- our second topic. Stephen shows us how balancing multiplayer and single player games are the same thing, Martha isn't as unique as she thinks she is and Mark gets 7th tier internet famous. Sorry, he won't take direct fan mail- please send all your letters to Stephen. Photo credit: Nintendo of America Treasure Stack (the game that Stephen gets paid to work on) is out now! It is a fun competitive puzzle game, go buy it! Meta Video Games and Music Convention (Formally Gamers Rhapsody) Our episode on game soundtracks "Google is holding a mysterious gaming press event at GDC next month" -Tom Warren, The Verge Drake and Josh “Its spherical!” Video Mark is Internet Famous now [0:16:50] Fanbases My Brother

In this episode, your nice hosts make sure you know that Treasure Stack, the game Stephen "is paid to work on," is coming out Friday, March 1st! Mark then gives a primer on some audio basics that will help you understand how sound works, and works in your game. Even if you're bored by that, be sure to stick around for a discussion Stephen leads about representation in games. "Treasure Stack Reveals Launch Date With a Trailer Powered By Artisanal, Locally-Sourced, 4K Pixels" - Hardcore Gamers [0:05:32] Audio Basics "MP3 'died' and nobody noticed: Key patents expire on golden oldie tech" - Andrew Orlowski, The Register Digital Audio Basics: Sample Rate and Bit Depth Turns out, there is a ".2" in certain surround sound setups. Get free sounds on freesound.org! The reduction in audio dynamics in pop music is a result of the so-called Loudness War. [0:41:57] Representation in Games Key & Peele - Black Republicans "Here's a good argument for a black Batman" - Dan Neilan, A\V Club "Hopi-less:

Extra Extra! Hear all about it! All the news that's fit to podcast! Join us in the Nice Games Clubhouse/Newsroom to hear all about the latest and greatest news from the video game world- at least latest and greatest from our vantage point in the past. Mark takes Valve to task, Martha makes a case for golf being interesting and Stephen is only here for the mechanics not the entertainment. It's an episode full of releases, re-releases, spiritual successors, and "Epic" fails! New Releases: Kingdom Hearts 3 (finally) Apex Legends God Eater 3 Wargroove Resident Evil 2 Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy (a rerelease) New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe on Switch Bury Me My Love Walking Dead Final Season Episode 3 Pic-a-Pix Pieces Crackdown 3 Anthem Far Cry New Dawn Metro Exodus News "Valve Says It's 'Unfair' That Metro Exodus Is Exclusive To Epic Store" -Nathan Grason, Kotaku "Axiom Verge's free Epic Game Store version has a funny Steam bug" -Allegra Frank, Polygon UPDATE: It was a Polygon

This week on the program we attempt 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 by the end of the episode. The prompt was "Cold," owing to the extreme winter temperatures we were facing in Minnesota at the time of this recording. We're hoping to do even more of these going forward, so let us know what you think of this episode format on the feedback from! Rules for "The Blizzard of Whatever Year That Was" Goal The goal of the game is to leave your house and run a quick errand during the worst blizzard of your lifetime. Board Martha took a photo of what we were using to play the game during the recording of the episode: And here's a rough mockup Mark made while editing this episode: Play The board is split into 4 stages. On your turn, you roll a 4-sided die to determine your movement. When you reach the first square of the next stage (even if you are in the middle of your movement), you draw f

Your Nice Hosts are back from PodCon 2 and fresh off the Global Game Jam where Martha wrote a game for the first time! We talk all about that experience as well as celebrate Public Domain Day for the first time in 20 years. Mark guides us through the history of copyright, Stephen jams in 3D and Martha is a totally normal McElroy Fan (tmtmtmtm) Photo by GLITCH Meta Living Computer Museum Global Game Jam games from Minnesota [0:15:15] Writing for Games One Polar Night UPDATE- It totally works now! Go play it! :D [0:37:57] Intellectual Property and the Public Domain Public Domain Day 2019 (Duke University Website) “Happy Birthday” is public domain, former owner Warner/Chapell to pay $14 (Joe Mullin, Ars Technica 2016) Copyright vs Trademark vs Patent (United States Patent and Trademark Office website) All by Myself by Irving Berlin (1921) recording by Aileen Stanley (1921) in public domain Sherlock Holmes in the 22nd Century (which ironically won’t be in public domain until almost the

Ellen Burns-Johnson joins us once again in the club house to discuss our work on Widget Satchel (a platformer staring an adorable ferret!) We talk all about what went well, what was challenging and what is still left to do. Show Notes: Widget Satchel stuff: Our goal is to release in April 2019 Wishlist Widget Satchel now on Steam! Code Comment on Widget Satchel Ludum Dare special video episode featuring the first prototype version

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!

We're back with new episodes for the new year! Friend of the show Ellen Burns-Johnson joins us in the clubhouse for the annual Nice Games Club Nicest of 2018 where we talk about some games we liked that came out in 2018 - or at least that we played in 2018. Stephen is on brand with his signature fighting moves, Ellen has Unity in her sights for 2019, Martha has to think of new titles for herself, Mortho barges in to steal the show and Mark -twist- doesn't talk about a Star Trek game. Meta: Ellen is here! Podcon 2 We will be there in Seattle this weekend! You can attend the con remotely and watch live streams of the talks/live shows Global Game Jam Eventbrite January 25-27 There is a free Diversity ticket option No experience required to jam Remember a healthy game dev is a better game dev so go home and sleep, eat, drink lots of water and don’t crunch- make a smaller game! Local Releases in 2018: Video Games Claw Breaker (Team Klaw) Verdant Skies (Howling Moon Studio) Newt

Nice Games Club is on break until January 15th, so your nice hosts can take time to wrap up work on Widget Satchel, coming to PC and consoles in 2019! In the meantime, we picked out a few of our favorite episodes from our first two years in the clubhouse. This was our 51st episode. It was first released on October 17th, 2017. Original show notes: In this episode, Stephen fights his demons, Martha likes sports now, and Mark learns a lot about both. [0:02:41] Scope Creep Martha took a blacksmithing class! Also, her instructor told her this was a perfect forge weld. Martha brought up fighting scope creep on our Train Jam Episode. Project management is a way to combat scope creep that we’ve covered before. A core concept for your game can help focus ideas as well. We go over this in our Game Design Primer. “Facilitator's Guide to Participatory Decision-Making” - Sam Kaner Our post on the r/gamedev. Special thanks to SaxPanther, ledat, GravityGamesInt, Bwob, and DustyPixel for their stories! S

Nice Games Club is on break until January 15th, so your nice hosts can take time to wrap up work on Widget Satchel, coming to PC and consoles in 2019! In the meantime, we picked out a few of our favorite episodes from our first two years in the clubhouse. This was our 105th episode. It was first released on September 25th, 2018. Original show notes: This week on Nice Games Club we are trying out a new type of episode: Nice Games Jam! We get a topic from Martha's boyfriend Dylan and then attempt to create a playable game by the end of the episode. We then include the rules here in the show notes for you to play at home! Let us know what you think of this episode format on the feedback from! Pass them Laughs (Haha!) Rules: Materials: standard 52 card deck, one six sided die per player, Toad! (or some other stuffed trophy in the middle, a jester hat would be the most appropriate.) This game happens in real time. No turns! Each player starts with seven cards. Goal is to have highest poker hand. R

Nice Games Club is on break until January, so your nice hosts can take time to wrap up work on Widget Satchel, coming to PC and consoles in 2019! In the meantime, we picked out a few of our favorite episodes from our first two years in the clubhouse. One of Mark's picks, this was our 63rd episode. It was first released on January 2nd, 2018. Original show notes: This week, your nice hosts get into it. Stephen is split on everything, Mark is the bad guy, and it's all Martha's fault. Stephen and Mark talked about their Ludum Dare 40 game, Widget Satchel, which Martha played on last week’s Nice Plays episode! [0:03:58] Loot Systems “Zelda: Breath Of The Wild Players Are Tricking Amiibos To Grind For Rare Loot” - Ethan Gach, Kotaku “Nioh's latest patch fixes its most annoying flaw” - Jeffrey Matulef, Eurogamer Stephen brought up our recent episode on repetition in games. “NeuroVoider Chock-Full of Rogue-Like KillBot Twin-Stick Shooting” -  James Cunningham, Hardcore Gamer Mark alluded to a few of

Nice Games Club is on break until January, so your nice hosts can take time to wrap up work on Widget Satchel, coming to PC and consoles in 2019! In the meantime, we picked out a few of our favorite episodes from our first two years in the clubhouse. One of Stephen's picks, this was our 15th episode. It was first released on March 13th, 2017. Original show notes: In this high signal-to-noise roundtable episode, each member of the club picks a topic that they are particularly passionate about: Stephen shares his wisdom and guidance about playtesting your work early and often, Martha helps you get your act together in a practical discussion about project management, and Mark tries to explain the obligation he feels as an artist, but picks a weird hill to die on as he wrongly insists that Portal 2 isn't really about anything. We're trying to make the show even better and we need your input! Be nice and visit our feedback form to tell us what you think! Intro Ice Cold Games @zacharyjohnson Nice Games Clu

Nice Games Club is on break until January, so your nice hosts can take time to wrap up work on Widget Satchel, coming to PC and consoles in 2019! In the meantime, we picked out a few of our favorite episodes from our first two years in the clubhouse. One of Martha's picks, this was our 42nd episode (don't panic!). It was first released on August 30th, 2017. Original show notes: It's a slightly experimental show this week, as we try to see what a two-topic episode looks like. Also, Martha defends her love of coleslaw, Stephen still doesn't really like VR, and Mark has almost completely lost his voice. [0:05:54] Video Game Immersion Our pal and VR innovator Andrew Fladeboe. “Representation and Embodiment in Virtual Reality” - Jorge Albor, PopMatters Bioshock (remastered) opening scene “Would You Kindly Read This Article on Gaming’s Greatest Plot Twist?” - Mike Diver, Vice Our recent episode of Nice Plays: OneShot “Enhancing VR Immersion with the CPU in Star Trek: Bridge Crew” - Cristiano F, I

Nice Games Club is on break until January, so your nice hosts can take time to wrap up work on Widget Satchel, coming to PC and consoles in 2019! In the meantime, we picked out a few of our favorite episodes from our first two years in the clubhouse. One of Mark's picks, this was our 88th episode. It was first released on May 29th, 2018. Original show notes: For an episode 18 months in the making, Ben Hanson, video producer for Game Informer and host of the excellent gaming podcast The Game Informer Show, finally enters the clubhouse for a wide-ranging discussion about which games and developers get the attention of the gaming press, developing games for modern audiences, and creative leadership in both AAA and indie teams. Stephen is away showing off his games at the Anime Central convention, so we're also joined this week by our new permanent guest host and self-proclaimed "mean old lady," Holly Harrison, who was a guest on a previous episode! Notes/Links: Here is the fabled tweet that started the

Nice Games Club is on break until January, so your nice hosts can take time to wrap up work on Widget Satchel, coming to PC and consoles in 2019! In the meantime, we picked out a few of our favorite episodes from our first two years in the clubhouse. One of Stephen's picks, this was our 10th episode. It was first released on January 30th, 2017. Original show notes: Our 10th(!!!) episode has your nice hosts teetering on the edge of not-so-niceness as they each describe something they just don't get (or don't quite like) in gaming, and hope the other two can bring them around. [01:28] Watching Games EVO Fighting Game Tournament "The Controversial Dichotomy Between Sports and eSports" - Huffington Post Achievement Hunter - Rooster Teeth Defend the House ("gaming Mythbusters") - YouTube Contradiction: Spot the Liar! - Giant Bomb Her Story "On Let's Plays" - That Dragon, Cancer [13:00] Narrative in Games "Ludonarrative Dissonance in Bioshock" - Click Nothing Batman: Arkham Knight - lockup scene Portal 2 - f

Nice Games Club is on break until January, so your  nice hosts can take time to wrap up work on Widget Satchel, coming to PC and consoles in 2019! In the meantime, we picked out a few of our favorite episodes from our first two years in the clubhouse. One of Martha's picks, this was our 8th episode. It was first released on January 23rd, 2017. Original show notes: Some firsts in this episode: Our first iTunes review (thanks, Abdiwak!), our first episode of interconnected topics, and our first big ideological disagreement (ooo, drama!). [01:33] Gaming Mastery Gamer Motivation Profile quiz [20:45] Strategy Guides and Wikis (Martha) Pokemon Crystal guide (Stephen) Donkey Kong Country 2 guide (Mark) Nintendo Power's Dragon Warrior giveaway [38:30] Designing Party Games Ultimate Chicken Horse We Didn’t Playtest This At All! Spaceteam Jackbox Party Pack Save the Whales Sushi Go! Overcooked