Nice Games Club - a gamedev podcast!

In this episode, Lydia and Stephen are rubber ducks for Mark as he talks through his ideas for a suite of Unity plugin tools. Buckle up, there's a lot! They also discuss whether to bundle or not to bundle tools, considerations of scope and price, and the deep appreciation for easy-to-use interfaces. Will Mark complete these tools by Christmas?Will Stephen get a reprieve from the nagging about his fishing mini game collection?Will Lydia ever get over that one client project?Stay tuned to find out!Star Trek: Starfleet Academy | Official Trailer - Paramount+, YouTube0:13:22Noble ToolsRewiredUnity Asset StoreNoble EngineNoble RobotLydia really needs to listen to the episode where Stephen and Mark talk about the localization of Widget Satchel."I definitely thought of that ahead of time."Noble Menuitch.io

Sam! returns to the clubhouse to help your nice hosts decide that Lakitu is no longer a savoir that comes down from the clouds, but since he has a job as a referee, should therefore be wearing a little ref shirt.Sam Baeseman is a member of the IDGATC board, the Nice Games Alliance board, and founding member of JAMA Jam.Nice Games AllianceIDGATCJAMA JamSam! joined us last week to talk about:Creative Peer CommunitiesBlippo+ (Mark's game) released, and you can buy it:Blippo+ on SteamBlippo+ on SwitchBlippo+ on itch.ioLydia:Why Learning Is So Hard for Adults (And How Games Can Help) - ELB Learning, YouTubeBefore becoming a host, Lydia joined the clubhouse as a guest to talk about:Digital Escape RoomsStephen is:not going to talk about his fishing gamedoing a game jam, Ludem Dare0:15:30HealthCalculate your pet's HPPolygonYouTubeYour nice hosts talked about these health systems:Subnautica - oxygen/food/waterDave the Diver - oxygenPEAK - staminaGauntlet - timeSuper Smash Bros. - percentagesStar Trek Adventures (TTRPG) - stressDoom (1993) - health packsDoom (2016) - enemy damageSuper Mario Bros. - mushrooms (2D) / coins (3D)Bloodborne - dignitySonic the Hedgehog - ringsCall of Duty - regenerating healthBlades in the Dark - "harm"42:31Developing for Speed RunnersWe talked about normal players vs. speedrunners in:Ladder Game

Your nice hosts welcome 3D artist and Nice Games Alliance board member Sam Baeseman into the clubhouse to talk about how online Discord communities become available and how to become a part of or lead such communities.Blippo+ (Out now!) - PanicCreative Peer CommunitiesIRLMisc.Sam's Social Links - skrimbus, LinktreeJAMA Jam - itch.ioInternational Game Developers Association, Twin Cities ChapterGrape Juice City -  Splashworks Studio, Steam

It's been awhile, but it's time for another video episode! This week, Mark's colleague Mike Lasch enters the clubhouse to build a digital prototype live on-air!Ladder GamePlayable "Ladder Game" prototypeMichael LaschConstruct 3Kuru Kuru KuruinWikipediaRoundaboutNo GoblinSteamSokobanWikipedia

We invite Joanna May into the clubhouse again in this supersized episode to design a game about stowing illicit goods into spacecraft as it's being built!(Note: Minor hiccup with the audio recording in the first 2 minutes, so Lydia is off mic briefly but it fixes itself.)Tangrams - WikipediaWe mention Dogpile!, a game we made in a previous game jam.Dogpile!PromptDesign a puzzle game about loading passengers and/or cargo into various spacecraft (or other transport).Game typeTabletop gamePlayer count4 or moreRulesThe ship is a pad of paper with outline of ship (legal pad sized)The interior is blank, what you draw is the interior spacesEach turn, the freighter captain draws the modulesFalse walls, freezers, to shape what you can put in thereThey have their own secret goalEach turn, the other players are smuggling things (they don’t know about what others are doing)ContrabandEach turn they can put one thing in there or move a thingMaybe you have to slide it only, you can’t pick it up after it’s been addedEach game has an ending determination and then also a scoring systemEveryone loses if ship gets caughtHidden role game?Freighter CaptainMakes the shipContraband smugglerTries to add the most of contraband as they canHonest workerWants to add the most of the goal as possibleInspectorWants to find the smuggler

Joanna May returns to the clubhouse as a guest host! Your four nice hosts chat Tetris, knitting, and CSS, but also have a pair of actual topics to discuss...Mark's game Blippo+ is out NOW! Go buy it on Switch and Steam!0:13:36Role-playingComplete History Of The Soviet Union, Arranged To The Melody Of TetrisPig with the Face of a BoyYouTubeTetris (film) - Historical accuracyWikipedia0:35:27To Rebuild or Not to RebuildJoanna previously joined us as a guest to discussSerializationGodot 4.5 release notes - SDL3 gamepad inputGodotNoble EngineNoble RobotGitHubThe Slow Way Is the Fast WayMark SamplesJoanna and Mark debated a concept called "Utility-first CSS"A Year of Utility Classes (Pro)Michelle BarkerCSS { In Real Life }What is Utility-First CSS? (Anti)Heydon PickeringHeydonWorks

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

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