Nice Games Club - a gamedev podcast!

Max Kunze, Nice Games Club Guest Booker, takes over for Mark while he's still sick this week on another Nice Games Jam! Mark actually created the prompt for this episode, and your nice hosts find a way to inject many explosions into this board game made from it that you can try out yourself using the rules below!The playtest session we alluded to in the episode is on Patreon! If you want to hear how we playtested it over Miro, check it out there!PromptCreate a game where risk is extremely attractive and the consequences of failure are disastrous.Game typeCard gamePlayer count2 - 4Materials25 cubes42 cards1 Chaos Cube (six-sided die)SetupSet the 25 cubes in the center of the table so everyone can reach it. This is the stockpile.Deal out 3 cards to each player, hidden from the other players.First player is the person who was most recently in a car.RulesOn your turn, choose a card to play and follow its instructions.Types of cards: Excursion: draw 1, 2, or 3 cubes from the Gas Stockpile bag You have the option of rolling the Chaos CubeCasting Curses: Have another player roll the risk diceBad Weather: Skip the next player’s turnRaid: Steal a gas cube from another player’s cache You have the option of rolling the Chaos CubeForesight: See what cards another player hasTheft: Steal a random card from another playerIf the card allows you to roll the Chaos Cube, you can choose to roll it to increase your rewards. But there's a risk that you will both burn the cubes in your own collection and in the stockpile!At the end of your turn, draw back up to 3 cards.Play continues like this with each player playing one card until there are no more cubes remaining in the stockpile. The player with the most cubes in their own collection at the game's end wins!Future changesWe want way more excursion cardsWe want to have a way for players to steal from each otherMore cubes!MAYBE: Casting Curses doesn’t grant the possibility of granting +1 cube to the recipient of the curseAdd Sabotage back in: Remove X cubes from the Stockpile bag (1, 2, or 3 is noted on the card). You can remove a larger number by rolling the Chaos Cube, but that also carries the risk of blowing up your cache!

On this episode, we talk with two of Ellen's coworkers and the Games Agency, Jamaal Sawyer-Dymski & Greg Borreson. They talk about their career paths, from their time as young nerds, to working in very different areas of computer sciences and programming, to the fact that saying "Enhance" doesn't actually help with anything CSI style, to working with your nice host, Ellen.Ellen has some audio problems (they get better), Stephen gets called out, and Mark calls it in from home (because Dale exposed him to Covid). Spoilers:Dale and Mark are recovering (slowly) from Covid. It turns out that the secret to getting into game development is showing up to a music festival and harassing your roommate's boyfriend. Who knew?Wandering into Game DevelopmentIRLImpact JSApache CordovaJamaal Sawyer-DymskiGuestJamaal was a professional musician (saxophone), before transitioning into game development, through learning programming in a Master's program for forensic computing. Jamaal resides outside of San Diego, CA.Greg BorresonGuestGreg Borreson learned programming through website development at the University of Alberta (that's in Canada). He transitioned to game development through a contact he made at a music festival.

In this episode, Stephen points out the number three! It’s everywhere! Also, what is it about animation that captures our minds and imaginations so effectively? Your hosts explore the topic and share some ideas. Ellen gets hung up on math, and Mark tries to keep everyone calm. Good Question: How Do Street Sweepers Work? - WCCO - CBS Minnesota, YouTubeA street sweeper in Bloomington, Minnesota. Image from https://www.bloomingtonmn.gov/0:17:30Stephen's "Rule of Threes"0:48:16The Psychology of AnimationVisual attention and motion designMark HazlewoodInside Design from InVision5 examples of web animation done rightJoe JordanInside Design from InVisionAnimation for Attention and ComprehensionAurora HarleyNielsen Norman GroupMotion onset really does capture attentionKendra C. Smith & Richard A. AbramsAttention, Perception, & PsychophysicsThe necessity of interactive animation for gamesChristiaan MolemanGame DeveloperStudy explores how visual effects in videogames help players to make sense of g…Ingrid FadelliTech XploreThe CEO of Corn (aka "Corn Kid")Recess TherapyYouTube

This week, your nice hosts clop along sprawling acres of horse games and horses in games. They are led to water by the foremost expert on the topic, Alice Ruppert, creative director of the recent Horse Tales - Emerald Valley Ranch and writer of the horse-gaming blog The Mane Quest.The Taxonomy of Horse GamesGame DesignGamingProductionThe Mane QuestHorse Tales - Emerald Valley RanchAlice RuppertGuestAlice is a game designer, producer, and writer based in Zurich, Switzerland.External linkPersonal websiteThe Mane Quest

Your nice hosts explore the finality and the lusory this week with these two topics. In the process, Stephen struggles with a simple concept, Mark gets to 82% completion and Ellen figures out a way to blow up a transition.Glom is available for preorder! Find links here.0:13:40Endings0:38:51Lusory AttitudeLusory AttitudeWikipediaLusory DefinitionMerriam-WebsterWe bring up our Curling episode during this topic."No referees?!"

According to Minnesota Public Radio, it's hot girl sinkhole spring. In other words, we have an insane number of potholes right now in the Twin Cities, and since we can't do anything other than wait for the hardworking folks of road repair to fix them, we made a game about the whole situation. Andy and Beth Korth join for this special Nice Games Jam!GLOM preorder through Miniature MarketGLOM preorder through GameNerdz✨hot girl sinkhole spring✨ - Minnesota Public RadioUptown washout leaves 8-foot-deep sinkhole in Minneapolis intersection - Tim Nelson and Kerem Yücel, Minnesota Public RadioThe Korths are back! They were first on episode #002Steam GreenlightEpisode #102 with Beth & AndyCode Comment: "Verdant Skies"Episode #204 with Beth & AndyFamilies in GamesEpisode #132 with Beth Narrative Design An example of the pothole + sinkhole situation we're dealing with this spring.Another view of the school bus sinkhole.PromptEllen gave us a prompt: "Create a game about patching potholes that Gabe would have fun playing"Game typeTabletop gameMaterialsMarblesPlay-Doh or alternative squishynessA very complicated custom game boardRoad tiles of various sizes and configurationsSetupSet up the custom game boardDistribute marbles to all playersDistribute Play-Doh to all playersDistribute road / terrain tiles to all playersDetermine who will be the first player per the rules belowRulesIn a nutshell, the game challenges players to roll marbles down a hill. The hill is made of road tiles, but some of the tiles are pitted with potholes. Players can use Playdoh to patch potholes in the road so the marbles will make it to the finish.The board is a grid laid over a raised pyramid where players put down terrain. Everything starts in the center (city hall); that’s where you put the marbles so they roll down the hill. Each quadrant is a side of the pyramid, there’s some method of tiling for the player to put pieces down to determine how the marbles will travel in that area.Turn orderPlay starts with the player who most recently hit a pothole with their car or their bike. In case of a tie (as might happen if multiple players were in a car together), the younger player goes first.Play then proceeds clockwise.Players can take 3 actions on their turn. You can do the same action more than once. The actions are:Rotate the boardPlace or swap a tilePatch a potholeDrop a marbleTilesEach tile is worth 1, 2 or 3 victory points when marbles pass through. The rougher the tile, the more victory points it's worth.Players also get a bit of Play-Doh to fill up potholes in the terrain.Players have 5 tiles in their hand at any given time; as an action, they can play one, then draw back up to 5 tiles.Rotating the boardRotating the board happens towards the left (counterclockwise), the opposite of play order, which goes to the right (clockwise). Each rotation turns the board 90 degrees.Scoring & dropping marblesIf a marble reaches the bottom of the hill in front of you, you get the victory points that it acquired from each tile it moved through on its journey from the top of the hill to the bottom.You ONLY get the victory points if the marble reaches the bottom of the hill. If you drop a marble as an action, and the marble gets stuck on the way, you don't get any points from the tiles it passed through.Winning the gamePlay proceeds in 12 rounds. Each player gets one turn per round.Play ends when the turn counter reaches zero (game starts at the start of winter, ends at the start of the next winter)Whoever has acquired the most victory points by the end of the "year" is the winner of Pothole RunFun stuff to think about for the futureWe have to create an extractor to get the playdoh out.Cooperative play mode? Roles for each player? Someone who’s better at filling potholes, someone who can put more marbles down, etc. Maybe two teams?

The podcast discusses CSS and skill trees. They joke about recording responsibilities. They talk about the Game Developers Conference, Spirit Island board game, and game demos. They explain CSS, its importance in web design, and its use in Unity UI. They explore skill trees in video games, including implementation methods and frustrations with lack of meaningful choices. They also discuss leveling up and game balance.

Ellen and Stephen get spooked discussing small and/or novel horror games and experiences with Online Simulator developer Rosalie Vile. Ellen works backwards from the punchline, Stephen doesn't know about 80%, and Mark is still in California (thanks, calendar math).Tiny HorrorsGame DesignNarrativeOnline Simulator - Rosalie Vile, itch.ioSunday - EZBake Games, itch.ioSkinamarinkA Normal Lost Phone - Dear VillagersThis House Has People in It  - Adult Swim, YouTubeHaunted PS1 Demo Disc 2021 - The Haunted PS1, itch.ioRosalie VileGuestExternal linkRosalie Vile's Itch page

We hear from "California Business Mark" who spent the week on-location at GDC 2023. Mark summarizes some of the best talks and events he attended at the conference, featuring Kirby, the Playdate console, secrets in Tunic, Max, and more! Support Final Strike  - Lane Davis, GamefoundCurrent COVID guidelines from the CDC - Centers for Disease ControlSuper Nintendo World - Universal Studios(News) GDC 2023Timecode8:54.00GDC 2023Here are the time codes for individual topics:10:23 Publishing agreements talk19:32 Porting talk20:58 Playdate developer lunch28:24 Dinner with Max!29:27 Games Industry Gathering (GiG)30:50 The Many Dimensions of Kirby47:40 Immortality talk48:25 IGDA general meeting51:50 Secrets in Tunic58:45 Experimental Gameplay Games Workshop

Your nice hosts welcome Andrew Kenady, also know as Nintendrew on YouTube, to the show this week! He brings a postmortem about his recently released action platformer C.A.R.L.Postmortem: "C.A.R.L."Game DesignMarketingProductionC.A.R.L. - Andrew Kenady and Morningstar Game StudioC.A.R.L. on Steam - Andrew Kenady and Morningstar Game Studio, SteamNintendrew - YouTubeMorningstar Game StudioMatt Bitner - Barry Carenza, Premium Edition GamesThe Controversy of Super Paper Mario - Nintendrew, YouTubeNovy UnlimitedEverything is a Remix[SPOILERS] Undertale reference in new indie game, Pony Island - PxlSqrl, RedditAndrew KenadyGuestAndrew Kenady is also known as Nintendrew on YouTube, where he talks about his current and retro game collections. He is also a creator of a platformer C.A.R.L.External linkC.A.R.L.Nintendrew YouTube Page