Sarah Yu and Beth, developers of Bugaboo Pocket, join us once again in the clubhouse after our chance meeting at GDC! Listen in as we gush about bugs a lot, but also discuss how to present personality traits of your pets in pet management games. There's also a bunch of cool videos of bugs in this episode's show notes!Sarah and Beth were also interviewed by us during GDC in 2022.GDC 2022 Special (Part 2)Characterization in Pet Management GamesArtGame DesignGamingChao World - Chao IslandDo Dogs Smile? What’s Really Behind That Adorable Smile? - Joelle Audette, Canine CampusBugaboo Pocket Beta - Bugaboo PocketBugs MentionedWhat is an isopod? - NOAA Ocean ExplorationVideo of Praying MantisVideo of Jerusalem Crickets (Potato Bugs)Video of Syrphid Fly (Hoverfly)Games MentionedNeko Atsume - Hit-Point Co., LtdWobbledogs - Animal UprisingMerge Dragons - Gram GamesBugaboo Pocket - Bugaboo PocketSarah YuGuestProgrammer making games. Currently working on Bugaboo Pocket: a digital pet game where you raise bugs.External linkLink to Bugaboo PocketBethGuestArtist/animator currently working on Bugaboo Pocket.External linkLink to Bugaboo Pocket

The clubhouse comes together this week to realize the danger and fear surrounding Save Data. Mark talks about the advantages of Json and xml, then immediately tells why he choose neither of them for his project. Stephen summarizes why meetings are great and why everyone is sometimes a tech artist (Make it more... Dynamic?), and the team discusses how to best communicate between people who have different skills sets.Stephen's Brother Streaming his work - @DarkaysTG, YouTubeMark's Music Choice: The Beths "Expert in a Dying Field" - The Beths, YouTubeNice Games Club on MastadonGet your partner their own NGC shirt here0:08:46Save Data48:44Interdisciplinary Communication

To celebrate their sixth anniversary, the hosts play two 'talky talky' games: 'Where Should We Begin: A Game of Stories' and 'Hypertheticals.' They reflect on their competitive nature and discuss their gaming strategies. They also share stories of disappointing dining experiences, taking risks in their careers, and their personal experiences with injuries and recovery. The hosts reflect on the unpredictability of life and the importance of word-of-mouth promotion. They also explore hypothetical scenarios involving mind-killing abilities, standardized perfect days, and a reversal of musical tastes.

This week, fellow nice gamedev Millie Walker enters the clubhouse to discuss her approach to combining genres. It's an episode full of synthesis, but not photosynthesis because Stephen doesn't want to talk about his bonsai tree.Fusing GenresGame DesignMarketingMyth Caller: The Nightmare Shaman - KaratkuroXander the Monster Morpher: Universe Breaker - Karatkuro, SteamWe previously tackled "genre" in:"I do business." Millie WalkerGuestExternal linkTwitterYouTubeDiscord

Lots of technical talk in this episode as your nice hosts wade into these two large topics! Flappy Dragon - Google Play Store0:09:27CamerasLinear InterpolationWikipediaSuper Mario World Camera Logic ReviewShaun InmanYouTubeCamera Movements for 2D Platformers: How Do I Know Which One to ChooseSam HuSam J H HuPro Camera 2DLuís Pedro FonsecaUnity Asset Store0:31:52Bug Tracking and TriageParkinson's LawWikipediaResponsible Bug Reporting and TriageSmartbearAuction-based serious game for bug tracking"""Çağdaş Üsfekes,Eray Tüzün,Murat Yılmaz,Yagup Macit,Paul Clarke"""The Institution of Engineering and TechnologyBug Triaging PrinciplesBugsnagGame Development Essentials: Bugtracking (or how we ended up writing our own bu…Andre WeissflogThe Brain DumpProduction Testing and Bug TrackingJamie FristromGame DeveloperWhat makes a good bug report?Nick BarrettGamesIndustry.bizAzure DevOpsMIcrosoftEllen mentioned Agile Development in this episode.Agile DevelopmentWe also talked about Bugs in one of our first episodes."Bananas, from here to eternity."

It’s everyone’s favorite rhythm fighting game that doesn’t exist yet, ‘Rhythm Rumble’, back for more discussion in this week's NiceThinking Episode. Ellen learns a new word, Mark rants about Unity’s PlayerPrefs, and Stephen admits that he still hasn’t learned to take good notes. They all agree that you have to spend more time researching than you want to, and that Dale is awesome.PlayerPrefs in UnityUnity Manual on Player PrefsBodge (definition) - Dictionary.comEllen has been playing games!Agent InterceptBanner SagaFlappy Dragon on mobileFlappy BirdJetpack JoyrideMark has been playing a gameMario and RabbidsRhythm RumbleStephen leaving an old employeer for a new job also leaves him room for improvement on a rhythm fighting game. The main problems with the old prototype: not rhythmic enough and too simple. The beats the player had to match were up to the sixteenth note (quarter beat) which left players not understanding which beat they were playing to, and an impression of the game feeling sluggishSome thoughts from the discussion -Use beat patterns rather than make people keep the beat -Being able to store (and playback) beats to conjure special moves -Give the instruments personality to the fighting moves they can make -Make the game into a metaphor, give it personality - these beats might control instruments, which control rock-em-sock-em robots, rather than making the avatars hit each other with a very expensive bass clarinet. They mention Sukuri's youtube video about the influence '90's fighting games had on the design of SmashBrothersSuper Smash Bros. [Game Concepts]MasahiroSakurai on Creating GamesYouTube

It's spooky season! Stephen is SO over it, but he can't escape all the scary stuff happening in this week's episode. We start with a lesson on the necromantic arts of branding and iconography, guided by Mark, a master of these dark magics. After the break, Ellen raises a past topic from the dead in order to explore the ethics of manipulating players' brainnnsssss. Also mentioned: candy corn, houseplants, and—you guessed it—Star Trek.Star Trek: Ascendancy0:10:10Branding & IconographySmash TVWikipediaThomas Was AloneBithell Games0:36:22The Ethics of EngagementEgg, Inc.Auxbrain, Inc.Idle AcornsAleros LLCBeReal social mediaA little learning is a dangerous thingDrink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring.This is a line from Alexander Pope's Essay on Criticism (1711). The Pierian spring is a fountain in Pieria, a district round Mount Olympus and the native country of the Muses. You can read the full text for free here on Project Gutenberg.

This week, we talk with Super Rare Games' "Head of Words," Ryan Brown, about his company's approach to physical game distribution for indie games, and what it takes to get your game not just on a Nintendo, but on a Nintendo cartridge.Physical Releases for IndiesMarketingProductionSuper Rare GamesSuper Rare Games - TwitterSuper Rare Games - Developers & Publisherspublishmygame@superraregames.com The Criterion CollectionInternational Age Rating Coalition (IARC) - WikipediaStrong Museum of PlayThe Centre for Computing HistoryRyan BrownGuest"Head of Words" at Super Rare Games, Ryan has always worked in video games, whether writing for The Mirror and various outlets as a games journalist, running all things PR at Numskull, talking about hot gaming topics on BBC Radio, or serving on the BAFTA Games 2020 nominating panel.External linkTwitter

Your nice hosts start off strong with an excellently performed intro, and it just gets better from there! The Game Agency - The Game Agency0:06:24Pre-production0:31:45Idle GamesStar Trek Lower Decks: The Badgey Directive Review: The Final Fun-tier?Steven ShawDroid GamersHow to make an idle game: Everything you need to know about incremental mobile …David HarteryAdjustIdle Games: The Mechanics and Monetization of Self-Playing GamesAnthony PecorellaYouTube“It Started as a Joke”: On the Design of Idle GamesKatta Spiel, Sultan A. Alharthi, Andrew Jian-Lan Cen, Jessica Hammer, Lennart E. Nacke, Z O. Toups and Tess TanenbaumCHI PLAY

Game designer Osama Dorias returns to the clubhouse to help design a game that can be played remotely, and provides some (much needed?) structure to the Nice Games Jam process. Stephen is obsessed with Bananas, Ellen contemplates her mystery banana gift, and Mark realizes some of these concepts might be too complicated for small children.Osama previously joined us for episode 211:Building Blocks of DesignThis isn't the first time we'd had a guest join us for a Nice Games Jam:Blame the Cat! (with Monica Fan)Osama on TwitterOsama's podcast is "The Habibis"Playtest MaterialsThe slides we created for this episode's playtest.The Noun ProjectPrompt"Design a game that can be played remotely with (Osama's) children (and ideally is still fun for adults)"Game typeTabletop gamePlayer count3-6MaterialsElectronic system for sharing slides (such as Google Slides)A voice connection with remote playersA set of slides or icons/drawings/clipart to create the set of slidesA system for privately messaging playersSetupCreate a set of slides (12) with icons, drawings, photos, or clip-art, if not using a pre-made slide deck. Each slide should contain 3 items. Pick a Game Master (usually one of the adults playing the game).The Game Master comes up with one group objective with two parts: A protagonist/hero.A conflict for the protagonist.The Game Master comes up with one secret objective for each player: Each secret objective should start with the phrase “The hero should...”Ideally these will be randomly assigned.RulesPlayer order goes to the left and does not changeThe game ends when you run out of slidesEach slide should be a simple phrase or sentenceGameplayPlay starts with the Game Master describing the first slide, starting with the phrase “Once upon a time..”Play continues to the player on the Game Master’s left and the slide progresses.This player chooses one of the three pictures on the slide to incorporate into the story with a phrase or sentence.Play continues to the left with a new slide. And continues around the circle, with each player getting a new slide (the Game Master may now sit out of the storytelling), until there are no more slides left.The Game Master may provide an epilogue (and explain what an epilogue is to the children playing the game) as desired. Note: Defining 'Epilogue' will not be out of character for this game, as in this episode's run-through Mark would have had to explain to kids: headbanging, Ska, life in 1998, mosh-pits, micro-cassettes, and a reference to 'Spaceballs.'At the end of the story, players try to guess each others individual objectives.