In this slightly-longer-than-normal episode, we start with a pandemic check-in. (Bivalent boosters are available! Go get 'em!) Ellen leads us on a journaling journey, sharing the embarrassing evidence of past attempts. Stephen challenges us to think through examples of adaptation, or maybe translation, or transcreation...well, we mostly figure it out by the end. Mark is extra-sharp with the one-liners.When, why, and how to get a new Covid-19 booster shot - Keren Landman, Umair Irfan, VoxHylics  - WikipediaGato Roboto - Developer's website0:16:16Keeping a Game Design Journal"Mark's Home Office" 11/11/2021Nice Games ClubPatreonBeanstacker: Reading tracker appGoogle Play StoreContraindication (definition)WikipediaThe Complete Guide to Video Game Genres: From Scrollers, Shooters, to SportsGameDesigning.orgList of video game genresWikipediaOctalysisYu-kai ChouOctalysis GroupChronicle of the Movies: A Year-by-Year History from the Jazz Singer to TodayLeonard MultonBiblio.comGames I've played (Ellen's journal v1, with new entries!) - Google sheetEllen Burns-JohnsonGameplay journal (Ellen's journal v2 input form) - Google formEllen Burns-JohnsonGameplay journal (Ellen's journal v2, responses) - Google sheetEllen Burns-Johnson0:54:36Bringing Other Media into GamesFan Shows Us What A Frasier Game Would Look Like… HecticSean MurrayTheGamer.comSingle-Camera vs. Multi-Camera TV Sitcom Scripts: What's the Difference?Ken MiyamotoScreen CraftThe Project Gutenberg eBook of "Goody Two-Shoes"AnonymousProject Gutenberg

We welcome our first pseudonymous guest to the clubhouse to discuss what it's like making a game to carry the banner (and serve the community) of a previous title.Designing a Spiritual SuccessorGame DesignGamingProductionSanctuary Shattered Sun: Real Time StrategySupreme Commander - WikipediaInterview With Special Bread! - Sanctuary, YouTubePac-Man Championship Edition is an electrifying reinvention of a classic and fi… - Richard Stanton, GamesRadarChris Taylor lets us know what he thinks about Sanctuary - Sanctuary, YouTubeDmitry Samartsev, aka Special BreadGuest

Your nice hosts' pronunciation is on point this week as they say a really hard word a large number of times! In this episode, Mark and Ellen BOTH introduce even more complicated words to the other hosts, and Stephen admits to losing an argument (which he'd done on the show before but still don't tell his brother).Noble Robot Office0:05:23VerisimilitudeVerisimilitude DefinitionDictionary.comVeracity DefinitionDictionary.comThe Quest For Verisimilitude: Realism, Illusion, and Consistency In Video GamesErik KainForbesHow to build verisimilitude in your games?ThunderdicesRedditOne comment of note in the thread: “Your point about making things simple is extremely important. Lots of things in real life are simple and it’s the combination of items interacting that it becomes complicated. When a DM makes the simple complicated there’s a danger of the world becoming too complex and breaking verisimilitude from the other side.”ThriveAdam's Apple GamesBrobdingnagian DefinitionDictionary.comThomas Was AloneBithell GamesSteamIndie Game CreditsMobyGamesMobyGamesFilm Credits: Everything You Need To KnowNashville Film Institute

This week, a behind-the-scenes look into the game that uses a skateboard deck as a controller! Scrapebopard combines elements of rhythm, racing, and fighting games to create a unique boss attack experience. What's it like playtesting unique hardware? How much did they learn about electronics and wiring? How difficult was it to demo the game at alt.ctrl.GDC? What's next for the game? We explore these questions and more in this interview.Postmortem: "Scrapeboard"EventsGame DesignHardwareElectric Scrapeboard - Shake That ButtonMakey MakeyAbout formalism - Dario D'Ambra, Game DeveloperGame Dev Tools for Raspberry PiBabycastlesWondervillePlaytest Thursdays - NYU Game CenterCome Out & Play Festival"A Work of Art Is Never Finished, Merely Abandoned" - Quote InvestigatorFrank DeMarcoGuestBlake AndrewsGuest

In this episode the your nice hosts discuss broken games, solved games, and purposely broken games. Ellen realizes that even if it is broken, doesn't mean you need to fix it. They discuss who's job it is to make a game fun, and how you can always make a game not fun. This episode features the origin story of Stephen Business, and if you are still reading, spoiler alert: Mark's topic is a stealth sequel to his topic about Curling.Stephen reports that the paperwork has been submitted and he is officially a co-owner of Future Club!Ellen now co-owns a still difficult to obtain Steam Deck.Noble Robot now offers coworking at thier Minneapolis office.Stephen and Ellen went to see a show at the Minnesota Fringe Festival - and Ellen LOVED it!Fringe Festival History - Wikipedia"Developers" - Michael Rogers, Minnesota Fringe Festival0:24:00Broken gamesNo More Jokeys Channel on YouTubeNo More JockeysYouTubeMonopoly HotelsDaisy BarringerTrillist"Is Connect Four a Solved Game? and what does that even mean"GamesverMark mentioned a previous episode topic about Curling"No referees?!" 53:57Support SystemsTypes of Support Systems-Emotional Support -Financial Support -Someplace to liveInvestment and Risk"We quit our jobs, remortgaged our houses"Alex GilyadovGamesRadar

It's our second climb into the scruff as your nice hosts continue development on "Dogpile!" We've updated the rules and did a lot of work toward defining the properties of a full prototype deck, consisting of 100, or 150... or maybe 250 unique cards? However many it ends up being, we're looking forward to part 3!PromptKeep working on "Dogpile!"Game typeCard gamePlayer count2-4SetupShuffle a standard 52-card deck.Deal 5 cards to each player.Set the remaining cards aside; this is the draft deckFor the first round, assign the "player one" indicator to the person who most recently played with a dog.TermsTurn: One player's action.Round: Once around the table (each player takes an action).Draft Deck: The pile of dog cards you draw from each round.Dogpile: This is where the dogs that you're able to recruit into your pack will end up.Pack Leader: The card drawn from the Draft Deck once per Round.Player One: The first player to lay their cards face-down next to the Pack Leader card in each round. The First Player status is indicated with a First Player token that rotates clockwise at the start of each round. Strays: The discard pile.RulesObjective: Get as many dogs into the Dogpile as possible!How to playDraw a card from the draft deck and place it face-up in the center of the table. This is the Pack Leader card.Without talking about what’s in their hands or what cards they’re playing, all players select and number of cards from their hand to lay face-down around the Pack Leader. Each player lays their cards face-down in clockwise order, starting with the First Player.Players can lay down any number of cards up to the full complement of their hand.If a player decides to not lay down any cards (skipping their turn, essentially), then skip to Step 3 below. Remaining players’ turns are forfeit.After all players have put their selected cards face-down, all players reveal their cards at the same time.Once all cards are revealed, determine whether the group of dogs (the Pack) will join the Dogpile or become Strays. For the pack to join the Dogpile, every revealed card on the table (players’ face-up cards and the Pack Leader card) must be physically "connect" to form a single unbroken shape, consisting entirely of legal connections. As of the recording of episode 275, cards can be connected by number or suit.Cards connected horizontally must be 1 number different (up or down) from the connected card. (Numerical values are 1-13 where Ace = 1 and King = 13).Cards connected vertically must be of the same suit.Cards cannot connect diagonally, and if two cards are physically touching, they must legally connect.The two Jokers are "wild" in that they can adopt any suit or number, but like a Scrabble tile, all cards connected to a Joker must connect based on a single, newly adopted value.Clear the table by placing the group of dogs in the Dogpile, in the Strays. Optionally, the pack of Strays may be tossed randomly about the room. Then, begin the next round.At the start of each subsequent round, players refresh their hands up to 5 with newly-drawn cards, and the Player One token is passed clockwise.Continue steps 1-6 above until the timer rings. How many dogs did you get in your Dogpile?

Your nice hosts accidentally stumble into the thesis of the show as this episode explores these two topics! Also found in the show: Stephen's composed song, Mark tries to avoid Entity Component Models and Ellen thinks about snakes for 20 minutes (but holds it together somehow).Beefsteak Tomato - WikipediaWoman in Motion - ParamountWoman in Motion on Peacock - PeacockWoman in Motion on Tubi - TubiNoble Robot - Noble Robot0:06:01GameMaker for Unity DevsStephen was wrong, here's a marketplace for GameMaker pluginsYoYo GamesWhat is the difference between statically typed and dynamically typed languages?Stack OverflowRustRust TeamMain Theme for Rooty Tooty Fresh n Shooty (Stephen's Work Project)Stephen McGregor0:40:58Inspiration from Behavioral Economics5 Examples of Behavioral Economics in Your Everyday LifeRebecca KochThe Chicago School of Professional PsychologyChoice architectureWikipediaWhat determines human decisions?Daniel KahnemanUBSRichard ThalerWikipediaNudge (book)WikipediaPredictably IrrationalDan ArielyFreakonomicsFreakonomics Radio NetworkProspect theoryBehavioral Economics

Your nice hosts talk to Andrew Eiche, COO at Owlchemy Labs (Job Simulator, Vacation Simulator, Cosmonious High) about the state of VR in 2022, and where VR and VR development tools may be going in the coming years.Andrew talks about how industrial design should influence VR design, why you shouldn't take inspiration from movies, and how ergonomics are important. Also, Ellen takes a hard stand on the right way to use a dial.VR in 2022 and its FutureVR / AR / XROwlchemy LabsThe Design of Everyday Things - Don Norman, bookHeadsetsPico VR HeadsetPlaystation VR2VR EnginesVRTK (Virtual Reality Tool Kit)TButt - Turbo ButtonCosmonious HighCosmonius High on Tik Tok - Tik TokCosmonius High on TwitterCosmonius High on SteamAndrew EicheGuestAndrew Eiche is Chief Operating Owl and Cable Slinger at Owlchemy Labs. Andrew's background is game development and computer programingExternal linkAndrew Eiche is on Twitter @buddingmonkeyOwlchemy Labs on Twitter @olwchemylabsOwlchemy Labs website

It’s Ellen’s 100th episode as a Nice Games Club host! And there’s no better way to celebrate a big day than with a Nice Games Jam. Dale gave us a prompt and you’ll never guess the theme. Can your Nice Hosts come up with a playable prototype in “ruffly” an hour? Enjoy live edits, goofs, special cubes, and piles of dogs taken to the logical extreme!Ellen's first episode as a permanent host."Click here for fleet operations.""Ameritrash" - Board Game GeekTexas Hold'em Poker - BicycleCan Dogs See Color? - American Kennel ClubPromptCreate a game that could be subtitled "The 100 Dog Days of Calendar Math."Game typeCard gamePlayer count2+MaterialsTwo standard 52-card decksSetupFirst, some additional prompt information. The objective is to get your dog pack to exactly 100 members (no more, no less) in 100 units of time. You decide how many dogs you start with, how you add or lose members, and what a "time unit" is. Because this is the special for Ellen, bonus points if the game has a dog or multiple dogs in it.Now, on to the setup:Shuffle both decks of playing cards togetherDeal X cards to each playerSet the remaining cards aside; this is the draft deckFor the first round, assign the "Pack Leader" indicator to the person who most recently played with a dogTermsTurn: One player's actionRound: Once around the table (each player takes an action)Draft Deck: The pile of dog cards you draw from each roundDogpile: This is where the dogs that you're able to recruit into your pack will end upPack Leader: An outdated term we're using to describe the First Player in each round First Player: The first player to lay their cards face-down next to the Pack Leader card in each round. The First Player status is indicated with a First Player token that rotates clockwise at the start of each round. Strays: The discard pile.RulesObjective: Get 100 dogs in 100 units of time!How to playDraw a card from the draft deck and place it face-up in the center of the table. This is the Pack Leader card.Without talking about what’s in their hands or what cards they’re playing, all players select cards to lay face-down around the Pack Leader. Each player lays their cards face-down in clockwise order, starting with the First Player.Players can lay down any number of cards up to the full complement of their hand.If a player decides to not lay down any cards (skipping their turn, essentially), then skip to Step 3 below. Remaining players’ turns are forfeit. After all players have put their selected cards face-down, all players reveal their face-down cards at the same time.Once all cards are revealed, determine whether the group of dogs join the Dogpile or if they become Strays. To join the Dogpile, the cards on the table, which include all players’ face-up cards and the Pack Leader, must not breach any compatibility constraints. As of the episode 272 recording, these constraints include:The cards taken together as a whole must form an uninterrupted sequence of numbers. Clear the table by placing the group of dogs in the Dogpile or in the Strays. Then, begin the next round.At the start of each subsequent round, players refresh their hands with newly-drawn cards. Draw until your hand reaches X cards.Continue steps 1-6 above until the timer rings. Did you get 100 dogs in your Dogpile? If so, you win! 

This week, we invite our first guest for Nice Thinking! Adam Clewes-Boyne is putting together an initiative for neurodiversity advocacy and education in the games industry, specifically focused on ADHD. It started as a meetup at a conference, and Adam wants to see where it can go next.Neurodiversity in GamedevEventsIRLAdam joined us, after a fashion, in a previous episode:Game Dev London does Nice Games JamCoffee with Butterscotch podcast - Butterscotch ShenanigansHow the Gender Gap Leaves Girls and Women Undertreated for ADHD - CHADDStrategic Planning for Nonprofits - National Council of NonprofitsAdam Clewes-BoyneGuestAdam is a co-founder of the Game Dev London community and games studio BetaJester, as well as a mentor with Limit Break and Into Games.External linkTwitterGame Dev LondonBetaJester