Nice Games Club - a gamedev podcast!

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.

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, YouTube

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 Investigator

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 Steam