This week, we try something new in the clubhouse with the very first Nice Thinking! In Nice Thinking, your nice hosts have a concept or idea that hasn't been fully fleshed out and we workshop it on air. This episode has Ellen bringing in the goal of encouraging parkgoers to throw away more garbage to take care of her neighborhood park. There's a lot of trash talk in this episode, listen to find out what your nice hosts come up with!Giblet the Trash CanGoogly-Eyed Trash Eaters May Clean a Harbor Near YouJackie SnowNational Geographic

Your nice hosts do their best to "attend" GDC 2021, and end up having a really good time. Mark imagines his business card, Ellen asks questions, and Stephen proves he's human. Game Developers Conference webpageGDC 2021 SessionsIndie SoapBoxGDCGlitch City LADemystifying Indie Publishing OffersAugust BrownGDCAugust joined us in a previous episode:Developer/Publisher RelationsAvoid an Identity Crisis as a Technical DesignerGDCA slide from "Avoid an Identity Crisis as a Technical Designer"Experimental Gameplay WorkshopGDCSchimHyperRogueKromaKristallijnL'Oeuf-SphinxAI DungeonDespeloteSpreadsheet Smarter Not Harder

In this episode, Mark gets defensive about his fair city, Ellen declares her love of Big Buttons, and Stephen almost forgets Fingeance, the game he worked on for seven years.0:14:00GamepadsThe Evolution of the Xbox ControllerAlessandro FillariGameSpotThe Evolution of the PlayStation ControllerAdam BankhurstIGN List of Nintendo controllersWikipedia0:54:54Nature in GamesMinneapolis Named Best City Park System in U.S. on Trust for Public Land’s Annu…Minneapolis Park & Recreation BoardMinneapolis slides to third in urban park rankings; St. Paul rises to second (2…Susan DuStar TribuneSpend Time Outside in Twin Cities Parks and LakesCinnamon JanzerExplore MinnesotaEndling: Extinction is ForeverHandy GamesFirewatchCampo Santo

Your nice hosts come together for their first Nice Games Jam in person in a very long time! Did seeing each other together result in even wilder game jam shenanigans than you'd expect? Listen to the episode to find out!PlayThinker Deck - The Game CrafterPromptWe used Ellen's PlayThinker Deck to make this game! Goal card was "Efficiency", interaction cards were "Combination", "Approach", and "Exploration".Game typeCard gamePlayer count2-4MaterialsBasic 52 card deck (no jokers)4 Meeples12 Powerup tokens (3 different colors)SetupShuffle deck and place cards in a 4 by 4 grid.Give each player one meeple to represent them.RulesPlayer can move onto any card on their side of the grid as their first turn.On their turn each player moves one card and reveals it, potentially giving you an abilityRevealing a face card gives you an item, which gives you one of the following abilities:One gives the ability to move one more space.One gives the ability to peek at one more card.One gives the ability to move diagonally.Getting three items allows you to take one turn to bank three items, losing those three abilities but giving you one point. Revealing an Ace removes all items that player’s have not banked. Bank your items to prevent losing a point!Revealing the four corners refresh all unrevealed cards except cards that a player is on.When the deck runs out, the game ends when all the board is revealed (no more refreshes, fill out the rest of the board with a shuffled discarded deck).Whoever has the most points after that last round wins the game!

Holly Harrison, aka "Best Friend of the Show," is back in the clubhouse! And we recorded this episode in person again! Can you tell? It probably comes through in the goofs...There's plenty of silliness in this week's episode, even though your Nice Hosts explore some serious topics. Holly asks us what we can do to become more ethical consumers (and developers) of games. Ellen examines the dynamics of grind. Stephen finally admits to something BIG, and Mark takes a break.Join Lobby - Video Game Culture Feed - Holly Harrison, InstagramHolly joined us for episode 40...Community Managment...and for episode 88...The Gaming Press...and for episode 89..."A mean secret that stays in this room."...and for episode 201..."Not like Beauty and the Beast."...and for episode 202!Business SpeakEllen's new laptop: Alienware M15R4Gris (a game, not a musical) - SteamNoble Engine - Mark LaCroixHere's episode 217, in which we discussed open source.Open Source SoftwarePhoto by Helmi Lutvyandi from Pexels0:13:06Ethical ConsumptionConflict minerals: Which gaming companies may have funded human rights abuses i…Rebekah ValentineGamesIndustry.bizIs There Really Such a Thing as “Ethical Consumerism”?Maya SingerVogueSummary of sexual and non-sexual allegations (megathread)Reddit0:47:59Grindr/truegaming: For those who like talking about games as much as playing them.RedditEllen’s take on grind: “Going through the same content multiple times as a means to progress towards an in-game goal that doesn’t pertain to the player’s skill.”

Back in March, Mark created a game engine in an unfamiliar programming language for an unreleased console... and in June he explained himself in a presentation at IGDATC's Gamedev Meeting.The full video presentation of Mark's talk"So, you made a game engine?"Noble Engine, a li'l game engine for PlaydateNoble RobotGitHubNoble Engine Project TemplateNoble RobotGitHubPlaydate consolePlaydate developer portal

Starting an indie studio is hard, starting a worker-owned cooperative is harder. This week your nice hosts interview longtime friend of the show Reese Valentine and their fellow co-founder Mackenzie Denker, both of Amelore. It's co-ops 101, which happens to be exactly the info Stephen needs right now!Amelore Coop websiteAmelore on TwitterReese previously visited the clubhouse for one of our earliest episodes, in early 2017:Games Education Co-op StudiosIRLProductionThe 7 Cooperative Principles - The National Cooperative Business Association CLUSA InternationalMission Statements - Adam Schwartz, The Cooperative WayCo-ops in Spain’s Basque Region Soften Capitalism’s Rough Edges - Peter S. Goodman, The New York TimesEmbracing the Co-Op Studio Model in Indie Games - Scott Benson, Ted Anderson, Steve Filby, Ian Thomas, Bethany Hockenberry, GDCReese ValentineGuestCo-founder of Amelore co-op, a worker-owned game studio. Former President of the Game Design Club at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design.External linkhttps://twitter.com/AReeseOfCakeMackenzie DenkerGuestCo-founder of Amelore co-op, a worker-owned game studio.External linkhttps://twitter.com/denker_m

This week, Mark talks about Star Trek, Stephen wants to talk more about Star Trek, and Ellen hypes the website.We made the papers!Dreams: Awake - Charity EP Jam, BandcampItch.io Palestinian Aid bundle raises over $900,000 - Danielle Partis, GamesIndustry.bizSerious Play Conference0:10:00StorytellingThe Game Debate: Video Games as Innovative StorytellingMelissa SomerdinThe Oswald ReviewThe Importance Of Video Game NarrativeAdeyemi ThompsonSliced Bread AnimationThe Unique Storytelling Power of Video GamesAnthony JondreauMedium3 approaches to storytelling in gamesSimon K JonesMedium0:36:36ExploitsWavedashing in Super Smash Bros MeleepahlzInstructables8 of the Most Notorious Video Game Exploits of All TimeBrandin TyrrelIGN What's the biggest game exploit you'll admit to using?PC Gamer

Your vaccinated hosts return to the clubhouse to record their first in-person episode in over a year. This one's for us, but you might like it, too.There was a lot of hugs before the recording.Charity EP Jam (the new album drops June 11th!) - Chel WongIndie bundle for Palestinian Aid - Alanna Linayre, itch.ioMark's "Widget Satchel II" was featured in Panic's E3-style announcement video.Special In-Person SpecialSouth Korea’s COVID Success Stems From an Earlier Infectious Disease Failure Jiyeon Kim and Neil RichardsSlate

Can games be used for therapeutic purposes? Absolutely! In this episode we talk with Adam Davis, therapeutic Game Master, and a co-founder and executive director of Game to Grow, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. The organization is focused on "the use of games of all kinds for therapeutic, educational, and community growth."Adam shares his experiences from over a decade in therapeutic play—how Game to Grow began, how he thinks about games as part of therapeutic experiences, and how he once managed SEVEN tabletop RPG campaigns simultaneously. We hope you enjoy our inspiring conversation with this really cool guy!Helmet nachos! Source: Target Field Eats on Twitter https://twitter.com/tfeats/status/1039672499892576256Therapeutic GamesGame DesignTabletopGame to Grow blogCritical Core on KickstarterDrama Therapy - North American Drama Therapy AssociationWheelhouse WorkshopIndividualized Education Plan (IEP) - Understood.comCollaboration vs. cooperation: What's the difference? - The Ripple Team, Ripple IntranetGame to Grow Keynote at the 2018 Washington Therapy Conference  - Adam DavisNo Thank You, Evil: The Award-Winning Game of Make-believe for Creative Kids an…Adam DavisGuestAdam D. Davis, MA Ed, earned his Master’s degree in Education with a focus in drama therapy from Antioch University Seattle, and is a recognized member of the North American Drama Therapy Association.Adam is a contributing author to three publications: Integrating Geek Culture into Therapeutic Practice; Game Play, 3rd Edition; and The Walking Dead Psychology.In addition to his work with Game to Grow, Adam developed the CoRe Gaming program at the Atlantic Street Center utilizing video games to teach Dialectical Behavioral Therapy skills, served as an educator at Seattle’s Woodland Park Zoo, and taught fourth-grade literacy for Seattle Public Schools.External linkGame to Grow websiteGame to Grow on Twitter