with Arvi "Hempuli" Teikari
#373
Releasing 2019's "Baba is You" after more than a decade of making puzzle games was a milestone for this week's guest, but it was also just the beginning of his design journey.
2024.11.15
It's a gamedev podcast!
The show where nice gamedevs Ellen Burns-Johnson, Mark LaCroix, and Stephen McGregor (with friends and guests) talk gaming and game development!
Nice Games Jam
#372
In this episode Ellen usurps the normal process for a nice game jam prompt to explore her own idea on tabletop mechanics. Who would have thought the scoring system for this game would be 'Points for the Future War'?
2024.11.07
with Luke Spierewka
#371
"Tutorials shouldn’t feel like tutorials!" Like most aspects of game design, it's an easy concept to summarize but a difficult one to pull off.
2024.11.01
- Runtime Asset Management
- Double Jump vs. Dash
#370
This week, your nice hosts talk a little bit about our civic duty before getting into two very on-brand topics. Make a plan to vote on (or before!) November 5th.
2024.10.24
with Timothy Staton-Davis
#369
We welcome Timothy Staton-Davis into the clubhouse to talk both the broad strokes and the nitty-gritty of combat design.
2024.10.17
- Communicating Difficulty
- Remixed Play Modes
#368
This week, Ellen kicks things off with a chat about how games tell players, “This might be tough!” and how to make that fun and fair. Stephen and Mark jump in with their takes on what makes difficulty settings shine.
2024.10.11
- Scoring 101
- Turning off the Gamedev Brain
#367
This week, learn about what Ellen was like as a student. Stephen wonders if he’s made a huge mistake, Ellen does some work research, and Mark insists that there is no such thing as magic.
2024.10.03
with Jarryd Huntley
#366
Entering the clubhouse this week is our the third Owl (employee of Owlchemy Labs) and first Peabody Award winner (as lead developer for We Are OFK), to talk about the "dos," "don'ts," and "good enoughs" of optimization.
2024.09.26
- Audio Middleware
- Psychic Distance
#365
There are now episodes of Nice Games Club for each new day of the year! When you get to the last day of that year, you'll hear about Audio Middleware and Psychic Distance from us in the clubhouse.
2024.09.19
Nice Thinking
#364
In this episode the boys are back in Minneapolis, but they are still thinking about their time with Ellen in Duluth, or Roboluth ;) s
2024.09.12
The Duluth Basement Session
#363
Once again from hilly Duluth, Minnesota! On Day 2 of a game design weekend retreat, your nice hosts tackled rules—writing rules, rewriting rules, and playtesting them.
2024.09.05
- Instructions
- Cynicism
#362
It's a nice sleepover as this (and next) week's episode is recorded from Ellen's basement in Duluth. Mark has an angle, Ellen shares her topic, and Stephen manages.
2024.08.29
- Theming vs. Aesthetics
- Parries
#361
It’s hot in the clubhouse and hot in Ellen’s greenhouse this week, so your hosts are eager to crunch through some discussion.
2024.08.22
with Dave McKee
#360
We invite music producer and sound designer Dave McKee into the clubhouse to talk about accessibility in games this week.
2024.08.15
- Targeting Multiple Platforms
- Spirit Island Spirits
#359
We face complexity head-on this episode with two topics that will get your neurons firing. Mark walks through considerations involved with publishing a game to multiple platforms.
2024.08.08