Evil Games Club

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Evil Games Club pits the Nice Games Club’s evil counterparts against their own content! Listen as they discuss what Nice Games Club is doing wrong.

Episodes:

Nice Thinking
#374

Your nice hosts chew over a concept Stephen brings into the clubhouse: a series of "game jams" where participants iterate on one specific idea in each session.

2024.11.21
 
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
 
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