Topics

Your nice hosts have covered hundreds of topics over the years, so we've categorized them here! Select a category, or browse the whole list. You can sort by topic name, episode name, or episode number.
Topic Category Host or Guest # Episode Starts at
Completionism Gaming Holly Harrison 323 "Sweet, sweet Toronto sounds." 0:09:09
Gamedev Philosophies IRL, Misc. Martha Megarry 77 "That gets real meta, real fast." 0:45:26
Research for Games Game Design Mark LaCroix 77 "That gets real meta, real fast." 0:10:35
Multitasking in Game Development IRL Mark LaCroix 28 "That makes me retroactively nervous." 0:48:33
Game Design Primer Game Design Stephen McGregor 28 "That makes me retroactively nervous." 0:31:06
Narrative Pacing Game Design, Narrative Stephen McGregor 266 "That’s not a friendship!" 0:45:21
Parasocial Relationships IRL, Narrative Ellen Burns-Johnson 266 "That’s not a friendship!" 0:09:25
Exploits Gaming, IRL Stephen McGregor 222 "The anitidote to hype." 0:36:36
Storytelling Game Design, Narrative Mark LaCroix 222 "The anitidote to hype." 0:10:00
Nature in Games Art Ellen Burns-Johnson 226 "The Corrupt Goo." 0:54:54
Gamepads Hardware Stephen McGregor 226 "The Corrupt Goo." 0:14:00
Game Shows Game Design Mark LaCroix 237 "The drama of the reveal." 0:33:38
Prototypes Game Design Stephen McGregor 237 "The drama of the reveal." 5:15
Games to Play While Social Distancing Gaming, IRL Martha Megarry 169 "The new normal." 0:34:14
Working From Home IRL Stephen McGregor 169 "The new normal." 0:09:00
Elegance Game Design Ellen Burns-Johnson 326 "The opposing metric of jank." 0:33:00
Composition over Inheritance Programming Mark LaCroix 326 "The opposing metric of jank." 0:07:41
Giving Talks Events, Marketing Stephen McGregor 229 "The random bobblehead." 0:45:29
Bonus Content Gaming, Production Mark LaCroix 229 "The random bobblehead." 0:12:16
What We Did On Our Winter Break (2023) IRL, Meta 337 "The Roboston Sessions" n/a
Art Direction Art Stephen McGregor 26 "The Stevechievement." 0:33:38
Version Control Production, Tools Martha Megarry 26 "The Stevechievement." 0:03:58
Console vs. PC Development Hardware Mark LaCroix 26 "The Stevechievement." 0:54:44
Gaming Habits Gaming, IRL Mark LaCroix 106 "They don't call it 'full.'" 0:46:05
Space Exploration games Gaming Martha Megarry 106 "They don't call it 'full.'" 0:06:18
Fingeance Portmortem Game Design, Production Stephen McGregor 216 "They wouldn't fully respawn." Fingeance Postmortem n/a
Control Flow Programming Mark LaCroix 339 "Things just happen, somewhere." 0:41:08
Partnering Up Production Ellen Burns-Johnson 339 "Things just happen, somewhere." n/a
PC Games Market Marketing, Production Mark LaCroix 82 "This is why I subscribe." 0:34:23
Nostalgia Gaming Stephen McGregor 82 "This is why I subscribe." 0:06:43
The Future of Nice Games Club Meta 57 "This misinformation vortex." One year of Nice Games Club! 1:13:57
VR Development (revisited) VR / AR / XR Martha Megarry 57 "This misinformation vortex." One year of Nice Games Club! 0:24:50
Strategy Guides (revisited) Gaming Stephen McGregor 57 "This misinformation vortex." One year of Nice Games Club! 1:06:04
Conferences / Gaming Events (revisited) Events, Gaming Mark LaCroix 57 "This misinformation vortex." One year of Nice Games Club! 0:14:20
Messages and Meanings (revisited) Game Design Mark LaCroix 57 "This misinformation vortex." One year of Nice Games Club! 0:48:44
Imposter Syndrome (revisited) IRL Stephen McGregor 57 "This misinformation vortex." One year of Nice Games Club! 0:03:06
Prototyping (revisited) Game Design, Production 57 "This misinformation vortex." One year of Nice Games Club! 0:40:08
Hypertheticals Physical Games Ellen Burns-Johnson 288 "Time is just a search bar away." 0:49:47
Where Should We Begin? A Game of Stories Physical Games Ellen Burns-Johnson 288 "Time is just a search bar away." 0:08:49
Ethical Consumption Gaming, Misc. Holly Harrison 224 "To whom it may concern." 0:13:06
Grind Game Design, Gaming Ellen Burns-Johnson 224 "To whom it may concern." 0:47:59
Pre-production Production Stephen McGregor 282 "Today’s the day that I screw things up." 0:06:24
Idle Games Game Design, Gaming Mark LaCroix 282 "Today’s the day that I screw things up." 0:31:45
Board Games Tabletop Martha Megarry 10 "Try it once." 0:29:27
Narrative in Games Narrative Stephen McGregor 10 "Try it once." 0:13:00
Watching Games Gaming, IRL Mark LaCroix 10 "Try it once." 0:01:28
Bringing Other Media into Games Art, Game Design Stephen McGregor 280 "Two bits of goop." 0:54:36
Keeping a Game Design Journal Game Design Ellen Burns-Johnson 280 "Two bits of goop." 0:16:16
Your Game’s Website Marketing Martha Megarry 37 "Ugly and hard to use." 0:08:13
Losing IRL Stephen McGregor 37 "Ugly and hard to use." 1:06:40
Game Exhibits and Installations Physical Games Mark LaCroix 37 "Ugly and hard to use." 0:36:31
Steam Hardware, Marketing Stephen McGregor 68 "Videogame turducken." 0:10:06
Games in Games Game Design, Gaming Mark LaCroix 68 "Videogame turducken." 0:43:35
Demoing and Playtesting Production Stephen McGregor 15 "We are artists and we should be artists." 0:03:27
Messages and Meanings Game Design Mark LaCroix 15 "We are artists and we should be artists." 0:52:56
Project Management Production, Tools Martha Megarry 15 "We are artists and we should be artists." 0:33:26
What We Did On Our Winter Break (2020) IRL, Meta 162 "We are making progress toward that, then." n/a
Impostor Syndrome IRL Stephen McGregor 1 "We in this." 0:01:58
VR Development VR / AR / XR Martha Megarry 1 "We in this." 0:55:57
Gaming Events Events, Gaming Mark LaCroix 1 "We in this." 0:22:38
Racing Games Gaming Martha Megarry 32 "We joke here." 0:53:02
Steam Direct Hardware, Marketing Mark LaCroix 32 "We joke here." 0:37:40
Future Projects IRL Stephen McGregor 32 "We joke here." 0:04:31
Physical Games Physical Games Martha Megarry 84 "We should go outside!" 0:41:21
Making a Demo Marketing, Production Mark LaCroix 84 "We should go outside!" 0:12:40
Motion Controls Hardware, Programming Mark LaCroix 140 "We’re criming you!" 0:28:52
Stealth Games Game Design Martha Megarry 140 "We’re criming you!" 0:01:30
Licensing IRL, Production Mark LaCroix 310 "What's a little grand larceny?" 0:10:27
Cheating, Part 1 Gaming Ellen Burns-Johnson 310 "What's a little grand larceny?" 0:36:22
Rhythm Games Game Design Martha Megarry 166 "When in doubt, call it Gan Ainm." 0:52:45
Naming Things Game Design, Marketing, Production Mark LaCroix 166 "When in doubt, call it Gan Ainm." 0:17:47
Designing Horror Games Game Design Stephen McGregor 139 "Who approved these topics?" 0:16:46
Crowdfunding Marketing, Production Martha Megarry 92 "Who are you wearing? Nintendo." 0:57:47
Roguelikes Game Design, Gaming Stephen McGregor 92 "Who are you wearing? Nintendo." 0:29:45
Designing Party Games Game Design Mark LaCroix 8 "Will you be the best with me?" 0:38:30