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
Guns Game Design Mark LaCroix 234 "Godot! God-ot? Godot." 0:43:14
Pricing Gaming, Marketing Stephen McGregor 177 "How Quality Is It?" 0:59:56
Leadership IRL, Production Ellen Burns-Johnson 177 "How Quality Is It?" 0:24:37
Pokémon Gaming Martha Megarry 112 "How would I know that?" 0:54:18
Optimization Programming Mark LaCroix 112 "How would I know that?" 0:04:53
Online Play Game Design, Programming, Tools Stephen McGregor 195 "Human, play Dom-jot?" 0:52:57
Games in Other Media Game Design, Gaming, Narrative Ellen Burns-Johnson 195 "Human, play Dom-jot?" 0:15:25
Serial Game Design Game Design Lane Davis 29 "I am a Juice Journeyman!" 0:03:05
Video Game Juice Game Design Lane Davis 29 "I am a Juice Journeyman!" 0:35:18
Starting Your Next Project IRL Lane Davis 29 "I am a Juice Journeyman!" 0:31:19
Changing Your Mind Game Design Lane Davis 29 "I am a Juice Journeyman!" 0:14:57
Accessibility Accessibility, Game Design Martha Megarry 121 "I definitely thought of that ahead of time." 0:46:30
Localization Systems Production, Programming, UI / UX Mark LaCroix 121 "I definitely thought of that ahead of time." 0:07:03
DLC and Expansions Gaming, Production Martha Megarry 48 "I do business." 0:02:40
Genre in Games Game Design, Meta Mark LaCroix 48 "I do business." 0:38:34
Holistic Game Design Game Design, Production Mark LaCroix 151 "I don't always want to do that." 0:20:11
Work/Life Balance IRL Stephen McGregor 151 "I don't always want to do that." 0:49:10
Joy vs. Fun Game Design Ellen Burns-Johnson 249 "I got all the moons." 44:00
Games You Get for Free Gaming Stephen McGregor 249 "I got all the moons." 15:00
Loot Boxes Gaming, Marketing Martha Megarry 63 "I have so much feelings..." 0:29:30
Loot Systems Game Design Stephen McGregor 63 "I have so much feelings..." 0:03:58
Developing Ideas IRL Martha Megarry 98 "I like naps." 0:05:48
Game Dev Success IRL Stephen McGregor 98 "I like naps." 0:36:10
Lusory Attitude Gaming, IRL Ellen Burns-Johnson 302 "I love it when you kinda agree." 0:38:51
Endings Game Design, Narrative Mark LaCroix 302 "I love it when you kinda agree." 0:13:40
Bug Tracking and Triage Production, Programming Ellen Burns-Johnson 286 "I realize you were making a more point thing?" 0:31:52
Cameras Game Design, Programming Stephen McGregor 286 "I realize you were making a more point thing?" 0:09:27
Competition Gaming Stephen McGregor 24 "I trolled myself." 0:43:20
Nintendo Switch Gaming, Hardware Martha Megarry 24 "I trolled myself." 0:23:49
Taxes and Business IRL Mark LaCroix 24 "I trolled myself." 0:01:51
Working with Family IRL Stephen McGregor 182 "I will not threaten you with a noogie." 0:42:09
Serious Play Conference 2020 Events Ellen Burns-Johnson 182 "I will not threaten you with a noogie." 0:16:00
Puzzle Design Game Design Martha Megarry 72 "Idea! Idea! Idea! Idea!" 0:39:46
Achievements Game Design, Gaming Stephen McGregor 72 "Idea! Idea! Idea! Idea!" 0:08:10
Crunch IRL, Production, Programming Stephen McGregor 165 "If you're feeling saucy..." 0:42:22
Day-One Patches Production, Programming Mark LaCroix 165 "If you're feeling saucy..." 0:02:48
Rumble Hardware Mark LaCroix 147 "In situ." 0:21:27
Making Games for Spaces Events, Physical Games Martha Megarry 147 "In situ." 0:47:04
Indie Game Credits Production Mark LaCroix 278 "Insert interesting car here." n/a
Verisimilitude Art, Game Design Ellen Burns-Johnson 278 "Insert interesting car here." 0:05:23
Randomization Game Design Stephen McGregor 148 "Intentionally random." 0:52:05
XOXO Festival Events Martha Megarry 148 "Intentionally random." 0:19:53
Westworld as a Video Game Misc. Mark LaCroix 3 "It's against the law to stop." 0:02:00
Designing Games for Non-Gamers Game Design Stephen McGregor 3 "It's against the law to stop." 0:27:30
Crafting Systems Game Design Martha Megarry 3 "It's against the law to stop." 0:11:44
Representation in Games IRL, Production Stephen McGregor 118 "It's Black History Month, y'all!" 0:41:57
Audio Basics Audio Mark LaCroix 118 "It's Black History Month, y'all!" 0:05:32
What We Did On Our Winter Break (2021) Game Design, IRL, Meta Mark LaCroix, Stephen McGregor, Dale LaCroix, Ellen Burns-Johnson 207 "It’s March tomorrow." n/a
NDAs Marketing Mark LaCroix 181 "I’m ashamed, but also so proud." 0:19:20
Replayability Game Design Ellen Burns-Johnson 181 "I’m ashamed, but also so proud." 0:47:15
Inspiration from Behavioral Economics Game Design, Gaming Ellen Burns-Johnson 274 "I’m not coding your game, y’all figure that out." 0:40:58
GameMaker for Unity Devs Programming, Tools Stephen McGregor 274 "I’m not coding your game, y’all figure that out." 0:06:01
Illusions of Choice Game Design Mark LaCroix 238 "Just-In-Time Compiler." 37:28
Deluxe Editions Gaming, Marketing, Physical Games Ellen Burns-Johnson 238 "Just-In-Time Compiler." 10:04
Fun in Games Game Design Ellen Burns-Johnson 175 "Kapow?" 0:11:09
Porting Your Game Hardware, Programming Mark LaCroix 175 "Kapow?" 0:44:11
Intuition Game Design Ellen Burns-Johnson 218 "Kids like cubes these days." 45:19
Novelty Game Design Stephen McGregor 218 "Kids like cubes these days." 12:27
Should we design for Killers? Game Design, Gaming Ellen Burns-Johnson 270 "Killed the flightmaster, killed the griffin..." 0:49:50
Maintaining an Open-Source Project Programming Mark LaCroix 270 "Killed the flightmaster, killed the griffin..." 0:21:25
Visual Composition Art, Game Design, UI / UX Mark LaCroix 294 "Layers and layers of hair." 0:17:12
Minigames Gaming Ellen Burns-Johnson 294 "Layers and layers of hair." 0:39:45
Game Design Balance Game Design Stephen McGregor 119 "Let Reggie get back to work." 0:41:00
Fanbases Gaming, IRL Martha Megarry 119 "Let Reggie get back to work." 0:16:50
What We Did On Our Winter Break (2022) IRL, Meta Mark LaCroix, Stephen McGregor, Ellen Burns-Johnson 292 "Leveling out the table." n/a
Starting a Game IRL Martha Megarry 71 "Martha's philosophy on life." 0:39:18
Merch Marketing Mark LaCroix 71 "Martha's philosophy on life." 0:07:49
Starting Projects IRL, Production Ellen Burns-Johnson 171 "Martha, Martha, Martha!" 1:11:55
Ending Projects IRL, Production Martha Megarry 171 "Martha, Martha, Martha!" 0:13:13
Co-Op Games Game Design Stephen McGregor 244 "Maximum Whooo!" 53:10.0
Learning to Use Tools Misc., Tools Ellen Burns-Johnson 244 "Maximum Whooo!" 14:05
Speedrunning Gaming Martha Megarry 36 "Maybe a Zeldo." 0:47:42
Co-op Games Gaming Stephen McGregor 36 "Maybe a Zeldo." 0:29:40
Enemy AI Game Design Mark LaCroix 36 "Maybe a Zeldo." 0:03:00
Secrets & Easter Eggs Game Design Ellen Burns-Johnson 296 "Metroid is very serious." 0:24:43