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
Preserving the Dreamcast Hardware Ben Franks 52 Preserving the Dreamcast n/a
Press Reset by Jason Schreier Misc. Mark LaCroix 212 "Brainy. Not academic." 0:41:00
Pricing Gaming, Marketing Stephen McGregor 177 "How Quality Is It?" 0:59:56
Problematic Games Gaming Sara Ferret, Ajuawak Kapashesit 20 Co-Op Recap: Problematic Games n/a
Procedural Generation Programming Martha Megarry 21 "Mutual butt-kicking." 0:35:40
Programming VR Games Programming, VR / AR / XR Jonathan Jennings 190 Programming VR Games n/a
Project Management Production, Tools Martha Megarry 15 "We are artists and we should be artists." 0:33:26
Prototypes Game Design Stephen McGregor 237 "The drama of the reveal." 5:15
Prototyping Game Design Stephen McGregor 19 "Pick up all the things." 0:05:18
Prototyping Game Design, Tools Ellen Burns-Johnson 187 "A way to farm notions." 0:13:50
Prototyping (revisited) Game Design, Production 57 "This misinformation vortex." One year of Nice Games Club! 0:40:08
Psychic Distance Game Design, Narrative Stephen McGregor 365 "It's hard how my mind works." 0:51:32
Putting on a GlitchCon! Events Alex Chang 22 Putting on a GlitchCon! n/a
Putting the Real World in Games Game Design, Narrative Mark LaCroix 318 "Sad or fascinating?" 0:50:22
Puzzeling the Bachelorettes Game Design Lydia Symchych 436 Bachelorette Weekend Dinner Quest n/a
Puzzle Design Game Design Martha Megarry 72 "Idea! Idea! Idea! Idea!" 0:39:46
Puzzle Systems Game Design, Tools Arvi "Hempuli" Teikari 373 Puzzle Systems n/a
Puzzle/Escape Rooms Physical Games Art Allen 56 Puzzle/Escape Rooms n/a
QA Workflows Programming, Tools, UI / UX Mark LaCroix 397 "Everyone hates Jira." 0:06:27
Quality of Life Game Design, Gaming, UI / UX Stephen McGregor 383 "Nice Games Club cannot solve all of your problems." 0:52:09
Racing Games Gaming Martha Megarry 32 "We joke here." 0:53:02
Randomization Game Design Stephen McGregor 148 "Intentionally random." 0:52:05
Redundancy Game Design, UI / UX Mark LaCroix 170 "Stephen, his arms wide!" 0:13:01
Relaxing Games Game Design, Gaming Ellen Burns-Johnson 239 "Oh is that Rugrats?" 0:05:30
Release Dates Marketing Mark LaCroix 53 "Boo!" 0:20:58
Releasing a Game Marketing, Production Ben Burnes 62 Releasing a Game n/a
Remixed Play Modes Game Design Mark LaCroix 368 “That’s way too many pawns.” 0:40:35
Repetition Game Design Martha Megarry 61 "Schrödinger’s Animal Crossing." 0:46:44
Replayability Game Design Ellen Burns-Johnson 181 "I’m ashamed, but also so proud." 0:47:15
Replayability Game Design, Gaming Stephen McGregor 448 "It’s annoying because, like, I’m annoying." 0:06:02
Representation in Games IRL, Production Stephen McGregor 118 "It's Black History Month, y'all!" 0:41:57
Reravel IRL, Tabletop Dale LaCroix 160 Evil Games Club 4! 0:35:40
Research for Games Game Design Mark LaCroix 77 "That gets real meta, real fast." 0:10:35
Researching Inspiration Art, Game Design, Production Bernie Mattson 451 Researching Inspiration n/a
Resource Management in Games Programming Stephen McGregor 126 “Three-headed monster.” 0:07:58
Resources for Rules-Writing Game Design, Physical Games Mark LaCroix, Stephen McGregor, Ellen Burns-Johnson 363 The Duluth Basement Session n/a
Responsive Game Design Game Design 387 "Our sense of epoch." 1:17:44
Revisiting Your Games Game Design, Production, UI / UX Andy Korth 402 Revisiting Your Games n/a
Rhythm Games Game Design Martha Megarry 166 "When in doubt, call it Gan Ainm." 0:52:45
Rhythm Rumble Game Design Stephen McGregor 285 Revisiting Rhythm Rumble n/a
Roguelikes Game Design, Gaming Stephen McGregor 92 "Who are you wearing? Nintendo." 0:29:45
Role-playing Gaming, IRL, Narrative Stephen McGregor 407 "Ain’t nothin’ left." 0:13:36
Rotating Leadership Production Lydia Symchych 450 "More soda thoughts." 1:10:13
Rumble Hardware Mark LaCroix 147 "In situ." 0:21:27
Running An Indie Studio IRL Matt Gravelle 137 Running An Indie Studio n/a
Runtime Asset Management Production, Programming Mark LaCroix 370 "Please go vote." n/a
Runtimes, SDKs, and APIs Tools Mark LaCroix 30 "75% sure." 0:02:31
Safecracker!! Game Design, Tabletop 250 Game Dev London does Nice Games Jam 0:18:36
Save Data Programming Mark LaCroix 289 "You lost all your dragons." 0:08:46
Save Scumming Game Design, Gaming Stephen McGregor 328 "Smarter, more evolved." 31:57:0
Save Systems Accessibility, Game Design, Gaming Lydia Symchych 394 "It's about trust." 0:09:50
Saving and Loading Systems Programming Martha Megarry 131 “A secret room with secret stuff!” 0:44:41
Scope Creep Production Stephen McGregor 51 "Right the dang now." 0:02:41
Scoping for your Project Production John Donkin, Rob Donkin 332 Scoping for Your Project n/a
Scoring 101 Game Design Ellen Burns-Johnson 367 "Numbers go up." 0:11:26
Scoring Systems Game Design Mark LaCroix 130 “Once more with feeling!” 0:15:10
Secrets & Easter Eggs Game Design Ellen Burns-Johnson 296 "Metroid is very serious." 0:24:43
Sega Consoles Hardware Mark LaCroix # Sega Consoles n/a
Self-education, et al. IRL, Misc. Freya Holmér 110 Self-education, et al. n/a
Self-publishing Must-haves Marketing Mark LaCroix 103 "Put it in a WordSpace!" 0:44:30
Sequels Misc. Mark LaCroix 94 "Somebody's first episode." 1:07:25
Serial Game Design Game Design Lane Davis 29 "I am a Juice Journeyman!" 0:03:05
Serialization Programming, Tools Joanna May 377 Serialization n/a
Serious Play Conference Events, IRL Lydia Symchych 409 Serious Play Conference 2025 n/a
Serious Play Conference 2020 Events Ellen Burns-Johnson 182 "I will not threaten you with a noogie." 0:16:00
Shipping Updates Production Mark LaCroix 442 “That’s not how Lutherans work” 0:36:00
Should we design for Killers? Game Design, Gaming Ellen Burns-Johnson 270 "Killed the flightmaster, killed the griffin..." 0:49:50
Silent Protagonists Game Design, Narrative Stephen McGregor 241 "..." 0:43:58
Skill Trees Game Design Stephen McGregor 298 "One size bigger and red." 46:38
Sledgehammer Bride Game Design, Narrative Stephen McGregor 240 Sledgehammer Bride n/a
Small Projects Game Design, Narrative Adia Alderson 189 Evil Games Club 5! 0:45:46
Solo Development IRL Will Tice 14 Solo Development n/a
South by Southwest 2024 Events, Misc., News Mark LaCroix 345 "Everything is everything." 0:09:52
Space Exploration games Gaming Martha Megarry 106 "They don't call it 'full.'" 0:06:18
Special In-Person Special IRL, Meta, Misc. Mark LaCroix, Stephen McGregor, Ellen Burns-Johnson 220 “My face is over here.” Special In-Person Special n/a