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
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
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
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
Speedrunning Gaming Martha Megarry 36 "Maybe a Zeldo." 0:47:42
Spirit Island Spirits Game Design, Tabletop Stephen McGregor 359 "Imagine it's running on a potato." 0:46:49
Splatoon 2, ur, I mean Shooters Gaming Martha Megarry 41 "Proper ones and twos." 1:13:45
Square Enix at E3 2019 News 135 E3 2019 Special 0:34:50
Star Trek Games Gaming Mark LaCroix 89 "A mean secret that stays in this room." 0:31:20
Star Trek games (from Enterprising Individuals) Gaming, IRL Mark LaCroix 233 Star Trek games (from Enterprising Individuals) n/a
Star Trek: Bridge Crew Gaming, VR / AR / XR Mark LaCroix, Dylan Skerbitz 17 GDC 2017 Special (Part 1) 0:55:35
Starting a Game IRL Martha Megarry 71 "Martha's philosophy on life." 0:39:18
Starting Projects IRL, Production Ellen Burns-Johnson 171 "Martha, Martha, Martha!" 1:11:55
Starting Your Next Project IRL Lane Davis 29 "I am a Juice Journeyman!" 0:31:19
Stealth Games Game Design Martha Megarry 140 "We’re criming you!" 0:01:30
Steam Hardware, Marketing Stephen McGregor 68 "Videogame turducken." 0:10:06
Steam Direct Hardware, Marketing Mark LaCroix 32 "We joke here." 0:37:40
Steam Greenlight Marketing, Production Beth Korth, Andy Korth 2 Steam Greenlight n/a
Stephen's "Rule of Threes" Game Design Stephen McGregor 304 "Play thrice, and make thrice." 0:17:30
Stephen's Most Anticipated (for 2018) Nicest Stephen McGregor 66 Nicest of 2017 0:38:35
Stephen's Most Anticipated (for 2019) Nicest Stephen McGregor 113 Nicest of 2018 n/a
Stephen's Nicest (2016) Nicest Stephen McGregor 9 Nicest of 2016 n/a
Stephen's Nicest (2018) Nicest Stephen McGregor 113 Nicest of 2018 n/a
Stephen’s Nicest (2017) Nicest Stephen McGregor 66 Nicest of 2017 0:32:33
Stephen’s Travelogue! Events Stephen McGregor 135 E3 2019 Special 0:56:03
Storytelling Game Design, Narrative Mark LaCroix 222 "The anitidote to hype." 0:10:00
Strategy Guides (revisited) Gaming Stephen McGregor 57 "This misinformation vortex." One year of Nice Games Club! 1:06:04
Strategy Guides and Wikis Gaming, Tools Martha Megarry 8 "Will you be the best with me?" 0:20:45
Support Systems IRL Stephen McGregor 276 "Always be the banker." 53:57
Taking Feedback IRL Stephen McGregor 154 "Abstracted to the point of silliness." 0:26:06
Targeting Multiple Platforms Programming Mark LaCroix 359 "Imagine it's running on a potato." 0:06:56
Taxes and Business IRL Mark LaCroix 24 "I trolled myself." 0:01:51
Teaching Gamedev to Young People Game Design, IRL Truman Simpson 263 Teaching Gamedev to Young People n/a
Teaching Gamedev to Young People, Again! Game Design, IRL Chris Totten 264 Teaching Gamedev to Young People, Again! n/a
Team Building IRL, Production Stephen McGregor 123 "Does this game mechanic spark joy?" 0:01:57
The art of Saying No Production Dale LaCroix 385 "You shouldn't pet the wolf." 1:33
The Critical Eye IRL Stephen McGregor 416 "I saw a Beatle." 0:56:30
The Ethics of Engagement Game Design Ellen Burns-Johnson 284 "Shiny rocks get me every time." 0:36:22
The Future of Nice Games Club Meta 57 "This misinformation vortex." One year of Nice Games Club! 1:13:57
The Gaming Press Gaming, IRL, Marketing Ben Hanson 88 The Gaming Press n/a
The GDC That Wasn't Events, IRL 168 "GDC" 2020 Special 0:12:40
The Intersection of Puzzle and Story Game Design, Narrative, Production Ron Gilbert 354 The Intersection of Puzzle and Story n/a