Episodes

  • Tutorialization with Puzzles (with Luke Spierewka)

    Tutorialization with Puzzles (with Luke Spierewka)
    Nov 1 2024

    "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. Luke Spierewka and the team at Afterburn Games have mastered it, using their charming approach in successful titles like Golf Peaks and Railbound. Come learn the arcane secrets of the puzzle game tutorial! Also featuring some great room sound.

    • Afterburn Games (studio)
    Tutorialization with PuzzlesGame DesignOn crafting Railbound, a cozy track-bending puzzle game - Evgeny Obedkov, Game World ObserverDynablaster (game) - WikipediaLuke SpierewkaGuest

    Luke is a game designer, programmer, and jack of all trades. He makes games, organizes events, gives talks (and interviews) and does "lots of other stuff." He's worked on many titles, including Railbound, Golf Peaks, Gwent, and SUPERHOT. Learn more about Luke at http://spierek.net/
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    Less than 1 minute
  • "Please go vote." Runtime Asset Management; Double Jump vs. Dash

    "Please go vote." Runtime Asset Management; Double Jump vs. Dash
    Oct 24 2024
    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. Information at https://vote.org/Everything You Need to Vote - Vote.orgWhat States Allow Same Day Voter Registration and When? - Rock the VoteThe Only Patriotic Choice for President - The New York TimesThese are the Republicans endorsing Harris over Trump - Niha Masih, The Washington PostDonald Trump Is Unfit to Lead - The New York TimesDonald Trump’s First Term Is a Warning - New York Times Opinion, The New York TimesRuntime Asset ManagementPhaserSimplify your content management with AddressablesUnityWADDoom WikiDouble Jump vs. DashGames Are Better With Double JumpsHeather AlexandraKotakuWhy Celeste's dash feels great Alex WiltshireRock Paper ShotgunKaizoWikipedia
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    Less than 1 minute
  • Combat Design (with Timothy Staton-Davis)

    Combat Design (with Timothy Staton-Davis)
    Oct 17 2024

    We welcome Timothy Staton-Davis into the clubhouse to talk both the broad strokes and the nitty-gritty of combat design.

    • Melanated Game Kitchen - itch.io
    Combat DesignArtGame DesignWe talked about "juice" in game design way back! You can find links related to the topic here as well."I am a Juice Journeyman!"Pacing - Robert Yang, Andrew Yoder, The Level Design BookTimothy Staton-DavisGuestLead Encounter Designer for Brass Lion Entertainment, and Creative Director of Melenated Game Kitchen.External linkhttps://melanatedgamekitchen.itch.io/
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    Less than 1 minute
  • “That’s way too many pawns.” Communicating Difficulty; Remixed Play Modes

    “That’s way too many pawns.” Communicating Difficulty; Remixed Play Modes
    Oct 11 2024
    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. Then, Mark thinks about the practice taking familiar game mechanics and twisting them into something fresh. Think pacifist runs or limited equipment modes. Why limit yourself to one way to play when you can remix the whole game? As always, there are some goofs in here, too.Unity 6 Preview is now available - Nancy Larue, UnityUnity is canceling the Runtime Fee - Matt Bromberg, UnityUnite Conference - UnityHasbro Game Night (for Switch)We Were Here Series - Total Mayhem Games, SteamLoopy: a tool for thinking in systems - Nicky CaseMachinations: Create digital twins for your systems, processes or economies0:21:44Communicating DifficultyReally Bad ChessPuzzmoOrta Therox & Zach GageAggro Crab Studio"Why Quitting Is Usually Worth It"David Duchovny & Stephen DubnerFreakonomics Radio Network0:40:35Remixed Play ModesMetro NexusNoble Robot10 Most Unique Multiplayer Modes In Video GamesJames KennedyThe GamerExtra game modesUniversal Videogame ListPARKS Board Game59 Parks
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  • "Numbers go up." Scoring 101; Turning off the Gamedev Brain

    "Numbers go up." Scoring 101; Turning off the Gamedev Brain
    Oct 3 2024
    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.Stephen started a new class: Film making Ellen forced her parents to play another game! Parks Board GameMark saw the Badger Badger Mushroom song for the first time and was underwhelmed. Consequently, Dale was editing and then also got to see it for the first time, and found that this was the correct response. This video is over 20 years old (2003).Badger Badger Mushroom - Weeb's Stuff, YouTubeMark is (still) working on some User Interface Tools in Unity, called NobleTools0:11:26Scoring 101The four types of scoring discussed: 1. Victory Points 2. Experience Points 3. Stats based scoring 4. Hit PointsPerplexity conversationNoodleThe Training ArcadeKurt Vonnigut The Shape of StoriesStephen JohnsonBig ThinkSumming Salt - Mario Kart DSSumming SaltYouTube0:42:39Turning off the Gamedev BrainMoonwalking with EinsteinWikipediaEllen has been watching the behind the scenes special feature for ' The House that Dragons Built'
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  • Optimization (with Jarryd Huntley)

    Optimization (with Jarryd Huntley)
    Sep 26 2024
    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.Cleveland video game designer Jarryd Huntley wins Peabody Award for ‘We Are OFK’ - Joey Morona, cleveland.comWe are OFK - Peabody AwardsCleveland Game Developers - LinktreeOptimizationHardwareProductionProgrammingIs Using LINQ in C# Bad for Performance? - James Vickers, The Startup For Vs Foreach In C# - Sagar Gavand, C# CornerJarryd HuntleyGuest
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    Less than 1 minute
  • "It's hard how my mind works." Audio Middleware; Psychic Distance

    "It's hard how my mind works." Audio Middleware; Psychic Distance
    Sep 19 2024

    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.

    • About the Fair - Minnesota State Fair
    0:17:06Audio MiddlewareAn example of audio tech conversations we've had in the past.Game Audio Tools and WorkflowsWwiseAudiokineticFMODFMOD0:51:32Psychic DistancePsychic Distance: what it is and how to use itEmma DarwinThis Itch of Writing
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    Less than 1 minute
  • Nice Thinking: "Player Personas"

    Nice Thinking: "Player Personas"
    Sep 12 2024
    In this episode the boys are back in Minneapolis, but they are still thinking about their time with Ellen in Duluth, or Roboluth ;) sSo they are using this episode to talk about instructions, again, but this time though the lens of the different types of "user personas" who will be reading it.InstructionsWhat is Roboston?Roboston is a tabletop game that the the Nice Games Club came up with during an podcast Game Jam Episode. For anyone new to the podcast, we recommend starting two episodes back (at 362), for some background on the game. For those of you who wish for a full memory restoration, here is the full episode list:The original Nice Game Jam where Roboston was concievedRoboston! (Live at 2D Con 2020)A follow up episode 197 continues the devlopment because they were so excited about RobostonRoboston! (part 2)The club worked on the game over winter break in 2020-21, episode 207 summarizes what they worked on."It’s March tomorrow."We again visited Roboston over our 2023-24 winter break, and talk about in in episode 337"The Roboston Sessions"Mark and Steven visit Ellen in Duluth where they play a bunch of Roboston"Apply your context, thusly."Rulebook isMore than a script for “the teach”Verbal and visual (and, increasingly, multimedia)Define your PlayersSteve BromleyGame User ResearchDefine your PlayersUser persona is the UX term, Player persona is used in gamesThings to add to the FAQsDoes the value affected by the repeater also get multiplied if you’re adding a part? Does the value for a new part always have to come from the torso? Can you send the robot without having arms/legs/heads? How many dice should I try to go for in this check?Player Personas1. Roboston new playersBox inventory list Anatomical diagram of a robot Game setup diagram (game as a whole, what’s in your hand) Reference cards (player actions, game phases, etc.)2. Roboston experienced players Table of contents Stats for nerds Index (?) FAQ section3. Inexperienced tabletop game players Invitation to play, sense of fun Build trust with the player as the rulebook progresses4. Experienced tabletop game playersResource, reference Allow them to get right to the core, fast
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