Nice Games Club - a gamedev podcast!

This week's episode is another edition of Code Comment , where your nice hosts look at the project, code, assets, and design of an indie game in development to see how it's made. This week, we're looking at HoverboardVR , a movement prototype that uses a DDR Dance Pad for locomotion in VR, created by Martha and her brother Henry. You may have heard us talk about this project on the show before, an...

This week, your nice hosts take a moment to celebrate Glitch's 8th birthday! Also: Martha doesn't like jumps, Stephen talks in a British(?) accent, and Mark calls Mega Man ugly. 0:05:55 Platformers The 2.5D Owl game we were talking about is called Everend. We talked about how we define game genres in a previous episode. "I do business." You can download an early demo of the parkour racing game Spa...

This week we interview Aubrey Jane Scott, game developer for Monster Games, and discuss game development workflows. We go in-depth about keeping on task and making sure you're able to complete your projects. Workflows IRL Production Aubrey competed in the North Star Roller Derby. Her name on the team is Glitch … Mark mentioned social jet lag that he’s just recently discovered. Jesse Schell is one...

This week your nice hosts discuss making game demos and physical games! Martha is nostalgic, Mark eats some marshmallows and Stephen can't remember his childhood. Oh, and Mortho likes sports. But you probably already knew that. Photo credit- Neat Corporation press photo of their game Budget Cuts. Have you played the demo? GLITCH Bday Organ Temple VR, Sara's VR game Oneirogen, Andrew’s VR game Here...

This week, your nice hosts have put together a new video format for the show, called Code Comment , where we take apart a game from our gamedev community, looking at the project, code, assets, and design to see how it's made. For this first edition, we chose Claw Breaker , a game jam game turned upcoming commercial release made by a team that included Martha and Stephen. It's how they met! Video

This week, Mark returns from San Fransisco, your nice hosts get the math wrong, and everyone agrees that Claw Breaker is worth real money. We’re launching our new video format (now called “Code Comment”) next week! In the first edition, we dig into Claw Breaker! Look forward to it! And if you haven’t already, check our our Nice Plays videos. 0:06:43 Nostalgia The old PlayStation Spyro games are be...

Mark is still in San Fransisco, so his lovely wife Dale (she of Evil Games Club) fills in and talks with Martha and Stephen about bad game design and good character design. 0:02:48 "Bad" Game Design We put Martha though the worst Mario game ever in an episode of Nice Plays. Nice Plays: Super Mario Bros. 2 [Japan] (1986) Want some rye? The Tetris Effect Wikipedia Ubisoft Aware of Tetris Ultimate Is...

This week Dale from Evil Games Club joins us as we call in to Mark on location in San Francisco for the Game Developers Conference! Minneapolis is the Most Bikingest MOST Bikingest! Most parklandest! Gayest city? Magazine says it's Minneapolis 0:02:17 GDC 2018 Highlights Sony VR with Joshua Bell Budget Cuts Gorogoa postmortem Classic postmortem on Sonic the Hedgehog Game Dev Union / Games Workers...

This week on Nice Plays, the show where the Nice Games Club gamedevs play nice games, we continue a conversation from last week’s roundtable, and preview a topic from an upcoming episode. Your nice hosts talk about gamedev philosophy while Martha plays the zen-inspired game Everything, and talk about character design as Stephen wanders into Martha's ranch and makes a big ‘ol mess in the super-ador...

This week on Nice Plays, the show where the Nice Games Club gamedevs play nice games, we continue a conversation from last week’s roundtable, and preview a topic from an upcoming episode. Your nice hosts talk about gamedev philosophy while Martha plays the zen-inspired game Everything, and talk about character design as Stephen wanders into Martha's ranch and makes a big ‘ol mess in the super-ador...

This week, your nice hosts get a bit personal as they talk about the research that has gone into their games and the philosophies behind them, as well what exactly a Nice Game is. Also in the episode: Stephen has confusing feelings about MAR10 Day, Mark finds more reasons to reference Star Trek and Martha discusses her previously undisclosed acting talents. Perhaps it is time for the… Millenium of...

This week Stephen made it to the clubhouse despite the Minnesota snow, Mark shares his knowledge of object oriented programming and Martha yells at the Unity docs. Photo is of Glitch HQ and is from Glitch.mn There’s a #nicegamesclub channel on the MSPGameDev Slack now! Stephen’s interview on Tech. MN Mark’s 30 Metro Nexus maps, in gif form! 0:09:13 Game Programming Godot is a game engine similar t...

Your nice hosts welcome instructional designer Ellen Burns-Johnson to the clubhouse, as we discuss the many ways to approach teaching using interactive games. Along the way, we talk about bugs (of the many leg variety), snow falling from buildings, and traumatizing but educational game experiences. Learning Through Games Game Design UI / UX Ellen references THOTH, a twin-stick shooter made by Carl...

This week on Nice Plays, the show where the Nice Games Club gamedevs play nice games, we played two just-released local indie games. Martha played the life-simulation game Verdant Skies, and Stephen played the non-violent 3D platformer Newt One. We had a lot to say about both, which we loved, and not just because the developers are friends of the show. You can watch both episodes on YouTube by usi...

This week on Nice Plays, the show where the Nice Games Club gamedevs play nice games, we played two just-released local indie games. Martha played the life-simulation game Verdant Skies, and Stephen played the non-violent 3D platformer Newt One. We had a lot to say about both, which we loved, and not just because the developers are friends of the show. You can watch both episodes on YouTube by usi...

This week, your nice hosts talk about Star Trek for longer than usual, and Mortho returns with an NGC Sports Update. Also: Stephen executes a delicious self-own in a discussion on Achievements, Mark sings a song about cities, and Martha hopes to design puzzles that even Stephen will appreciate. The Greatest Discovery podcast Report: Geguri Will Be The First Woman Signed To An Overwatch League Team...

This week, Martha goes into more detail about her game, Stephen gushes about all the plushies he wants and Mark reminisces about the good old days of Super Mario Bros. 3. 0:07:49 Merch Stephen's Kirby Corner The Nintendo World Store is an awesome place for sweet Nintendo swag. "Blown Up Game Boy From The Gulf War" Vince Veneziani TechCrunch Mark's pikman plushie watches over his demo setup Mark’s...

It's Global Game Jam 2018! In this special jam episode you'll hear field interviews with gamedevs at the Minneapolis Gamecraft site mid-jam as they work on their games. Then your nice hosts talk all about how the weekend went for them and what they each got out of the experience. Martha is a stage manager, Mark can't help but make artistic developer art and Stephen is the GGJ MVP. Stephen’s GGJ ga...

(Watch this and other Nice Plays on YouTube in HD-quality.) In this episode, Mark dies a lot in Nioh, but his complaining has nothing to do with that. We're trying something new with Nice Plays, where we pick up our episode a little ways into a game rather that starting from the beginning. We'll also be talking about a particular mechanic or feature in the game which relates to a topic we had disc...

(Watch this and other Nice Plays on YouTube in HD-quality.) All three of your nice hosts play ball in this episode, taking each other to task in the super-playful party fighter Lethal League . Martha almost beats Stephen, Stephen patiently tries to explain it to Mark, and Mark doesn't understand what's happening even when he's winning. Video

It's been awhile since your nice hosts recorded in the clubhouse, and they have a lot to talk about, including news about Martha's now-in-development point-and-click game! This, plus the return of Mortho, an uncritical endorsement of capitalism, and Stephen admitting that Uncharted 4 maybe had some good things about it. That Nintendo Labo Robot Game Looks Awfully Familiar  -  Chris Kohler ,  Kotak...

This week, your nice hosts are introduced by Felix Foster, writer and narrative designer, to talk about character dialogue (or dialog, as was deemed also appropriate during the show). Character Dialogue Game Design Production Felix mentions The Prophet from The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion, who is looking for…  -  xenmordoc ,  YouTube Here’s examples of audio logs from Bioshock Infinite.  -  YouTube Fa...

Another year of great games! All "four" of your hosts gather in the freezing clubhouse to talk about some of the nicest games of 2017. They decided that they couldn't ALL talk about Zelda and Mario for the whole episode so each of them picked exactly two games to highlight. Mark is on brand, Stephen makes some ambitious resolutions and Martha totally didn't cheat the system. Listen to Sara’s Widge...

This week, your nice hosts get into it. Stephen is split on everything, Mark is the bad guy, and it's all Martha's fault. Stephen and Mark talked about their Ludum Dare 40 game, Widget Satchel , which Martha played on last week’s Nice Plays episode ! 0:03:58 Loot Systems Zelda: Breath Of The Wild Players Are Tricking Amiibos To Grind For Rare Loot Ethan Gach Kotaku Nioh's latest patch fixes its mo...

(Watch this and other Nice Plays on YouTube for HD-quality.) It's an Xmas miracle! In this jumbo-sized edition, your nice hosts play 36 (!!!) games in less than 50 minutes! Each of these games were created during the 40th Ludum Dare online game jam, which took place December 1st - 4th, 2017. Stephen and Mark participated in this jam with friends of the show Sara Ferret and Lane Davis, and to cap o...