Nice Games Club

How is it April? The episodes have been so long lately it feels like it should be more than two months since the hiatus ended. As a countermeasure, the Nice Hosts have another set of roundtable topics to break up your week and retune the time dilation. Stephen tries hard not to talk about fighting games, Lydia ponders the nature of instructions, and everyone talks a lot more about Mario than they thought they would. 0:01:41Characterization Through MechanicsWe talked about characterization in Smash on a previous episode."I’m intrigued by big door."Lewis ChessmenWikipedia0:29:24Tutorials vs. InstructionsThe "tutorial" Lydia encountered at work that inspired this topic.

All of your regular hosts finally make it into the clubhouse again to present to you a roundtable! After a fairly lengthy meta (it's been a long time y'all, but all interesting stuff!), we expose elements of 3D lighting and discuss an internet meme that's maybe relevant for game development.No Kings ProtestsErin Macdonald YouTube Channel - Erin Macdonald, YouTubeGURPS Prime Directive Core Rulebook - Steve Jackson Games0:26.123D LightingWe previously had Mark's friend and colleague Mike on to workshop Ladder Game.Ladder GameUniversal Render Pipeline documentationUnitySG Series Part 1: A Brief (and Incomplete) History of Baked Lighting Representa…MJPThe Danger ZoneReflectors: Your Secret Weapon for Amazing Portrait PhotographyOded WagensteinDigital Photography School0:58.43Menus vs Parkourmenus and parkourimGhostKittyRedditSave Room - Organization PuzzleFractal ProjectsSteam

WARNING: This episode is even longer than last week's! Settle into the back half of GDC 2026 with tales from your nice hosts about interesting talks, the "new" Festival Hall, what it feels like to be up for multiple major industry awards, running into people you know for the first time, and flying home to a impending snowstorm.In this Patreon-exclusive video, Lydia thought to mark her first GDC by capturing her first impressions of the conference's Festival Hall. Sign up at any level for instant access or, if you're not ready to enter a financial relationship with the program, you can purchase it à la carte!0:02:44GDC 2026 - (Dale's) Monday/TuesdayWeaponized Play: How Extremist Networks are Targeting Children in Online GamesKatia Potapov, Rita Fabi, Jang Kim, Jessa MelleaGame Developer ConferencePage to Booth: Table-Reading and Performance Recording Live DemoAlexa Ray Corriea, Sam Maggs, Ben Starr, Jennifer Hale, Khris Brown, Amanda Rose SmithGame Developer Conference0:09:34GDC 2026 - WednesdayRules of the G

This year's GDC Special is a big one. So big that this episode is over 2 hours long... and it's only part 1 (but your nice hosts don't know that yet)!0:15:49GDC 2026 - Monday GDC Encounters: Speed Networking Day 1Game Developer ConferenceThe Tension: Designing for Discomfort in 'Wanderstop'Steven MargolinGame Developer ConferenceThe Black Designers' Dilemma"Carl Varnado, Jabari Ali, Jarory DeJesus, Evan Narcisse"Game Developer ConferenceThe Games Industry Social (aka: GIG IRL)Media Indie Exchange (aka: The MIX)DogpileToot GamesGame Funding: Lessons from Outersloth"Victoria Tran, Forest Willard"Game Developer ConferenceOutersloth reveals its game funding agreement with developersAlex Forbes-CalvinGamesIndustry.bizFrom Beautiful to Playable: Texture Compression Secrets Every Game Artist Shoul…Jad DeebGame Developer ConferenceFour Artists Use Substance 3D to Texture 'Clair Obscur: Expedition 33'"Alan Reynaud, Mathieu Costat"Game Developer ConferenceGDC 101"Sam Warnke, Natalie Sam"Game Developer ConferenceFrom Re

In this Episode, Ian once again joins the clubhouse as Dale and Mark are off on a nerdy vacation. Lydia wrestles with the term "cozy," and Stephen does some self exploration to determine why so-called cozy games make him more stressed out. Then, he creates a whole topic just to talk about the fast travel system in Dragon’s Dogma 2.Stephen pitched Sledgehammer Bride to Melanated Games Kitchen.Melanated Game KitchenThe clubhouse hosted a Nice Thinking episode about Sledgehammer bride back in episode 240 Nice Thinking: "Sledgehammer Bride"Lydia and Ian went to Con of the NorthCon of the NorthLydia and Ian are playing Blippo+Mark was a developer on the PC version of Blippo+ which is a 2026 IGF award finalist.Blippo+0:09:15Cozy Games0:38:26Fast TravelDragon's Dogma 2

Watch out, Clubhouse! Evil Games Club is out of the air vents and back in orbit to interrupt your regularly scheduled Nice Programming.Five years in the vacuum of space haven't dulled their ne're-do-well nature one bit. In fact, they just intercepted a game jam prompt from one of the Nice Hosts. Will Dale, Ian, and Sam prove once and for all that Evil trumps Nice?Well, duh, of course they do!  >:)The last appearance of the Evil Hosts.Evil Games Jam: Casino Go FishJunction Jam Interest FormMewgenics - SteamAxios Twin Cities, the folks who are cataloguing the Twin Cities' store cats - Audrey KennedyPromptMake a game about what actually happens when "the Cat Distribution System is at work." Matchmaking can be a secondary mechanic, but it should not be the focus.Game typeDesign documentPlayer count1SetupRulesNotes:Working title: Cat CommsWhat is the goal?Cats on a journey through an environment to find ownersDifferent cats have different movement behaviorsTorties need to meet twiceOrange ones ignore herder but fo

While Mark is off on a Star Trek cruise, the rest of your nice hosts invite Lydia's husband Ian Peters to discuss tabletop games, specifically RPGs! We've split this supersized episode and topic into three different acts for your listening pleasure.0:01:58Holistic Connection of Theme and MechanicBlades in the DarkEvil Hat ProductionsGURPS: Generic Universal RolePlaying SystemSteve Jackson GamesThirsty Sword LesbiansEvil Hat ProductionsDialect: A Game About Language and How It DiesThorny Games0:33:41DiceCall of Cthulhu RPGChaosium Inc.Does a crit always mean success?MolaschiRedditDread the RPGThe Impossible DreamKids on BikesHunters Entertainment1:00:28FlexibilityLydia had talked about tabletop mechanics in her Untitled Memory Mechanic Nice Thinking episodeUntitled Memory MechanicCitizen SleeperJump Over The AgeSteam

Your nice hosts had an eventful time off from new episodes, but now they're back! So yeah, this is a long one...What The Show Did on Winter Break (2025-26)Boot the Dispute - a thing that solves your problems!YouTubeArt & Fear Observations on the Perils (and Rewards) of ArtmakingDavid Bayles and Ted OrlandLydia's WebsiteGlomNice Games ClubWhat Each of Us Did On Winter Break (2025-26)IDGATC Global Game Jam 2026Global Game JamThe first recorded character exploration of Henle, Lydia's D&D character, written over a year before the campaign started.Lydia finally started acting on the feedback the Nice Hosts gave on the memory mechanic she developed for D&D 5eUntitled Memory MechanicWebinar | Whose Game Is It Anyway? Live Learning Game Design ImprovYouTubeJunction Jam interest formStar Trek: The Cruise Blippo+The 50 best games of 2025PolygonThe 12 Best Video Games Of 2025KotakuThe best games of 2025AV ClubThe 25 Best Games Of 2025, RankedInverseThe Besties game of the year 2025 is...The BestiesBaby Steps leads 28th

#417Reinventing GDCInterview2025.11.27After the discussion, DeLoura turned the tables on your nice hosts and asked a question of his own. It didn't fit into the episode, but we saved it and put it up as a Patreon exclusive bonus segment!Mark DeLoura's decades-long career in games includes roles ranging from Nintendo engineer to White House senior advisor. A longtime and passionate developer advocate, this year he's been tapped to help reinvent the industry's largest annual gathering, GDC.DeLoura outlines the changes coming to this year's conference, defines what "festival" means in the context of GDC, and previews the ambitious goals for its future. But your nice hosts also raise concerns about the elimination of the lowest-priced passes, the accessibility of new programming, and the critical issue of attendee safety now that more official GDC events serve alcohol.Whether you have or are planning to attend GDC, are one of its critics, or just want to know more about how the industry creates and manages its co

#393"I’m intrigued by big door."Roundtable2025.06.12Mark rushes through the introduction to talk about his two rush projects, one of which, Blippo+, was announced on Sunday during the PC Gaming Show! You'll hear more about that next week, but until then, Lydia talks about feeling seen in Anime, Stephen laments that his filmmaking class has not only ruined movies for him, but also music, and Dale does a good job editing out Lydia’s coughs.Blippo+, coming to PC and Switch this fall!You Need To See FMV Cable TV Simulator Blippo+ - Wesley LeBlanc, Game InformerEmotional Effects of MusicStephen McGregorAudioA New Foe Has Appeared!Lydia SymchychMisc.

#381Dinosaurs of North DakotaNice Games Jam2025.03.13The clubhouse gets Cretaceous this week; your nice hosts have been challenged to create a game about dinosaurs and their feeding habits.PromptMake a game about the feeding habits of dinosaurs or of paleontologists, bonus points if all the dinosaurs are from the same era.Game typeDesign documentPlayer count1RulesCretaceous periodFlowering plants evolved hereEarly mammals here tooVelociraptors too!Different sized dinosaursName: Dinosaurs of North DakotaPlay as big (T-rex), small (dog-sized) and medium (triceratops)Survive a day as each of these creaturesOrder of playMedium first (herbivore)Big next (T-rex)Small last (scavenger)Then Paleontologist discovers (eats chicken with a PLASTIC fork)Where you die determines how preserved the bones are during the paleontology phaseIf you want more preserved bones you have to choose to not live as long (due to how the preservation works)GameplayPlay as the different creatures, the player chooses when that phase of the ga

#405Fishing Minigame CollectionNice Thinking2025.09.04Stephen Business is back! And he’s attempting to make a meme into a reality. The clubhouse attempts to answer these (and other) questions:How many fishing minigames is too many fishing minigames?Is it okay to shoot fish with lasers?Who are those teenagers with emo hair in the Bentley?Should Stephen make something on the Playdate?Why do people go fishing?Does anyone actually like fishing?You can wishlist 'Blippo+' on Steam! - SteamFishingStephen McGregorGamingLydia kicked of this topic with a comment an episode, maybe this one?Revisiting Your GamesFishing Minigame Meme - RedditLydia learned about noodling from this youtube channel - Bon Appetit, YouTubeFeeding time at a Fish Hatchery is bonkers! - YouTubeLydia's nice list of games with fishing minigamesTales of Arise Pokemon Animal Crossing Stardew ValleyLegend of Zelda (many) SkyrimKirby The Forgotten Land Verdant Skies Spiritfarer Red Dead Redemption 2 Final Fantasy (many) Sonic Frontiers Far Cry 5Hades

#3963D Workflows for Indie DevsInterview2025.07.03We welcome Freya Holmér back into the clubhouse to talk about 3D game development for independent game developers. We get into the specifics of the tools available for devs and why they work and don't work for different teams, but it's mostly an excuse to talk about Freya's new 3D modeling software.Half-Edge - Freya HolmérShapes - Freya Holmér, Unity Asset StoreShader Forge - Freya Holmér, GitHub3D Workflows for Indie DevsGame DesignToolsUI / UXValve Hammer Editor - Valve Developer CommunityPicoCAD - Johan Peitz, itch.ioTrenchBroom - GitHubCrocotile 3DWhat’s the difference between OBJ and FBX? And when to you what - Reddit

#391"The things that create the geometry."Roundtable2025.05.29Your nice hosts all secured a Switch 2 pre-order... from a certain point of view. Then, Stephen examines the body, Mark attempts a vocabulary, and Lydia has recommendations.Chants of Sennaar - WikipediaNintendo Switch 2 preorders were a total mess — at first - Jay Peters, The VergeMissed out on a Nintendo Switch 2 pre-order? GameStop and Best Buy will have mo… - Demi Williams, TechRadarWhat Happened With Future Club0:22:17Stephen McGregorIRLProductionPart-Time Hero Campaign Ending - Future Club, KickstarterDesign Surface Area0:48:57Mark LaCroixGame DesignRubber duck debugging - Wikipedia

#384Time Traveler Estate SaleNice Games Jam2025.04.10Roles reverse as Dale joins Stephen and Lydia for a Nice Game Jam prompted by Mark. The results are an antiques-fueled jaunt through time, and an unexpected win for Stephen.Costcodle - Zak Kermitz, CostcodleTimeline Inventions - Zygomatic, ZygomaticHypodermic Needles - Sawbones: A Marital Tour of Misguided Medicine, Maximum FunPrompt"Come up with a game where the winner is the player who gets (or gets closest to) a certain amount of points, but that amount changes from round to round. Hard mode variant: the players don’t always know what the amount is."Game typeTabletop gamePlayer count2-8MaterialsSet of item cards from various years10 chips for each playerSet of years/eventsTimerSetupPlace 8 item cards on the table easily accessible for all players. Pick a random year/event. Set timer for 1 minute.RulesStart the timer to start the roundWhile the timer runs, players place chips on items to bid on themWhen the timer runs out, the player with the most chips o

#388Video Game IP LawInterview2025.05.08Your nice hosts get a crash course on video game IP law from lawyer and MinnMax cohort, Haley MacLeon. We learn about incorporating, publishing agreements, the difference between a lot of commonly used terms like "copyright", and the joys of contract templates. MinnMax - MinnMaxGame Informer Revival - Game InformerVideo Game IP LawMarketingMisc.ProductionThe $10 Million Lawsuit That Hinges On An Oxford Comma - Anna King, NPRVideo Game Publishing Agreement Market Report 2025 - Kellen Voyer & Haley MacLean, Voyer Law Corporation

#399"Half trash compactor, half empty."Roundtable2025.07.24Ellen's back for a serendipitously in-sync pair of metacognition-rich roundtable topics. In this episode, Lydia shares a chapter from one of her favorite books and tries to explain ganache while Stephen laments how easy it is to duct tape on features instead of solving problems. Together they discover four brains are better than one when it comes to figuring out how to get out of your head. Composting0:09:56Lydia SymchychMisc.Writing Down the Bones - Natalie GoldbergBonbon - WikipediaThe Croissant Express diner mentioned in the book, formerly located on the corner of the Uptown Theater building.Overdesigning0:36:00Stephen McGregorGame DesignMuralMirovia. "Writing at Night: Lewis Carroll, John Milton, and Me" by Mike Mason. https://www.mikemasonbooks.com/writing-at-night-lewis-carroll-john-milton-and-me/

#375Digital Escape RoomsInterview2024.11.28All of your hosts are together in the Clubhouse for a special interview! Lydia Symchych is an impact game designer who has been working with Ellen over the last year. Today, she shares her experience of making an escape room that needed to be rendered in both "physical" and and digital environments. Also, sound effects and pillows.In the USA, November 28th is Thanksgiving Day, and November 29th is National Native American Heritage Day. Happy holidays, if you're in the USA—and if you're not, we hope you have something to be thankful for.

In this end-of-year tradition, your nice hosts talk about the games they played and the things that they accomplished in 2025, as well as the games they're excited to play and the things they hope to do in 2026.Stephen and Mark both had an up and down year and both picked predictable nicests (if you know anything about them), while Lydia realizes that she missed the show's orientation day.For 2025, Lydia made a Bingo card instead of making resolutions.0:03:002025 AccomplishmentsMarkBlippo+Nice Games AllianceGDC 2026 Speakers - Mark LaCroixStephenStephen successfully helped run an unsuccessful Kickstarter campaign, which he detailed in:"The things that create the geometry."Melanated Game KitchenLydiaLydia joined the podcast this year! Her first episode as a permanent host was in the ironically titled"More Ellen in the future." What We Did On Our Winter Break (2024-25)Lydia went from a contractor to a full-time employee!0:18:002025 "Nicest" GamesLydiaWord PlayGame Maker's ToolkitSteamMy SimsWikipediaAge of Myth

Part 3 of what your nice hosts are calling "Giving Lydia Therapy," we get into Lydia's thoughts on calling herself an artist and what it may mean to think of yourself in this way.Straight Line Was A Lie - The Beths, BandcampThe ADA: Your Responsibilities as an Employer - U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission0:13:28Lydia is an ArtistPart 2 of "Giving Lydia Therapy""I saw a Beatle."Part 1 of "Giving Lydia Therapy""Argue with me, I guess."Platforms and EcosystemsBlippo+PanicAn unsettling indie game about horses keeps getting banned from storesAsh ParrishThe VergeGamers really overestimated the sales of the Steam Deck...MewWeebTwoReddit