エピソード

  • Nice Games Jam: "Mummies from the Graveyard"
    2026/10/08

    It’s spooky month, so before diving into the game jam the clubhouse talks about a couple scary things. Dinosaurs (briefly) and breast cancer awareness month. Lydia shares her experience with the screening process. Editor Dale, has some things to add. Fun fact, Dale was driven to her first mammogram by Stephen and (not her husband Mark). Not-fun-fact, her sister-in-law detected her breast cancer, only because her adopted mother was diagnosed. They are both fine, but cancer is the opposite of fun.

    Then they talk about mummies and card games mechanics as they make their game. That is fun.

    PromptMake a card game about what I have determined is Stephen's favorite monster.The monster that doesn't consume blood or brains or have claws: MUMMIES.Game typeTabletop gamePlayer count2Materials

    Custom Cards

    Mummy Indicators

    Setup

    The deck consists of the following cards:
    Alligator
    Alive: 1 space, 3 attack (Charge Attack! Can move up to 3 spaces in one direction if it can attack something on the way)
    Mummy: 1 space, 3 attack

    Egret
    Alive: 2 space, 2 attack (Can attack any space on the board by flying into the fray but cannot fly back)
    Mummy: 2 space, 2 attack

    Jock
    Alive: 2 space, 2 attack (Popular kid! Can draw 2 lackies from the draw pile)
    Mummy: 2 space, 2 attack

    Nerd
    Alive: 2 space, 2 attack (Wizard! Can raise the dead at will from the top of the graveyard and place it in any column of Rank 1)
    Mummy: 2 space, 2 attack

    Housecat
    Alive: 3 space, 1 attack (After attacking, it can jump backwards after attacking if it defeats an opponent)
    Mummy: 3 space, 1 attack

    Each player starts with a Jock card, a Nerd card, and one other random card.

    The playing space is a 6x6 grid

    Rules

    Each turn, each card has one action:
    Jock - pulls two cards from the draw pile "attracts two from the house party"
    Nerd - selects one card from the graveyard pile "revises one as a mummy"
    Other cards: Move within there abilities
    Mummy cards can only move forward.

    Goal is to get a mummy card to the opposite player's end of the board.

    続きを読む 一部表示
    1分未満
  • Nice Games Jam: "Excited About Triangles"
    2026/10/08
    We welcome returning host Ellen Burns-Johnson back into the clubhouse today for a Nice Games Jam! Lydia provides the other three veteran podcasters with a prompt and helps shape this paper prototype.The last time Ellen returned to the show was for the Serious Play Conference in 2025Serious Play Conference 2025Prototype ImagesPromptMake me a game about geometry - the only math class I enjoyed taking! Feature at least one theorum or postulate in the mechanics. For example: the theorum of transitive properties (if a=b and b=c than a=c).Game typeTabletop gamePlayer count2-4SetupTemplated Library of shapes:Squares3x3 square2x2 square1x1 squareEquilateral Triangles4 wide base equilateral triangle2 wide base equilateral triangle1 wide base equilateral triangleRight Triangles3x3 right triangle2x2 right triangle1x1 right triangleParallelagrams 3x2 classic parallelagram2x3 classic parallelagramLydia-assisted rhombus RulesStart with 5 random shapes Randomly pick a criteriaMust use at least 2 new pieces in your shapeMid-round you can trade up your shapes so long as they are of equal areas (eg. two 1x1 right triangles can be traded for a 1x1 square)Whoever finishes their shape first they get the card and their shape is “stuck” on the boardWhose who did not get it can wipe their most-recent shape additions from their boardAt end of round get 2 new pieces each person, draw a new criteriaCriteria:Convex (eg. a classic pentagon is a convex polygon)Concave (eg. a star is a concave polygon)Exactly 8 sides<5 sides>10 sides
    続きを読む 一部表示
    1分未満
  • Researching Inspiration (with Bernie Mattson)
    2026/10/01
    Bernie Mattson enters the Clubhouse to talk about researching inspiration as part of the game development process and along the way the Nice Hosts learn a whole lot about Dada. Do you like show notes? Well, Nice Listener, is this the episode for you!Researching InspirationArtGame DesignProductionDoo-DaaYou can buy Doo-Daa right now on itch.io... - itch.io...or wishlist it on Steam - SteamProcess Book for Doo-Daa - Bernie Mattson, itch.ioSpace Funeral, a big inspiration for Doo-Daa - itch.ioDada, a starting pointEurope After The Rain, 1970 - YouTubeDadA, 1967 - Greta Deses, YouTube1918 Dada Manifesto - Tristan TzaraInternational Dada ArchivesThe Dada Cyborg Visions of the New Human in Weimar Berlin - Matthew BiroThe Bride Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, Even - WikipediaDuchamp Research Portal - Duchamp ArchivesSophie Taeuber-Arp - Wikipedia
    続きを読む 一部表示
    1分未満
  • "More soda thoughts." Pitch Decks; Rotating Leadership
    2026/09/24
    In this episode, Mark has some general notes on Europe, and walks though how he assembled the pitch deck that he brought with him to Gamescom. Meanwhile, Lydia wonders what it would be like to share responsibility on a schedule, and Stephen's clock is 10 minutes fast so we're not going to be as late to the screening of Star Trek III: The Search for Spock as he thinks.Mark on a bike in Dublin.Mark on a bike in Amsterdam.Mark on a bike in Cologne.Mark on a bike in Zurich.Mark on a bike in Paris.Mark feeding the birds underneath the Eiffel Tower.0:20:56Pitch DecksSlides in Mark's pitch deck:Title (with links to contact, build, video, etc)Table of ContentsFact SheetConcept summaryTeamEmbedded videoSlides covering each main topic from summary slide1-3 slides after each topic slideConcept conclusionInspiration sourcesTimelineBudgetWhy support this team?What we want from a publisherTitle (again)1:10:13Rotating Leadership
    続きを読む 一部表示
    1分未満
  • Escape Rooms 101
    2026/09/17

    Mark returns with gifts from Europe! Then Lydia teaches her nice boys how to make a puzzle room: the ins and outs, the dos and don'ts, it’s an escape room special!

    • The Sega coin that Mark stood in multiple very long lines to get.
    • Junction Jam (Midwest US 2026) - itch.io
    • Saprolige - LydiaSymchych, HeadlessKhan, Ally, Ice Husky, Martin_Gazelle, itch.io
    Escape Rooms 101Lydia's first episode on the program was as a guest, where she talked about:Digital Escape RoomsYears earlier, we spoke with another Escape Room designer, for:Puzzle/Escape Rooms
    続きを読む 一部表示
    1分未満
  • Chance Mechanics (with Heather Flowers)
    2026/09/03
    In this episode, your nice hosts welcome Heather Flowers into the clubhouse to talk about math and probability, while Heather insists they should be on Evil Games Club instead. The group reflects on art and the interpretation of art.Chance MechanicsGame DesignHeather Flowers GamesUnfair Flips - Heather Flowers, Steam500 Finger Fillet - Heather Flowers, SteamUnderstanding Systems Suspense - Cat Manning, Jason Grinblat, Max Kreminski, Graeme Lennon, Alexsei Pepers, Lauren Scott, Polaris Game Design RetreatOther mentionsBuckshot Roulette - WikipediaArchane Kids Manife$toNumber Gotcha - itch.io
    続きを読む 一部表示
    1分未満
  • "It’s annoying because, like, I’m annoying." Replayability; Blue-skying
    2026/09/03

    Your nice hosts discuss a previously talked about topic, and also engage in something completely new (though both are an excuse to discuss work issues in reality), with a brief divergence to mention a Star Trek anniversary.

    0:06:02Replayability0:27:34Blue-skying
    続きを読む 一部表示
    1分未満
  • "Praise be to the bureaucrats." Player Investment; Crunch Culture
    2026/08/27

    Two of your nice hosts are prepping to go to Junction Jam (which already happened, you'll hear about it soon!), but before then the discussion goes over the why players can and should be invested in your game, and how to push back against crunch in the workplace.

    • Junction Jam - Global Game Jam
    0:06:57Player Investment'Cauldron of bats' and other great collective nounsEmma CownleyJot Jot Boom0:38:05Crunch CultureOccupational Burnout in Games 2024: Causes, Impact, and SolutionsLis Moberly, Tim StoboGame Developer Conference
    続きを読む 一部表示
    1分未満