#354The Intersection of Puzzle and StoryInterview2024.07.05

Narrative designer and pal of the program Beth Korth fills in for Ellen as guest host this week and next!

Your nice hosts welcome famed designer Ron Gilbert (Monkey Island, Thimbleweed Park) into the clubhouse to discuss the virtues of inexperience, friction for its own sake, how it's all about story, and it's puzzles all the way down.

The Intersection of Puzzle and StoryGame DesignNarrativeProductionReturn to Monkey Island will have a hint system because the internet exists now - Joshua Rivera, PolygonVerdant Skies - SteamClassic Game Postmortem: Maniac Mansion - GDC, YouTube

The phrase "confederacy of dunces" derives from a Jonathan Swift quote.

Examples of movies that feature a poorly-received genre twist include Serenity (2019), Remember Me (2010), and Safe Haven (2013).

#353"The super-powerful beam or whatever."Roundtable2024.06.27

This week, your nice hosts talk about code that isn't yours and ask about the natural conclusion of the narrative. Mark is handy, Ellen kinda wants to add a note, and Stephen is grounded.

It looked so easy in the brochure, but the brochure lied - Antony Ingram, HagertyCode Libraries0:07:41Mark LaCroixProductionProgrammingToolsBest practices for writing code comments - Ellen Spertus, Stack Overflow BlogDeclare namespaces to organize types - Microsoft LearnYour nice hosts discussed licensing in a previous episode:"What's a little grand larceny?"Game OversStephen McGregorGame DesignNarrativeAlternatives to the Game Over screen - Game Developer

We didn't mention it in the episode for some reason, but our "Metroidvania-lite" game Widget Satchel had no deaths, game overs, or failure states.

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.org
• What States Allow Same Day Voter Registration and When? - Rock the Vote
• The Only Patriotic Choice for President - The New York Times
• These are the Republicans endorsing Harris over Trump - Niha Masih, The Washington Post
• Donald Trump Is Unfit to Lead - The New York Times
• Donald Trump’s First Term Is a Warning - New York Times Opinion, The New York Times

Runtime 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

#278"Insert interesting car here."Roundtable2022.09.14

Your nice hosts' pronunciation is on point this week as they say a really hard word a large number of times! In this episode, Mark and Ellen BOTH introduce even more complicated words to the other hosts, and Stephen admits to losing an argument (which he'd done on the show before but still don't tell his brother).

Noble Robot OfficeVerisimilitude0:05:23Ellen Burns-JohnsonArtGame DesignVerisimilitude Definition - Dictionary.comVeracity Definition - Dictionary.comThe Quest For Verisimilitude: Realism, Illusion, and Consistency In Video Games - Erik Kain, ForbesHow to build verisimilitude in your games? - Thunderdices, RedditOne comment of note in the thread: “Your point about making things simple is extremely important. Lots of things in real life are simple and it’s the combination of items interacting that it becomes complicated. When a DM makes the simple complicated there’s a danger of the world becoming too complex and breaking verisimilitude from the other side.”Thrive - Adam's Apple GamesBrobdingnagian Definition - Dictionary.comThomas Was Alone - Bithell Games, SteamIndie Game CreditsMark LaCroixProductionMobyGames - MobyGamesFilm Credits: Everything You Need To Know - Nashville Film Institute

#271Neurodiversity in Gamedev (with Adam Clewes-Boyne)Nice Thinking2022.07.28

This week, we invite our first guest for Nice Thinking! Adam Clewes-Boyne is putting together an initiative for neurodiversity advocacy and education in the games industry, specifically focused on ADHD. It started as a meetup at a conference, and Adam wants to see where it can go next.

Neurodiversity in GamedevEventsIRLAdam joined us, after a fashion, in a previous episode:Game Dev London does Nice Games JamCoffee with Butterscotch podcast - Butterscotch ShenanigansHow the Gender Gap Leaves Girls and Women Undertreated for ADHD - CHADDStrategic Planning for Nonprofits - National Council of Nonprofits

#244"Maximum Whooo!"Roundtable2021.11.25

As the podcast approaches its fifth anniversary, your hosts get a little (more) frivolous. Mark shares some industry news about hardware releases. Ellen prompts everyone to share their experiences of learning development tools and examine their process of learning through the lens of Maximum Whooo. Stephen explores the difference between cooperative and collaborative gameplay, and invents something called a Feedborm. Dang!

Steamworks Virtual Conference: Steam Deck - SteamSteam Deck launch delayed by two months - Jay Peters, The VergeIndie handheld Playdate delayed to 2022 - Michael McWhertor, PolygonHow Long to Beat: Metroid Dread - HowLongToBeatLearning to Use Tools14:05Ellen Burns-JohnsonMisc.ToolsArticulate Storyline 360, an e-learning development toolGodot, an open-source 2D & 3D game engineGodot: Getting Started >> Step by step - Juan Linietsky, Ariel Manzur and the Godot community, GodotTuckman's stages of group development - WikipediaCoDecks: Playful PlanningSonder (a story) - Ludum DareProactive and Retroactive Interference (re: learning interference) - Dr. Saul McLeod, Simply PsychologyCo-Op Games53:10.0Stephen McGregorGame DesignOvercooked Co-Op Review: Five-star co-op gaming - Jason Love, Co-OptimusThere’s a Difference Between Cooperation and Collaboration - Ron Ashkenas, Harvard Business Review

#273The State of VR in 2022Interview2022.08.11

Your nice hosts talk to Andrew Eiche, COO at Owlchemy Labs (Job Simulator, Vacation Simulator, Cosmonious High) about the state of VR in 2022, and where VR and VR development tools may be going in the coming years.

Andrew talks about how industrial design should influence VR design, why you shouldn't take inspiration from movies, and how ergonomics are important. Also, Ellen takes a hard stand on the right way to use a dial.

VR in 2022 and its FutureVR / AR / XROwlchemy LabsThe Design of Everyday Things - Don Norman, book

Headsets

Pico VR HeadsetPlaystation VR2

VR Engines

VRTK (Virtual Reality Tool Kit)TButt - Turbo Button

Cosmonious High

Cosmonius High on Tik Tok - Tik TokCosmonius High on TwitterCosmonius High on Steam

#281StorySlide (with Osama Dorias)Nice Games Jam2022.10.06

Game designer Osama Dorias returns to the clubhouse to help design a game that can be played remotely, and provides some (much needed?) structure to the Nice Games Jam process. Stephen is obsessed with Bananas, Ellen contemplates her mystery banana gift, and Mark realizes some of these concepts might be too complicated for small children.

Osama previously joined us for episode 211:Building Blocks of DesignThis isn't the first time we'd had a guest join us for a Nice Games Jam:Blame the Cat! (with Monica Fan)Osama on TwitterOsama's podcast is "The Habibis"

Playtest Materials

The slides we created for this episode's playtest.The Noun ProjectPrompt"Design a game that can be played remotely with (Osama's) children (and ideally is still fun for adults)"Game typeTabletop gamePlayer count3-6Materials

Electronic system for sharing slides (such as Google Slides)

A voice connection with remote players

A set of slides or icons/drawings/clipart to create the set of slides

A system for privately messaging players

Setup

• Create a set of slides (12) with icons, drawings, photos, or clip-art, if not using a pre-made slide deck. Each slide should contain 3 items. Pick a Game Master (usually one of the adults playing the game).
• The Game Master comes up with one group objective with two parts:
  • A protagonist/hero.
  • A conflict for the protagonist.
• The Game Master comes up with one secret objective for each player:
  • Each secret objective should start with the phrase “The hero should...”
  • Ideally these will be randomly assigned.

Rules

• Player order goes to the left and does not change
• The game ends when you run out of slides
• Each slide should be a simple phrase or sentence

Gameplay

• Play starts with the Game Master describing the first slide, starting with the phrase “Once upon a time..”
• Play continues to the player on the Game Master’s left and the slide progresses.
• This player chooses one of the three pictures on the slide to incorporate into the story with a phrase or sentence.
• Play continues to the left with a new slide. And continues around the circle, with each player getting a new slide (the Game Master may now sit out of the storytelling), until there are no more slides left.
• The Game Master may provide an epilogue (and explain what an epilogue is to the children playing the game) as desired.
  • Note: Defining 'Epilogue' will not be out of character for this game, as in this episode's run-through Mark would have had to explain to kids: headbanging, Ska, life in 1998, mosh-pits, micro-cassettes, and a reference to 'Spaceballs.'
• At the end of the story, players try to guess each others individual objectives.

#252Visual CodingInterview2022.03.17

This week we're joined by Alina Matson, developer of Fitment—a microworkout app designed with cozy gamers in mind. Alina talks about how she has used the popular Unity plugin Playmaker to kick-start her transition from a career in mechanical engineering to gamedev. Positive vibes abound. Plus, surprise singing!

Visual CodingProgrammingToolsPlaymaker - Hutong Games, Unity Asset StoreBolt - Unity, Unity Asset StoreBlueprint Visual Scripting - Unreal EngineProcessingScratch - MIT10 Most Nostalgic Flash Games From The Early 2000s - Samuel Williams, CBRStephen J. Guy, Director, Applied Motion Lab - University of MinnesotaZebraZappsWe mentioned a previous interview episode with Freya Holmer,Self-education, et al.

#247Designing like a Dungeon MasterInterview2021.12.10

Your nice hosts (Ellen, mainly) conduct a double-interview, with a consummate professional and a committed amateur, on the subject of game design though the lens of tabletop game mastering. Subjects include the dynamic between system design and session design, the balance between planning and improvisation, and how players can be encouraged to participate in the process.

Designing like a Dungeon MasterGame DesignNarrativeTabletopAlternity - Sasquatch Game StudioMDA: A Formal Approach to Game Design and Game Research - Robin Hunicke, Marc LeBlanc, Robert Zubek, Northwestern UniversityDread, a game of horror and suspense - The Impossible DreamThousand Year Old Vampire - Tim HutchingsRobin's Laws of Good Game Mastering - Robin D. LawsUnpossible Game LabsCon of the NorthKatrina imagined a future with "Westworld as a video game," which coincidentally was a topic in one of our first episodes:"It's against the law to stop."

#268"No referees?!"Roundtable2022.07.07

How much of the culture around a game is rooted in its design? That's one of the questions that comes up as Mark takes us on a tour of curling—an Olympic sport that's described as "chess on ice." We examine its origins, the Spirit of Curling, and some specific rules that may have a big impact on how players behave towards one another. Later, Stephen considers some questions about off-ramps, the parts of a game that guide players as they end a play session. Should we as designers encourage players to take breaks? 

Gato Roboto by doinksoft (from Devolver Digital) - SteamCurling0:10:15Mark LaCroixGame DesignAbout Curling - World Curling FederationWhy is this Olympic Sport called Chess on Ice? - by user "Pete", Chess.comCurling might be an antidote to our troubled times - Kristen Gelineau, The Detroit NewsGlossary of curling - WikipediaDeflategate - WikipediaOff-Ramps0:50:00Stephen McGregorGame DesignGamingHow Gaming Breaks Can Make You a Better Player... and Why They're Important - Michael Harman, Make Use Of

Sarah Yu and Beth, developers of Bugaboo Pocket, join us once again in the clubhouse after our chance meeting at GDC! Listen in as we gush about bugs a lot, but also discuss how to present personality traits of your pets in pet management games. There's also a bunch of cool videos of bugs in this episode's show notes!

• Sarah and Beth were also interviewed by us during GDC in 2022.GDC 2022 Special (Part 2)

Characterization in Pet Management GamesArtGame DesignGamingChao World - Chao IslandDo Dogs Smile? What’s Really Behind That Adorable Smile? - Joelle Audette, Canine CampusBugaboo Pocket Beta - Bugaboo Pocket

Bugs Mentioned

What is an isopod? - NOAA Ocean ExplorationVideo of Praying MantisVideo of Jerusalem Crickets (Potato Bugs)Video of Syrphid Fly (Hoverfly)

Games Mentioned

Neko Atsume - Hit-Point Co., LtdWobbledogs - Animal UprisingMerge Dragons - Gram GamesBugaboo Pocket - Bugaboo Pocket

The clubhouse comes together this week to realize the danger and fear surrounding Save Data. Mark talks about the advantages of Json and xml, then immediately tells why he choose neither of them for his project. Stephen summarizes why meetings are great and why everyone is sometimes a tech artist (Make it more... Dynamic?), and the team discusses how to best communicate between people who have different skills sets.

• Stephen's Brother Streaming his work - @DarkaysTG, YouTube
• Mark's Music Choice: The Beths "Expert in a Dying Field" - The Beths, YouTube
• Nice Games Club on Mastadon
• Get your partner their own NGC shirt here

0:08:46Save Data48:44Interdisciplinary Communication

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 Book

It's the show's sixth anniversary! To celebrate, Stephen, Mark, and Ellen play two "talky talky" games on the air:  Where Should We Begin: A Game of Stories by Esther Perel, and Hypertheticals by Chuck Klosterman. These games offer your hosts some interesting discussion prompts, with interesting results.

• Episode 280, a recent one in which we talked about journaling."Two bits of goop."
• "Baldric" in literature and culture - Wikipedia

0:08:49Where Should We Begin? A Game of StoriesWhere Should We Begin? A Game of StoriesEsther PerelThe MousetrapAgatha ChristieWikipediaThree ways to improvise an arm slingJohn GodinoAlpine Savvy0:49:47HypertheticalsHypertheticalsChuck KlostermanPenguin Random House

This week, fellow nice gamedev Millie Walker enters the clubhouse to discuss her approach to combining genres. It's an episode full of synthesis, but not photosynthesis because Stephen doesn't want to talk about his bonsai tree.

Fusing GenresGame DesignMarketingMyth Caller: The Nightmare Shaman - KaratkuroXander the Monster Morpher: Universe Breaker - Karatkuro, SteamWe previously tackled "genre" in:"I do business."

Lots of technical talk in this episode as your nice hosts wade into these two large topics! 

• Flappy Dragon - Google Play Store

0:09:27CamerasLinear InterpolationWikipediaSuper Mario World Camera Logic ReviewShaun InmanYouTubeCamera Movements for 2D Platformers: How Do I Know Which One to ChooseSam HuSam J H HuPro Camera 2DLuís Pedro FonsecaUnity Asset Store0:31:52Bug Tracking and TriageParkinson's LawWikipediaResponsible Bug Reporting and TriageSmartbearAuction-based serious game for bug tracking"""Çağdaş Üsfekes,Eray Tüzün,Murat Yılmaz,Yagup Macit,Paul Clarke"""The Institution of Engineering and TechnologyBug Triaging PrinciplesBugsnagGame Development Essentials: Bugtracking (or how we ended up writing our own bu…Andre WeissflogThe Brain DumpProduction Testing and Bug TrackingJamie FristromGame DeveloperWhat makes a good bug report?Nick BarrettGamesIndustry.bizAzure DevOpsMIcrosoftEllen mentioned Agile Development in this episode.Agile DevelopmentWe also talked about Bugs in one of our first episodes."Bananas, from here to eternity."

It’s everyone’s favorite rhythm fighting game that doesn’t exist yet, ‘Rhythm Rumble’, back for more discussion in this week's NiceThinking Episode. Ellen learns a new word, Mark rants about Unity’s PlayerPrefs, and Stephen admits that he still hasn’t learned to take good notes. They all agree that you have to spend more time researching than you want to, and that Dale is awesome.

• PlayerPrefs in Unity

• Unity Manual on Player Prefs
• Bodge (definition) - Dictionary.com

• Ellen has been playing games!

• Agent Intercept
• Banner Saga
• Flappy Dragon on mobile
• Flappy Bird
• Jetpack Joyride

• Mark has been playing a game

• Mario and Rabbids

Rhythm RumbleStephen leaving an old employeer for a new job also leaves him room for improvement on a rhythm fighting game. The main problems with the old prototype: not rhythmic enough and too simple. The beats the player had to match were up to the sixteenth note (quarter beat) which left players not understanding which beat they were playing to, and an impression of the game feeling sluggishSome thoughts from the discussion -Use beat patterns rather than make people keep the beat -Being able to store (and playback) beats to conjure special moves -Give the instruments personality to the fighting moves they can make -Make the game into a metaphor, give it personality - these beats might control instruments, which control rock-em-sock-em robots, rather than making the avatars hit each other with a very expensive bass clarinet. They mention Sukuri's youtube video about the influence '90's fighting games had on the design of SmashBrothersSuper Smash Bros. [Game Concepts]MasahiroSakurai on Creating GamesYouTube

It's spooky season! Stephen is SO over it, but he can't escape all the scary stuff happening in this week's episode. We start with a lesson on the necromantic arts of branding and iconography, guided by Mark, a master of these dark magics. After the break, Ellen raises a past topic from the dead in order to explore the ethics of manipulating players' brainnnsssss. Also mentioned: candy corn, houseplants, and—you guessed it—Star Trek.

• Star Trek: Ascendancy

0:10:10Branding & IconographySmash TVWikipediaThomas Was AloneBithell Games0:36:22The Ethics of EngagementEgg, Inc.Auxbrain, Inc.Idle AcornsAleros LLCBeReal social media

A little learning is a dangerous thing

Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring.

This is a line from Alexander Pope's Essay on Criticism (1711). The Pierian spring is a fountain in Pieria, a district round Mount Olympus and the native country of the Muses. You can read the full text for free here on Project Gutenberg.

This week, we talk with Super Rare Games' "Head of Words," Ryan Brown, about his company's approach to physical game distribution for indie games, and what it takes to get your game not just on a Nintendo, but on a Nintendo cartridge.

Physical Releases for IndiesMarketingProductionSuper Rare GamesSuper Rare Games - TwitterSuper Rare Games - Developers & Publisherspublishmygame@superraregames.com The Criterion CollectionInternational Age Rating Coalition (IARC) - WikipediaStrong Museum of PlayThe Centre for Computing History

Your nice hosts start off strong with an excellently performed intro, and it just gets better from there! 

• The Game Agency - The Game Agency

0:06:24Pre-production0:31:45Idle GamesStar Trek Lower Decks: The Badgey Directive Review: The Final Fun-tier?Steven ShawDroid GamersHow to make an idle game: Everything you need to know about incremental mobile …David HarteryAdjustIdle Games: The Mechanics and Monetization of Self-Playing GamesAnthony PecorellaYouTube“It Started as a Joke”: On the Design of Idle GamesKatta Spiel, Sultan A. Alharthi, Andrew Jian-Lan Cen, Jessica Hammer, Lennart E. Nacke, Z O. Toups and Tess TanenbaumCHI PLAY

Game designer Osama Dorias returns to the clubhouse to help design a game that can be played remotely, and provides some (much needed?) structure to the Nice Games Jam process. Stephen is obsessed with Bananas, Ellen contemplates her mystery banana gift, and Mark realizes some of these concepts might be too complicated for small children.

• Osama previously joined us for episode 211:Building Blocks of Design
• This isn't the first time we'd had a guest join us for a Nice Games Jam:Blame the Cat! (with Monica Fan)
• Osama on Twitter
• Osama's podcast is "The Habibis"

• Playtest Materials

• The slides we created for this episode's playtest.
• The Noun Project

Prompt"Design a game that can be played remotely with (Osama's) children (and ideally is still fun for adults)"Game typeTabletop gamePlayer count3-6Materials

Electronic system for sharing slides (such as Google Slides)

A voice connection with remote players

A set of slides or icons/drawings/clipart to create the set of slides

A system for privately messaging players

Setup

• Create a set of slides (12) with icons, drawings, photos, or clip-art, if not using a pre-made slide deck. Each slide should contain 3 items. Pick a Game Master (usually one of the adults playing the game).
• The Game Master comes up with one group objective with two parts:
  • A protagonist/hero.
  • A conflict for the protagonist.
• The Game Master comes up with one secret objective for each player:
  • Each secret objective should start with the phrase “The hero should...”
  • Ideally these will be randomly assigned.

Rules

• Player order goes to the left and does not change
• The game ends when you run out of slides
• Each slide should be a simple phrase or sentence

Gameplay

• Play starts with the Game Master describing the first slide, starting with the phrase “Once upon a time..”
• Play continues to the player on the Game Master’s left and the slide progresses.
• This player chooses one of the three pictures on the slide to incorporate into the story with a phrase or sentence.
• Play continues to the left with a new slide. And continues around the circle, with each player getting a new slide (the Game Master may now sit out of the storytelling), until there are no more slides left.
• The Game Master may provide an epilogue (and explain what an epilogue is to the children playing the game) as desired.
  • Note: Defining 'Epilogue' will not be out of character for this game, as in this episode's run-through Mark would have had to explain to kids: headbanging, Ska, life in 1998, mosh-pits, micro-cassettes, and a reference to 'Spaceballs.'
• At the end of the story, players try to guess each others individual objectives.

In this slightly-longer-than-normal episode, we start with a pandemic check-in. (Bivalent boosters are available! Go get 'em!) Ellen leads us on a journaling journey, sharing the embarrassing evidence of past attempts. Stephen challenges us to think through examples of adaptation, or maybe translation, or transcreation...well, we mostly figure it out by the end. Mark is extra-sharp with the one-liners.

• When, why, and how to get a new Covid-19 booster shot - Keren Landman, Umair Irfan, Vox
• Hylics  - Wikipedia
• Gato Roboto - Developer's website

0:16:16Keeping a Game Design Journal"Mark's Home Office" 11/11/2021Nice Games ClubPatreonBeanstacker: Reading tracker appGoogle Play StoreContraindication (definition)WikipediaThe Complete Guide to Video Game Genres: From Scrollers, Shooters, to SportsGameDesigning.orgList of video game genresWikipediaOctalysisYu-kai ChouOctalysis GroupChronicle of the Movies: A Year-by-Year History from the Jazz Singer to TodayLeonard MultonBiblio.comGames I've played (Ellen's journal v1, with new entries!) - Google sheetEllen Burns-JohnsonGameplay journal (Ellen's journal v2 input form) - Google formEllen Burns-JohnsonGameplay journal (Ellen's journal v2, responses) - Google sheetEllen Burns-Johnson0:54:36Bringing Other Media into GamesFan Shows Us What A Frasier Game Would Look Like… HecticSean MurrayTheGamer.comSingle-Camera vs. Multi-Camera TV Sitcom Scripts: What's the Difference?Ken MiyamotoScreen CraftThe Project Gutenberg eBook of "Goody Two-Shoes"AnonymousProject Gutenberg

We welcome our first pseudonymous guest to the clubhouse to discuss what it's like making a game to carry the banner (and serve the community) of a previous title.

Designing a Spiritual SuccessorGame DesignGamingProductionSanctuary Shattered Sun: Real Time StrategySupreme Commander - WikipediaInterview With Special Bread! - Sanctuary, YouTubePac-Man Championship Edition is an electrifying reinvention of a classic and fi… - Richard Stanton, GamesRadarChris Taylor lets us know what he thinks about Sanctuary - Sanctuary, YouTube

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, Unity
• Unity is canceling the Runtime Fee - Matt Bromberg, Unity
• Unite Conference - Unity
• Hasbro Game Night (for Switch)
• We Were Here Series - Total Mayhem Games, Steam
• Loopy: a tool for thinking in systems - Nicky Case
• Machinations: Create digital twins for your systems, processes or economies

0:21:44Communicating 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

Your nice hosts' pronunciation is on point this week as they say a really hard word a large number of times! In this episode, Mark and Ellen BOTH introduce even more complicated words to the other hosts, and Stephen admits to losing an argument (which he'd done on the show before but still don't tell his brother).

• Noble Robot Office

0:05:23VerisimilitudeVerisimilitude DefinitionDictionary.comVeracity DefinitionDictionary.comThe Quest For Verisimilitude: Realism, Illusion, and Consistency In Video GamesErik KainForbesHow to build verisimilitude in your games?ThunderdicesRedditOne comment of note in the thread: “Your point about making things simple is extremely important. Lots of things in real life are simple and it’s the combination of items interacting that it becomes complicated. When a DM makes the simple complicated there’s a danger of the world becoming too complex and breaking verisimilitude from the other side.”ThriveAdam's Apple GamesBrobdingnagian DefinitionDictionary.comThomas Was AloneBithell GamesSteamIndie Game CreditsMobyGamesMobyGamesFilm Credits: Everything You Need To KnowNashville Film Institute

This week, a behind-the-scenes look into the game that uses a skateboard deck as a controller! Scrapebopard combines elements of rhythm, racing, and fighting games to create a unique boss attack experience. What's it like playtesting unique hardware? How much did they learn about electronics and wiring? How difficult was it to demo the game at alt.ctrl.GDC? What's next for the game? We explore these questions and more in this interview.

Postmortem: "Scrapeboard"EventsGame DesignHardwareElectric Scrapeboard - Shake That ButtonMakey MakeyAbout formalism - Dario D'Ambra, Game DeveloperGame Dev Tools for Raspberry PiBabycastlesWondervillePlaytest Thursdays - NYU Game CenterCome Out & Play Festival"A Work of Art Is Never Finished, Merely Abandoned" - Quote Investigator

In this episode the your nice hosts discuss broken games, solved games, and purposely broken games. Ellen realizes that even if it is broken, doesn't mean you need to fix it. They discuss who's job it is to make a game fun, and how you can always make a game not fun. 

This episode features the origin story of Stephen Business, and if you are still reading, spoiler alert: Mark's topic is a stealth sequel to his topic about Curling.

• Stephen reports that the paperwork has been submitted and he is officially a co-owner of Future Club!

• Ellen now co-owns a still difficult to obtain Steam Deck.

• Noble Robot now offers coworking at thier Minneapolis office.

• Stephen and Ellen went to see a show at the Minnesota Fringe Festival - and Ellen LOVED it!

• Fringe Festival History - Wikipedia
• "Developers" - Michael Rogers, Minnesota Fringe Festival

0:24:00Broken gamesNo More Jokeys Channel on YouTubeNo More JockeysYouTubeMonopoly HotelsDaisy BarringerTrillist"Is Connect Four a Solved Game? and what does that even mean"GamesverMark mentioned a previous episode topic about Curling"No referees?!" 53:57Support Systems

Types of Support Systems

-Emotional Support -Financial Support -Someplace to live

Investment and Risk

"We quit our jobs, remortgaged our houses"Alex GilyadovGamesRadar

It's our second climb into the scruff as your nice hosts continue development on "Dogpile!" We've updated the rules and did a lot of work toward defining the properties of a full prototype deck, consisting of 100, or 150... or maybe 250 unique cards? However many it ends up being, we're looking forward to part 3!

PromptKeep working on "Dogpile!"Game typeCard gamePlayer count2-4Setup

1. Shuffle a standard 52-card deck.
2. Deal 5 cards to each player.
3. Set the remaining cards aside; this is the draft deck
4. For the first round, assign the "player one" indicator to the person who most recently played with a dog.

Terms

• Turn: One player's action.
• Round: Once around the table (each player takes an action).
• Draft Deck: The pile of dog cards you draw from each round.
• Dogpile: This is where the dogs that you're able to recruit into your pack will end up.
• Pack Leader: The card drawn from the Draft Deck once per Round.
• Player One: The first player to lay their cards face-down next to the Pack Leader card in each round. The First Player status is indicated with a First Player token that rotates clockwise at the start of each round. 
• Strays: The discard pile.

Rules

Objective: Get as many dogs into the Dogpile as possible!

How to play

1. Draw a card from the draft deck and place it face-up in the center of the table. This is the Pack Leader card.

2. Without talking about what’s in their hands or what cards they’re playing, all players select and number of cards from their hand to lay face-down around the Pack Leader. Each player lays their cards face-down in clockwise order, starting with the First Player.

   • Players can lay down any number of cards up to the full complement of their hand.

   • If a player decides to not lay down any cards (skipping their turn, essentially), then skip to Step 3 below. Remaining players’ turns are forfeit.

3. After all players have put their selected cards face-down, all players reveal their cards at the same time.

4. Once all cards are revealed, determine whether the group of dogs (the Pack) will join the Dogpile or become Strays. For the pack to join the Dogpile, every revealed card on the table (players’ face-up cards and the Pack Leader card) must be physically "connect" to form a single unbroken shape, consisting entirely of legal connections. As of the recording of episode 275, cards can be connected by number or suit.

   • Cards connected horizontally must be 1 number different (up or down) from the connected card. (Numerical values are 1-13 where Ace = 1 and King = 13).

   • Cards connected vertically must be of the same suit.

   • Cards cannot connect diagonally, and if two cards are physically touching, they must legally connect.

   • The two Jokers are "wild" in that they can adopt any suit or number, but like a Scrabble tile, all cards connected to a Joker must connect based on a single, newly adopted value.

5. Clear the table by placing the group of dogs in the Dogpile, in the Strays. Optionally, the pack of Strays may be tossed randomly about the room. Then, begin the next round.

6. At the start of each subsequent round, players refresh their hands up to 5 with newly-drawn cards, and the Player One token is passed clockwise.

Continue steps 1-6 above until the timer rings. How many dogs did you get in your Dogpile?

Your nice hosts accidentally stumble into the thesis of the show as this episode explores these two topics! Also found in the show: Stephen's composed song, Mark tries to avoid Entity Component Models and Ellen thinks about snakes for 20 minutes (but holds it together somehow).

• Beefsteak Tomato - Wikipedia
• Woman in Motion - Paramount
• Woman in Motion on Peacock - Peacock
• Woman in Motion on Tubi - Tubi
• Noble Robot - Noble Robot

0:06:01GameMaker for Unity DevsStephen was wrong, here's a marketplace for GameMaker pluginsYoYo GamesWhat is the difference between statically typed and dynamically typed languages?Stack OverflowRustRust TeamMain Theme for Rooty Tooty Fresh n Shooty (Stephen's Work Project)Stephen McGregor0:40:58Inspiration from Behavioral Economics5 Examples of Behavioral Economics in Your Everyday LifeRebecca KochThe Chicago School of Professional PsychologyChoice architectureWikipediaWhat determines human decisions?Daniel KahnemanUBSRichard ThalerWikipediaNudge (book)WikipediaPredictably IrrationalDan ArielyFreakonomicsFreakonomics Radio NetworkProspect theoryBehavioral Economics

Your nice hosts talk to Andrew Eiche, COO at Owlchemy Labs (Job Simulator, Vacation Simulator, Cosmonious High) about the state of VR in 2022, and where VR and VR development tools may be going in the coming years.

Andrew talks about how industrial design should influence VR design, why you shouldn't take inspiration from movies, and how ergonomics are important. Also, Ellen takes a hard stand on the right way to use a dial.

VR in 2022 and its FutureVR / AR / XROwlchemy LabsThe Design of Everyday Things - Don Norman, book

Headsets

Pico VR HeadsetPlaystation VR2

VR Engines

VRTK (Virtual Reality Tool Kit)TButt - Turbo Button

Cosmonious High

Cosmonius High on Tik Tok - Tik TokCosmonius High on TwitterCosmonius High on Steam

It’s Ellen’s 100th episode as a Nice Games Club host! And there’s no better way to celebrate a big day than with a Nice Games Jam. Dale gave us a prompt and you’ll never guess the theme. Can your Nice Hosts come up with a playable prototype in “ruffly” an hour? Enjoy live edits, goofs, special cubes, and piles of dogs taken to the logical extreme!

• Ellen's first episode as a permanent host."Click here for fleet operations."
• "Ameritrash" - Board Game Geek
• Texas Hold'em Poker - Bicycle
• Can Dogs See Color? - American Kennel Club

PromptCreate a game that could be subtitled "The 100 Dog Days of Calendar Math."Game typeCard gamePlayer count2+Materials

Two standard 52-card decks

Setup

First, some additional prompt information. 

The objective is to get your dog pack to exactly 100 members (no more, no less) in 100 units of time. You decide how many dogs you start with, how you add or lose members, and what a "time unit" is. Because this is the special for Ellen, bonus points if the game has a dog or multiple dogs in it.

Now, on to the setup:

1. Shuffle both decks of playing cards together
2. Deal X cards to each player
3. Set the remaining cards aside; this is the draft deck
4. For the first round, assign the "Pack Leader" indicator to the person who most recently played with a dog

Terms

• Turn: One player's action
• Round: Once around the table (each player takes an action)
• Draft Deck: The pile of dog cards you draw from each round
• Dogpile: This is where the dogs that you're able to recruit into your pack will end up
• Pack Leader: An outdated term we're using to describe the First Player in each round 
• First Player: The first player to lay their cards face-down next to the Pack Leader card in each round. The First Player status is indicated with a First Player token that rotates clockwise at the start of each round. 
• Strays: The discard pile.

Rules

Objective: Get 100 dogs in 100 units of time!

How to play

1. Draw a card from the draft deck and place it face-up in the center of the table. This is the Pack Leader card.

2. Without talking about what’s in their hands or what cards they’re playing, all players select cards to lay face-down around the Pack Leader. Each player lays their cards face-down in clockwise order, starting with the First Player.

   1. Players can lay down any number of cards up to the full complement of their hand.

   2. If a player decides to not lay down any cards (skipping their turn, essentially), then skip to Step 3 below. Remaining players’ turns are forfeit. 

3. After all players have put their selected cards face-down, all players reveal their face-down cards at the same time.

4. Once all cards are revealed, determine whether the group of dogs join the Dogpile or if they become Strays. To join the Dogpile, the cards on the table, which include all players’ face-up cards and the Pack Leader, must not breach any compatibility constraints. As of the episode 272 recording, these constraints include:

   1. The cards taken together as a whole must form an uninterrupted sequence of numbers. 

5. Clear the table by placing the group of dogs in the Dogpile or in the Strays. Then, begin the next round.

6. At the start of each subsequent round, players refresh their hands with newly-drawn cards. Draw until your hand reaches X cards.

Continue steps 1-6 above until the timer rings. Did you get 100 dogs in your Dogpile? If so, you win! 

This week, we invite our first guest for Nice Thinking! Adam Clewes-Boyne is putting together an initiative for neurodiversity advocacy and education in the games industry, specifically focused on ADHD. It started as a meetup at a conference, and Adam wants to see where it can go next.

Neurodiversity in GamedevEventsIRLAdam joined us, after a fashion, in a previous episode:Game Dev London does Nice Games JamCoffee with Butterscotch podcast - Butterscotch ShenanigansHow the Gender Gap Leaves Girls and Women Undertreated for ADHD - CHADDStrategic Planning for Nonprofits - National Council of Nonprofits

In this larger than normal episode, your nice hosts bring a lot to the top of the show with a bunch of exciting news. And there's still two topics to discuss after that! Mark brings his documentation A game, Stephen describes his time at SGDQ and Ellen has complaints to bring to the table.

• Summer Games Done Quick 2022 - YouTube
• Stephen and Charles walking across SGDQ on camera - YouTube
• Dall-E 2 - OpenAI

• Here's a collection of images that Ellen has generated using Dall-E 2!

• DALL·E 2 Preview - Risks and Limitations - OpenAI

0:21:25Maintaining an Open-Source ProjectGit SubmodulesgitLDocSteve DonovanGitHubMarkdown GuideMark ConeThe Markdown GuideTyporaTypora0:49:50Should we design for Killers?Bartle’s Player Types for Gamification comes up in this previous episode."Mindworm husbandry."Bartle’s Player Types for GamificationJanaki Mythily Kumar, Mario Herger and Rikke Friis DamInteraction Design FoundationBartle's Taxonomy of Player Types (And Why It Doesn't Apply to Everything)Kyatrictuts+MUDWikipedia

Nina Marotta (and Kelso the cat) from High Moon Studios enters the clubhouse to talk about level and interaction design. She showers your nice hosts with bits of wisdom, such as:

"Games are ugly for 90% of their development."

"You have to live your life in order to be a good team member and a good designer."

Level and Interaction Design Game DesignNina mentions the Geam Design program at Kent StateWe previously talked to Professor Chris Totten in episode 264Teaching Gamedev to Young People, Again!

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 Game
• Mark 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, YouTube
• Mark is (still) working on some User Interface Tools in Unity, called NobleTools

0:11:26Scoring 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'

How much of the culture around a game is rooted in its design? That's one of the questions that comes up as Mark takes us on a tour of curling—an Olympic sport that's described as "chess on ice." We examine its origins, the Spirit of Curling, and some specific rules that may have a big impact on how players behave towards one another. Later, Stephen considers some questions about off-ramps, the parts of a game that guide players as they end a play session. Should we as designers encourage players to take breaks? 

• Gato Roboto by doinksoft (from Devolver Digital) - Steam

0:10:15CurlingAbout CurlingWorld Curling FederationWhy is this Olympic Sport called Chess on Ice?by user "Pete"Chess.comCurling might be an antidote to our troubled timesKristen GelineauThe Detroit NewsGlossary of curlingWikipediaDeflategateWikipedia0:50:00Off-RampsHow Gaming Breaks Can Make You a Better Player... and Why They're ImportantMichael HarmanMake Use Of

It's part three of our unintentional "Gamedev in..." series! Your nice hosts speak with Daniela Gamarra about making games in Peru. Daniela shares her perspective on entering the industry, making progressive games in a conservative culture, and being asked "how much do you need to make this game?"

• Previous "Gamedev in..." episodes:

• We spoke with Ryan Sumo for:Gamedev in the Philippines
• We spoke with "Game Devs Kenya" for:Gamedev in Kenya

Gamedev in PeruIRLProductionHow Creative Leaders Play the Long Game for Innovation - Ideo UIGDA PeruIGDA Peru - EducationLima Game JamLEAP Game StudiosBamtang GamesDirección Audiovisual, la Fonografía y los Nuevos Medios

Your nice hosts bring deep topics to the clubhouse this week! Listen in as Stephen forgets the name of the Uncharted lead character (but remembers the voice actor), Ellen brings up Mass Effect many, many times and Mark describes more interesting tidbits about Widget Satchel's development.

• Serious Play Conference
• LumbearJack - YouTube
• Slayers X: Terminal Aftermath: Vengance of the Slayer - Steam
• Max's award! - Twitter
• Reed the Robotanist - Steam
• Here's a CableACE award.

0:09:25Parasocial RelationshipsParasocial InteractionWikipedia“The Player’s Parasocial Interaction with Digital Entities” Katrine KavliIT University in Copenhagen“Is It Weird for Adults to Have Imaginary Friends?”Stephen Dubner and Angela DuckworthNo Stupid Questions“Tragic but true: how podcasters replaced our real friends”Rachel AroestiThe Guardian0:45:21Narrative Pacing"Kurt Vonnegut on the 8 'shapes' of stories"Stephen JohnsonBig Think

It's a packed episode this week, with birthdays, illnesses, and some Nice Thinking. Stephen, Mark, and Ellen discuss how the group might put on a tournament for local gamers, featuring locally-made indie games. How can one create a competition that involves many different games of widely different genres? Hopefully your nice hosts are up to the challenge. Either way, you're in for a treat! Plus, we get to finally hear Stephen's TRUE feelings about Star Trek.

• Prehistoric Planet on Apple TV - BBC
• The Man Who Fell To Earth - Showtime
• Star Trek: Strange New Worlds - Paramount
• COVID 19 Quarantine and Isolation Calculator - Centers for Disease Control

• Alternate titles for this episode:

  • "It finally got me"
  • "Lil' Baby Stephen"

• Episode artwork from RODNAE Productions on Pexels.

0:13:12Nice ThinkingElemetals: Death Metal Death MatchWALLRIDESteamAstral GunnersSati BrosSteamHyperDotCharles McGregorSteamSummer Games Done QuickCombo Breaker TournamentEVO Tournament"Challenges and Strategies for Hosting Massive Independent eSports Events"James LampkinGDC

It's a sequel to last week's episode! This week, your nice hosts speak with Kent State University animation and game design professor Chris Totten about formal game design education. We get into the details of theory and practice, and discuss how teaching gamedev is both similar and different from other professional and artistic fields.

Teaching Gamedev to Young People, Again!Game DesignIRLAn Architectural Approach to Level Design - Christopher W. TottenKudzu -  Pie for Breakfast Studios, itch.ioLa Mancha -  Pie for Breakfast Studios, Board Game GeekGDEX and Origins 2022, June 8-12

In this episode Truman Simpson joins us to talk about teaching game development to young people, through Gameheads, an organization for which Truman is a long standing volunteer. The clubhouse discusses the importance of seeing what is possible and what is achievable, and Stephen is jealous of today's youths.

Teaching Gamedev to Young PeopleGame DesignIRL

Gameheads

Truman Simpson volunteers with Gameheads. Gameheads is an organization that teaches youth and prepares them for careers in game development. Gameheads is lead by Damon Packwood and operates out of Oakland and the Bay Area, CA, with possible expansions around the US.Gameheads WebsiteGameheads TwitterDamon Packwood's TwitterTruman Simpson's twitter

Teaching and Games cross-pollination

Ellen mentions that Teaching and Games is a cross-pollination that is a whole other episode, here are some Episodes on that topic from the archivesWe talked about educational institutions for game dev back in episode 16Games Education Ellen joined as a guest host way back in Episode 75Learning Through GamesWe also talked about teaching/learning durring the Redundancy topic in Episode 170"Stephen, his arms wide!"

Project Success

Stephen is working with Project Success to design a learning curriculum for middle school aged youths.Project Success WebsiteStephen mentioned design pillars, as one of the learning topics in project sucess, see also episode 187"A way to farm notions."

Soylent Green

Soylent Green is set in the year 2022 (that's this year!) and something we got distracted by on a tangent. Yes, soylent is a real product now.In 1973, 'Soylent Green' envisioned the world in 2022.  - George Bass, The Washington PostSoylent (the real productAnd, if the people from Soylent want to sponsor us, please reach out at contact@nicegames.club

In this episode, Stephen, Mark, and Ellen talk about gameplay loops. Then, they talk about art direction. Then they talk about loops. And then art direction. And then, more loops. Just kidding! It’s a regular roundtable discussion about diagramming gameplay, establishing art direction, and when to take out the garbage.

• Habitica: Gamify Your Life
• Educating Intuition - Robin M. Hogarth, University of Chicago Press

0:15:20Diagramming Gameplay LoopsActionable Gamification: Beyond Points, Badges, and LeaderboardsYu-kai ChouOctalysis GroupHow To Perfect Your Game’s Core LoopNathan LovatoGame AnalyticsLoops and ArcsDaniel CookLost GardenHow Games Use Feedback LoopsGame Maker's ToolkitYouTubeDaniel Cook: Game Design Theory I Wish I had Known When I StartedIGDA SeattleYouTubeExpanding UX: Gameplay LoopsVitaly StarushMediumThe Gameplay Loop: a Player Activity Model for Game Design and AnalysisEmmanuel GuardiolaResearchGateKurt Vonnegut Diagrams the Shape of All Stories in a Master’s Thesis Rejected b…Josh JonesOpen Culture0:42:00Art DirectionDreamsettler Reveal TrailerNo More RobotsYouTubeBack in the day, Nice Games Club talked about color theory.“When two colors of paint really love each other…” We talked about sources of inspiration and it reminded us of episode 141.Nostalgia and the Lo-fi Aesthetic

At GDC, your nice hosts met and spoke with this week's returning guests. We were so impressed with their project "[i] doesn't exist," we wanted to have them on a full episode to talk about the unique machine learning system they built for it. Be nice and have a listen!

• LUAL Games on Twitter
• "[i] doesn't exist" demo - itch.io
• [I] doesn't exist - a modern text adventure - Kickstarter

• If you're in Sweden, Lu and Al and their game will be at Arctic Game Week next week, May 25-28, 2022.

• We first met Lu and Al and spoke with them for a recent episode:GDC 2022 Special (Part 2)

• Some meta news: Mark wrote a song for this year's Charity EP Jam, which is actually a double-length album! All proceeds go to Able Gamers.

Machine LearningNarrativeProgrammingSimulated AI creatures demonstrate how mind and body evolve and succeed together - Devin Coldewey, TechCrunchWhat is GitHub Copilot? An AI Pair Programmer for Everyone - Daniel Diaz, SitepointGithub Copilot Wants to Play Chess Instead of Code - Ido Nov, DagsHub BlogChat MapperBotpressDocumentation as a gateway to open source - James Turnbull, IncrementMiddle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor Makes AI Meaningful and Menacing - Andy Brice, GamingBolt

It's a Nice Postmortem! Ellen brings her instructional design colleague Mark Hamilton to discuss the development process behind the LxJamathon, a combination of both a hackathon and a game jam meant to allow instructional designers to practice their skills! Find out what went well and what didn't in this fascinating look into the event.

Postmortem: "LxJamathon"ProductionInstructional Design Reddit - RedditInstructional Design Discord - DiscordLxJamathon Website - Ellen Burns-Johnson and Mark Hamilton, LxJamathonLxJamathon itch.io - Ellen Burns-Johnson and Mark Hamilton, itch.ioMidwest Mysteries - The Oscaloose - SoundCloudLxJamathon Entries - itch.ioA Simple Guide to Four Popular Online Learning Formats - Nameera Sallum, CommLab India

Game designer Monica Fan joins us this week for a Nice Games Jam that is extra-mischievous and extra-cute. There's drama amongst the roommates, and we're pretty sure the cat's to blame. But can we prove it? Can your Nice Hosts (and Nice Guest) make a playable prototype by the end of the episode? How many times will Stephen say "meow" before the outro rolls? So many questions!

• Monica Fan @DesignerMonica - Twitter
• Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me! - NPR
• Here's the best way to shuffle a pack of cards – with a little help from some m… - Graham Kendall, phys.org

PromptFrom Dale this time: "Design a game where you discover clues and have to solve a mundane mystery. Bonus points if there is a cat in it. EXTRA bonus point if it's the cat who did it!"Game typeCard gamePlayer count4Materials

Standard deck of playing cards

Coins or tokens to indicate the accumulation of blame

OPTIONAL: A real cat to sit in the middle of the game table

Setup

1. Sort the deck by suit.
   1. Pull out the Aces and Jokers and set them aside. You'll use the Aces in a minute, but not the Jokers.
   2. Remove six random cards from three of the suits (Clubs, Spades, and Diamonds) and set those aside for the game.
   3. Shuffle the remaining cards into a deck and pull a random card from the deck. Don't look at it! This is the card that determines Who Really Did The Thing. Set it aside and don't peek until the end of the game.
   4. Set the rest of the deck aside for a moment.
2. Deal the Aces randomly to determine which players get each suit. Whoever gets the Ace of Hearts is the Cat.
   1. Once roles are determined, you can ignore the Ace cards, but it's useful for players to hold onto them as a reminder of what suit they have.
3. Deal each Human player two cards face-down. Deal the Cat player four cards face-down. Players can look at their cards but should not show their hands to the other players.
4. Place the deck of remaining cards face-down in the center of the table. This is the draw pile.
5. Place a pile of Blame tokens somewhere on the table so people can grab them (or throw them) as needed.

Rules

GOAL: Pin the blame on someone else! Once a player has accumulated 3 Blame tokens, they are GUILTY and the game ends.

Go around the table clockwise, taking turns. Each player can take one action on their turn; it's a fast-moving game of blame!

Player Actions

Cat-only actions:

• Take a card from a human; the Cat chooses which card to take (without looking at the human's hand)
• Give a card to a human
• Make an accusation by playing three cards of the same suit (the Cat must play three cards to make an accusation)
• Cat must meow when making a play…or maybe through the whole game?
• The Cat cannot draw cards from the deck

Human-only actions:

• Draw from the deck
• Trade with each other; the player who initiated the trade is the one who selects which card to take from the other player’s hand (without looking at their hand)
• Play a pair (it's easier for humans to make accusations)

Making an accusation:

• A Human plays a pair of cards from the same suit, or the Cat plays three cards from the same suit. This is the Accusation.
• The player whose Ace matches the suit from the Accusation receives a Blame token.
• The first person to accumulate three Blame tokens is considered GUILTY, and this ends the game.

Winning the game:

• Technically, you win if you don't end up as the guilty party, but there's more to it!
• Reveal the hidden card that you set aside during setup. The whole group wins if the right person got the blame. Yay!
• The Cat can feel extra good if they were the real culprit, but one of the Humans was found GUILTY.
• The Humans can feel extra good if one of them was the real culprit, but the Cat was found GUILTY. Congrats; you can all continue to live harmoniously as roommates.

Strategies

• Hold onto the cards that are evidence against you.
• Play cards that are evidence against others.
• The Cat, who has the most cards, is likely to know who the guilty party is.

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.com
• We are OFK - Peabody Awards
• Cleveland Game Developers - Linktree

OptimizationHardwareProductionProgrammingIs Using LINQ in C# Bad for Performance? - James Vickers, The Startup For Vs Foreach In C# - Sagar Gavand, C# Corner

It's a Nice Postmortem! Hunter Bond and Mike Ducarme talk the making of Infernax—an old school adventure platformer with puzzle elements, unholy curses, and lots of old-school awesomeness. From its earliest conception to playtesting, promoting, and publishing, what did they do and what did they learn?

Postmortem: "Infernax"ProductionInfernax - TwitterJust Shapes and BeatsBerzerk Studio

As promised, Hunter's PO Box: PO Box 10275, Albuquerque, NM 87184

Settle in, because we could only trim the 5+ hours of interviews we recorded last month at GDC down to 2 hours. Of course, if you want to hear all of it, there's always the Patreon... 😉

• The game Mark has been working on, "Dreamsettler," was officially announced on April 5th!

GDC 2022 Special (Part 2)Cat Cafe ManagerRoost GamesStrange Horticulture, a game about selling plants, is one of the best games thi…Nicole CarpenterPolygonSmall LifeyueqiWUPuzzles for ClefWeasel TokenDune: Spice Wars launches in early access in AprilOli WelshPolygonInfinity Game TableEolia Is A Fully Hand-Tracked Follow Up To Rhythm Of The Universe: IoniaJamie FelthamUploadVRMidnight Protocol is a cyberpunk hacking RPG that cuts out all the fillerAdi RobertsonThe VergeNeurodiver, sequel to 2064: Read Only Memories, is headed to PS5 and SwitchChris MoyseDestructoidCusco ParadoxIndaga StudiosAi ApaecSatoshi WakuBugaboo PocketStar SalvagerA-Game Studios[I] doesn't exist - a modern text adventureLUAL GamesPatchworld from PatchXR brings you a novel way to create music with your Meta Q…Micah BlumbergMediumYou Suck at Parking™Happy VolcanoAgent InterceptPikPokMini Motorways and the delicate art of marrying complexity and minimalismGame DeveloperBroken PiecesElseware Experience, Benoit Dereau, Mael VignauxMail TimeKela van der Deijl

What does your work week look like? Are you locked into a 9-to-5 the way that Dolly Parton described it, or are you free to set your own schedule? What about your team as a whole? 
In this week's episode, August Brown is back on the show to help us explore the topic of work week structure. The company where August currently works, Armor Games, has made headlines by shifting permanently to a four-day work week. We ask him how it's going, what other work-week configurations might have benefits for gamedev teams, and what he thinks about the word "truncate."

• The definition of truncate is “to shorten by cutting off a part; cut short”  - Dictionary.com
• “9 to 5” - Dolly Parton, YouTube

Work WeeksProductionArmor Games adopts four-day work week permanently - Brendan Sinclair, GamesIndustry.bizAugust’s previous employer, KongregateAugust is now doing platform relations at Armor GamesAugust was on a previous interview episodeDeveloper/Publisher RelationsJohn Cooney (Armor Games CEO) Twitter thread on the four-day workweek results - John Cooney, TwitterGDC 2022 Independent Games Summit: Four-Day Workweek: We Did It! What now? - Game Developer Conference“Eidos-Montreal and Eidos-Sherbrook shifting to the 4-day work week” - Edios Montreal“The Research Is Clear: Long Hours Backfire for People and for Companies” - Sarah Green Carmichael, Harvard Business Review“Indie Studio Forms First Video Game Union In The Country” - EThan Gach, Kotaku“How the 40-hour work week became the norm” - Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi, NPR