Nice Games Club - a gamedev podcast!

Lydia, Stephen, and Mark
  • 4.7 (41)
  • Video Games
  • Updated Weekly

The podcast where nice gamedevs talk gaming and game development. Nice!

  1. 3d ago

    Dark Patterns (with Sam Liberty)

    Your nice hosts have talked a lot over the years about exploitative game design, and this week we brought in an expert on gamification to lay out some of the dark patterns in games that take players' money and time via deceptive framing and UX. https://samliberty.com Sam Liberty  -  Medium Sam Liberty  -  LinkedIn Dark Patterns Game Design Why “Addictive” Gameplay Should Never Be The Goal  -  Lydia Symchych ,  ELB Learning HEXAD Framework Addiction by Design  -  Natasha Dow Schüll Tiny Habits: The Small Changes That Change Everything  -  BJ Fogg How to Change: The Science of Getting from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be  -  Katy Milkman How dating apps weaponized loneliness against their users  -  Sam Liberty

  2. May 21

    Working with Voice Actors (with Yuri Lowenthal)

    In this episode, Yuri Lowenthal, prolific actor and Insomniac's Spider-Man, web-crawls into the clubhouse and does whatever a spider can, assuming a spider can talk into a microphone about the art of acting in video games. Mark explores the difference between screen acting and voice acting, Lydia takes comfort in the fact that when you have a team supporting you, you’re not going to mess it up on your own, and Stephen learns that snipping an Achilles tendon is a finishing move. Working with Voice Actors Audio Yuri Lowenthal on Bluesky Yuri Lowenthal on Instagram  -  Instagram

  3. May 14

    Interactive Fiction Communities (with Andrew Plotkin)

    Warm weather is on the way and you need to stay hydrated. As a start, take a sip of water every time you hear the phrase "in the 90's." This week we're learning about Interactive Fiction - its history, communities, and transformations over the years - from living archive of the medium, Andrew Plotkin. As a bonus, Stephen discovers that he isn't the only one who is wrong about things!  Credit for this episode's extra-thorough show notes goes to Andrew. Thanks, Andrew! Interactive Fiction Communities Events IRL Narrative Colossal Cave Adventure  -  William Crowther and Donald Woods ,  The Interactive Fiction Database The Visible Zorker: Zork 1 Interactive Fiction Competition (ongoing since 1995!)  -  Interactive Fiction Competition Inform IF language launched around 1993 (https://www.inform-fiction.org/). You can find the modern version at https://inform7.com/ This allowed people to create games for Infocom’s original Z-machine, which was invented as a proprietary system in 1979 but is now open-source. The modern version of the IF community's FTP site  -  Interactive Fiction Archive Interactive Fiction Technology Foundation Narrascope Conference Twine  -  Chris Klimas ,  Twinery Rise of the Video Game Zinesters  -  Anna Anthropy ,  Amazon The Cuddled Little Vice (Sandman)  -  Elizabeth Sandifer ,  Eruditorum Press Andrew's Interactive Fiction and Game recommendations - IFcomp 2025 winners - Type Help - Roottrees are dead - Return of the Obra Dinn - Murder at the Birch Tree Theater

  4. May 7

    "Look who's old now!" Exhibiting Your Game; Design Investigations

    We talk of the old and the new in this episode, where we sort of revisit a long ago discussed topic and bring in a new topic for our (and your) perusal. Lydia, Mark and Dale (not Stephen) finishing Video Game Mayhem... ... and Wizard's Tower in record time! Trapped Puzzle Rooms MPS Community Education Lydia's family sewing machine! 0:09:39 Exhibiting Your Game 0:39:39 Design Investigations Reading backwards: Reading against the grain Katherine Firth Research Degree Insiders

  5. Apr 30

    Healthy Criticism (with August Brown)

    We welcome August Brown back into the clubhouse once more to discuss healthy criticism in the workplace, and how to foster that environment in your spaces. Healthy Criticism Production Hotel Infinity  -  Studio Chyr No Hard Feelings  -  Liz Fosslien & Mollie West Duffy ,  Portfolio

  6. Apr 23

    "He's scientific methoding you." Characterization Through Mechanics; Tutorials vs. Instructions

    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.  0:01:41 Characterization Through Mechanics We talked about characterization in Smash on a previous episode. "I’m intrigued by big door." Lewis Chessmen Wikipedia 0:29:24 Tutorials vs. Instructions The "tutorial" Lydia encountered at work that inspired this topic.

  7. Apr 16

    "That's fixin’ to get ready." 3D Lighting; Menus vs Parkour

    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 Protests Erin Macdonald YouTube Channel  -  Erin Macdonald ,  YouTube GURPS Prime Directive Core Rulebook  -  Steve Jackson Games 0:26.12 3D Lighting We previously had Mark's friend and colleague Mike on to workshop Ladder Game. Ladder Game Universal Render Pipeline documentation Unity SG Series Part 1: A Brief (and Incomplete) History of Baked Lighting Representa… MJP The Danger Zone Reflectors: Your Secret Weapon for Amazing Portrait Photography Oded Wagenstein Digital Photography School 0:58.43 Menus vs Parkour menus and parkour imGhostKitty Reddit Save Room - Organization Puzzle Fractal Projects Steam

  8. Apr 9

    GDC 2026 Special (Part 2)

    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! 0:02:44 GDC 2026 - (Dale's) Monday/Tuesday Weaponized Play: How Extremist Networks are Targeting Children in Online Games Katia Potapov, Rita Fabi, Jang Kim, Jessa Mellea Game Developer Conference Page to Booth: Table-Reading and Performance Recording Live Demo Alexa Ray Corriea, Sam Maggs, Ben Starr, Jennifer Hale, Khris Brown, Amanda Rose Smith Game Developer Conference 0:09:34 GDC 2026 - Wednesday Rules of the Game 2026: Revealing Techniques from Resourceful Designers Game Developer Conference Improv Games for Game Developers Rez Graham Game Developer Conference Decolonizing Play and the Rise of African Game Development (2013-2026) Eyram Tawia Game Developer Conference Serious Games Roundtable Matthew Lee, Kathleen Yin Game Developer Conference 'SILENT HILL f': The Challenges of Creating a Melee-Only Horror Game Al Yang Game Developer Conference Test Like the Top Studios: Actionable Player Insights in 60 Minutes Heather De Bernardi Game Developer Conference The IGF 2026 Winners Are An Exceptional Selection Of Indie Games You’re Going T… John Walker Kotaku Trump administration's "cruel and unnecessary" acts called out by Titanium Cour… Mark Warren Rock Paper Shotgun 0:56:54 GDC 2026 - Thursday Building a Critically Acclaimed Licensed Game in 18 Months Amanda Farough Game Developer Conference Xbox Gaming for Everyone Community Networking Lounge Returns to GDC 2026 MIcrosoft Nobody Reads Anything: How Narrative Can Communicate So Other Disciplines Actua… Mark Slutsky, Laura Michet, Kevin Snow Game Developer Conference Veterans Q&A for New Writers and Narrative Designers Game Developer Conference Gaming the System: Creating Your Own Path to a Narrative Design Career Zoe Calamar, Luca Azenaro-Acero Game Developer Conference Worst.Game.Ever. Fixing Diabetes Management with a Video Game Sam Glassenberg Game Developer Conference 1:33:03 GDC 2026 - Friday Digital Folklore: Crafting Playable Memory Through Photogrammetry and Animation… Verda Munir Game Developer Conference San Francisco Railway Museum & Gift Shop The Dialogue Design Panel: A Role with a Million Names Charles Pateman, Kareem Shuman, Monet Gardiner, Heather Plunkard-Serge Game Developer Conference Top 10 Ways to Get Your Game Ready For Success Shawn Alexander Allen Game Developer Conference Live Sky Sound Bath and Meditation thatgamecompany Instagram Essential Debugging Skills for Every Developer Rez Graham Game Developer Conference Experimental Games Showcase Game Developer Conference Experimental Games Showcase Demos Game Developer Conference

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The podcast where nice gamedevs talk gaming and game development. Nice!

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