Nice Games Club - a gamedev podcast!

Your nice hosts welcome instructional designer Ellen Burns-Johnson to the clubhouse, as we discuss the many ways to approach teaching using interactive games. Along the way, we talk about bugs (of the many leg variety), snow falling from buildings, and traumatizing but educational game experiences. Links You can follow Ellen on Twitter, LinkedIn or find her on the MSPGameDev Slack. Ellen works at Allen Interactions. There’s loads of info about eLearning on their blog. Gamification may be effective article Ellen references THOTH, a twin-stick shooter made by Carlsen Games. Much of Ellen’s work is based off of the CCAF framework. Learn about how to make fake news from the educator backed Bad News. “Custom eLearning Vs. Off-The-Shelf eLearning: Which Is Right For You?” -  Ayesha Habeeb Omer, Ph.D, eLearning Industry Cathy Moore talks about training design ideas on her blog. Kentucky Fried Chicken’s Virtual Reality game The Hard Way. “Assassin’s Creed Origins’ new educational mode is a violence-free tour through ancient Egypt“ - Andrew Webster, The Verge Ellen played SimAnt as a kid!

Your nice hosts welcome instructional designer Ellen Burns-Johnson to the clubhouse, as we discuss the many ways to approach teaching using interactive games. Along the way, we talk about bugs (of the many leg variety), snow falling from buildings, and traumatizing but educational game experiences. Learning Through Games Game Design UI / UX Ellen references THOTH, a twin-stick shooter made by Carlsen Games. Much of Ellen’s work is based off of the CCAF framework. Learn about how to make fake news from the educator backed Bad News. Custom eLearning Vs. Off-The-Shelf eLearning: Which Is Right For You? - Ayesha Habeeb Omer, Ph.D, eLearning Industry Cathy Moore talks about training design ideas on her blog Kentucky Fried Chicken’s Virtual Reality game The Hard Way - YouTube Assassin’s Creed Origins’ new educational mode is a violence-free tour through … - Andrew Webster, The Verge Ellen played SimAnt as a kid! Ellen Burns-Johnson Your Nice Host Guest Ellen Burns-Johnson is a learning experience designer, leading The Game Lab at Allen Interactions. She is also a big advocate for game-based learning and a lover of explosions and dogs. Ellen is an honorary guest host for the show and will sometimes join in on roundtable and interview episodes.

Your nice hosts welcome instructional designer Ellen Burns-Johnson to the clubhouse, as we discuss the many ways to approach teaching using interactive games. Along the way, we talk about bugs (of the many leg variety), snow falling from buildings, and traumatizing but educational game experiences. Learning Through Games Game Design UI / UX Ellen references THOTH, a twin-stick shooter made by Carlsen Games. Much of Ellen’s work is based off of the CCAF framework. Learn about how to make fake news from the educator backed Bad News. Custom eLearning Vs. Off-The-Shelf eLearning: Which Is Right For You? - Ayesha Habeeb Omer, Ph.D, eLearning Industry Cathy Moore talks about training design ideas on her blog Kentucky Fried Chicken’s Virtual Reality game The Hard Way - YouTube Assassin’s Creed Origins’ new educational mode is a violence-free tour through … - Andrew Webster, The Verge Ellen played SimAnt as a kid! Ellen Burns-Johnson Your Nice Host Guest Ellen Burns-Johnson is a learning experience designer, leading The Game Lab at Allen Interactions. She is also a big advocate for game-based learning and a lover of explosions and dogs. Ellen is an honorary guest host for the show and will sometimes join in on roundtable and interview episodes.

This week on Nice Plays, the show where the Nice Games Club gamedevs play nice games, we played two just-released local indie games. Martha played the life-simulation game Verdant Skies, and Stephen played the non-violent 3D platformer Newt One. We had a lot to say about both, which we loved, and not just because the developers are friends of the show. You can watch both episodes on YouTube by using the links below, or by visiting this episode's page on https://nicegames.club Download a special Nice Games Club-themed item for your home in Verdant Skies by using this code: A836-4C64-83CB Nice Plays: Verdant Skies (2018) https://youtu.be/K3qXUWiCL8I Nice Plays: Newt One (2018) https://youtu.be/o7aq26untUs EDITOR'S NOTE: Previously, our video episodes would appear in our podcast feed as well as on YouTube, but we were unsatisfied with the lower video quality when delivered in that format, and feedback from listeners tells us that you don't really enjoy watching videos in your various podcast apps, so we're now only posting our video episodes on YouTube, where the user experience is far superior. You can subscribe to our YouTube channel to get future video episodes directly, but you'll also get these mini-episodes in the podcast feed, with a little preview of what to expect and links to that week's episodes on YouTube.

This week on Nice Plays, the show where the Nice Games Club gamedevs play nice games, we played two just-released local indie games. Martha played the life-simulation game Verdant Skies, and Stephen played the non-violent 3D platformer Newt One. We had a lot to say about both, which we loved, and not just because the developers are friends of the show. You can watch both episodes on YouTube by using the links below, or by visiting this episode's page on https://nicegames.club Download a special Nice Games Club-themed item for your home in Verdant Skies by using this code: A836-4C64-83CB Video

This week on Nice Plays, the show where the Nice Games Club gamedevs play nice games, we played two just-released local indie games. Martha played the life-simulation game Verdant Skies, and Stephen played the non-violent 3D platformer Newt One. We had a lot to say about both, which we loved, and not just because the developers are friends of the show. You can watch both episodes on YouTube by using the links below, or by visiting this episode's page on https://nicegames.club Video

This week on Nice Plays, the show where the Nice Games Club gamedevs play nice games, we played two just-released local indie games. Martha played the life-simulation game Verdant Skies, and Stephen played the non-violent 3D platformer Newt One. We had a lot to say about both, which we loved, and not just because the developers are friends of the show. You can watch both episodes on YouTube by using the links below, or by visiting this episode's page on https://nicegames.club Video

This week, your nice hosts talk about Star Trek for longer than usual, and Mortho returns with an NGC Sports Update. Also: Stephen executes a delicious self-own in a discussion on Achievements, Mark sings a song about cities, and Martha hopes to design puzzles that even Stephen will appreciate. Meta: Martha mentioned The Greatest Discovery podcast, a show recapping Star Trek Discovery episodes. "Report: Geguri Will Be The First Woman Signed To An Overwatch League Team" -Nathan Grayson, Kotaku [0;08;10] Achievements Portal 2’s best achievement: This is the Part Where He Kills You. Achievement Unlocked is a parody game about achievements. We played games like HUDdled and others during our Ludum Dare Nice Plays special. The Simpsons Game spoofs on achievements as well. Alexander Hamilton, a Federalist, probably wouldn’t have liked Achievements either. [0;39;46] Puzzle Design "Level Design Workshop: Solving Puzzle Design" - Jolie Menzel, GDC 2016 Analysis: Puzzle Design in the Myst Series - Gregory Weir, Gamasutra Tim Schafer on Day of the Tentacle’s awful car wash puzzle: “[It] seemed a lot funnier at the time.” “This Might Be Persona 5's Biggest Localization Fail” - Chris Kohler, Kotaku Grumpy Gamer on Puzzle Dependency Charts Our pal Martin’s company Abstract Puzzle makes games including Puzzle Prison VR. Visual Understanding Environment is an Open Source project for managing digital resources for many different subjects, including puzzle design. "Embedded Puzzle Manifesto" - Joey Jones, Far Far Future

This week, your nice hosts talk about Star Trek for longer than usual, and Mortho returns with an NGC Sports Update. Also: Stephen executes a delicious self-own in a discussion on Achievements, Mark sings a song about cities, and Martha hopes to design puzzles that even Stephen will appreciate. The Greatest Discovery podcast Report: Geguri Will Be The First Woman Signed To An Overwatch League Team - Nathan Grayson, Kotaku Achievements 0:08:10 Stephen McGregor Game Design Gaming Portal 2’s best achievement: This is the Part Where He Kills You - BuddytheRat, YouTube Achievement Unlocked is a parody game about achievements HUDdled Ludum Dare Nice Plays special The Simpsons Game - AchievementBros, YouTube Alexander Hamilton, a Federalist, probably wouldn’t have liked Achievements eit… Puzzle Design 0:39:46 Martha Megarry Game Design Level Design Workshop: Solving Puzzle Design - Jolie Menzel, GDC Analysis: Puzzle Design in the Myst Series - Gregory Weir, Game Developer Tim Schafer on Day of the Tentacle’s awful car wash puzzle: “[It] seemed a lot … - Bob Mackey, USgamer This Might Be Persona 5's Biggest Localization Fail - Chris Kohler, Kotaku Grumpy Gamer on Puzzle Dependency Charts - Ye Olde Grumpy Gamer Blog Our pal Martin’s company Abstract Puzzle makes games including Puzzle Prison VR Visual Understanding Environment is an Open Source project for managing digital… Embedded Puzzle Manifesto - Joey Jones, Far Far Future

This week, your nice hosts talk about Star Trek for longer than usual, and Mortho returns with an NGC Sports Update. Also: Stephen executes a delicious self-own in a discussion on Achievements, Mark sings a song about cities, and Martha hopes to design puzzles that even Stephen will appreciate. The Greatest Discovery podcast Report: Geguri Will Be The First Woman Signed To An Overwatch League Team - Nathan Grayson, Kotaku Achievements 0:08:10 Stephen McGregor Game Design Gaming Portal 2’s best achievement: This is the Part Where He Kills You - BuddytheRat, YouTube Achievement Unlocked is a parody game about achievements HUDdled Ludum Dare Nice Plays special The Simpsons Game - AchievementBros, YouTube Alexander Hamilton, a Federalist, probably wouldn’t have liked Achievements eit… Puzzle Design 0:39:46 Martha Megarry Game Design Level Design Workshop: Solving Puzzle Design - Jolie Menzel, GDC Analysis: Puzzle Design in the Myst Series - Gregory Weir, Game Developer Tim Schafer on Day of the Tentacle’s awful car wash puzzle: “[It] seemed a lot … - Bob Mackey, USgamer This Might Be Persona 5's Biggest Localization Fail - Chris Kohler, Kotaku Grumpy Gamer on Puzzle Dependency Charts - Ye Olde Grumpy Gamer Blog Our pal Martin’s company Abstract Puzzle makes games including Puzzle Prison VR Visual Understanding Environment is an Open Source project for managing digital… Embedded Puzzle Manifesto - Joey Jones, Far Far Future

This week, Martha goes into more detail about her game, Stephen gushes about all the plushies he wants and Mark reminisces about the good old days of Super Mario Bros. 3. Links: Minnesota developed games Verdant Skies and Newt One are both out this week! [0:07:49] Merch Stephen’s Kirby Corner! The Nintendo World Store is an awesome place for sweet Nintendo swag. "Blown Up Game Boy From The Gulf War" - Vince Veneziani, TechCrunch Mark’s Pikmin plushie watches over his demo booth! Mark’s Miles “Tails” Prower plush! TopataCo is a nice place to host your merch at. The Space Junk team made stickers of their garbage! Don’t you just want to hug a Sprocket of your own? Here’s an older gif of Fingeance’s enemies. Metro Nexus maps would make great posters, right? The Joggernauts team has been selling their pins everywhere you can find them! The Coleslaw Council’s official pin design. [0:39:18] Starting a Game Martha started working on her point and click game, wanna see it? Ron Gilbert’s blog and the Thimbleweed Park dev blog have been valuable to Martha’s game so far. We’ve talked a bit about Programmer Art in a previous episode: Bananas, From Here to Eternity. Martha realized during the show that the Usborne puzzle adventures were influential to the design of her game.

This week, Martha goes into more detail about her game, Stephen gushes about all the plushies he wants and Mark reminisces about the good old days of Super Mario Bros. 3. Merch 0:07:49 Mark LaCroix Marketing Stephen's Kirby Corner The Nintendo World Store is an awesome place for sweet Nintendo swag. "Blown Up Game Boy From The Gulf War" -  Vince Veneziani, TechCrunch Mark's pikman plushie watches over his demo setup Mark’s “Tails” aka Miles Prower plush! TopataCo is a nice place to host your merch at. The Space Junk team made stickers of their garbage! Don’t you just want to hug a Sprocket of your own? Here’s an older gif of Fingeance’s enemies. Metro Nexus maps would make great posters, right? The Joggernauts team has been selling their pins everywhere you can find them! The Coleslaw Council’s official pin design. Starting a Game 0:39:18 Martha Megarry IRL Martha started working on her point and click game Ron Gilbert’s blog Thimbleweed Park dev We’ve talked a bit about Programmer Art in a previous episode "Bananas, from here to eternity." Martha realized during the show that the Usborne puzzle adventures were influen…

This week, Martha goes into more detail about her game, Stephen gushes about all the plushies he wants and Mark reminisces about the good old days of Super Mario Bros. 3. Merch 0:07:49 Mark LaCroix Marketing Stephen's Kirby Corner The Nintendo World Store is an awesome place for sweet Nintendo swag. "Blown Up Game Boy From The Gulf War" -  Vince Veneziani, TechCrunch Mark's pikman plushie watches over his demo setup Mark’s “Tails” aka Miles Prower plush! TopataCo is a nice place to host your merch at. The Space Junk team made stickers of their garbage! Don’t you just want to hug a Sprocket of your own? Here’s an older gif of Fingeance’s enemies. Metro Nexus maps would make great posters, right? The Joggernauts team has been selling their pins everywhere you can find them! The Coleslaw Council’s official pin design. Starting a Game 0:39:18 Martha Megarry IRL Martha started working on her point and click game Ron Gilbert’s blog Thimbleweed Park dev We’ve talked a bit about Programmer Art in a previous episode "Bananas, from here to eternity." Martha realized during the show that the Usborne puzzle adventures were influen…

It's Global Game Jam 2018! In this special jam episode you'll hear field interviews with gamedevs at the Minneapolis Gamecraft site mid-jam as they work on their games. Then your nice hosts talk all about how the weekend went for them and what they each got out of the experience. Martha is a stage manager, Mark can't help but make artistic developer art and Stephen is the GGJ MVP. Stephen’s GGJ game: ”Dicer and Clasp: Dungeon Skedaddle”. Mark’s GGJ gam: ”CMYK”. Martha’s GGJ Interviews: Adia on Twitter. Adia’s game: “Jank Escape” Ellen on Twitter. Ellen worked with Stephen on “Dicer and Clasp.” “Intergalactic Transmissing” “Radwave” “Social Anxiety Simulator” “Space Pirate Radio” Charles’ wry tweet about the GGJ theme. Intergalactic Transmissing found the community at nesdev.com a great resource for making a modern NES game. Mark used a very helpful open-source library called VRTK for his GGJ game. Mark used AssetForge to create 3D assets for his GGJ game. Rachel Peterson was a guest on a previous episode.

It's Global Game Jam 2018! In this special jam episode you'll hear field interviews with gamedevs at the Minneapolis Gamecraft site mid-jam as they work on their games. Then your nice hosts talk all about how the weekend went for them and what they each got out of the experience. Martha is a stage manager, Mark can't help but make artistic developer art and Stephen is the GGJ MVP. Stephen’s GGJ game: ”Dicer and Clasp: Dungeon Skedaddle”. - Stephen's GGJ Team, GGJ Mark’s GGJ gam: ”CMYK”. - Mark's GGJ Team, GGJ Marth's GGJ Interviews Adia on Twitter. Adia’s game: “Jank Escape” Ellen on Twitter. Ellen worked with Stephen on “Dicer and Clasp.” “Intergalactic Transmissing” “Radwave” “Social Anxiety Simulator” “Space Pirate Radio” Charles’ wry tweet about the GGJ theme. Global Game Jam 2018 Events Intergalactic Transmissing found the community at nesdev.com a great resource f… Mark used a very helpful open-source library called VRTK for his GGJ game. Mark used AssetForge to create 3D assets for his GGJ game. Rachel Peterson was a guest on a previous episode. Games Education