Mark and Dale are at GDC so Ellen Burns-Johnson joins us to talk all about Team Building and Game Identities! Join us for this chill evening recording session and discuss the more existential side of game development. If you change a game completely is it still the same game you started with? Stephen builds a house, Ellen is a game feedback therapist and Martha gets lost in the waveform.

• Mark and Dale are at GDC! The episode of their adventures actually came out *last* week (calendar math) so you can listen to it RIGHT NOW if you haven’t alreadyGDC 2019 Special

Mark (and special guest Dale!) got back from GDC on a red-eye flight, took a quick nap, then immediately joined Martha and Stephen in the clubhouse to recap the year's largest gathering of game creators.

• Nindies (Nintendo Indies) Showcase Spring 2019 - Nintendo, YouTube
• "Developer Is Making an Official Zelda Game"  - Tom Marks, IGN
• Music from Eric Fullerton - Eric Fullerton MUSIC, YouTube

• Indiepocalypse 14 v 18

In this episode your Nice Hosts talk all about two important aspects of game design that can help more people play your games- Localization Systems and Accessibility! Stephen drives in the snow, Martha gets her nails done and Mark tries to get the baby to go to sleep.

NOTE: The CVAA law that Martha talks a lot about in this episode applies -only- to chat systems in games not to game play. She didn't realize this at the time of recording- but all the things we talk about are still things to strive for in every part of your game!

Photo credit: Microsoft

This week, August Brown (senior producer for Kongregate Publishing) enters the clubhouse to reveal the secrets of successful developer/publisher relationships!

Your nice hosts learn what publishers expect from a pitch, how forming a relationship with a publisher isn't always strictly business, and that publishers also think you're not charging enough money for your game.

August is a Senior Producer at Armor Games Studios. Formerly a Senior Producer for Kongregate Publishing.

Your nice hosts are big fans of video games, video game makers, and podcasts. So in this episode we talk all about both sides of the creator-fan relationship and how to create perfect balance in both communicating with fans and telling them to go away so you can work on balancing your game design- our second topic. Stephen shows us how balancing multiplayer and single player games are the same thing, Martha isn't as unique as she thinks she is and Mark gets 7th tier internet famous. Sorry, he won't take direct fan mail- please send all your letters to Stephen.

Photo credit: Nintendo of America

• Treasure Stack (the game that Stephen gets paid to work on) is out now! It is a…
• Video Games and Music Convention (Formally Gamers Rhapsody)
• Our episode on game soundtracks"All that and a bag of chips."
• "Google is holding a mysterious gaming press event at GDC next month" - Tom Warren, The Verge
• Drake and Josh “Its spherical!” Video
• Mark is Internet Famous now

In this episode, your nice hosts make sure you know that Treasure Stack, the game Stephen "is paid to work on," is coming out Friday, March 1st!

Mark then gives a primer on some audio basics that will help you understand how sound works, and works in your game. Even if you're bored by that, be sure to stick around for a discussion Stephen leads about representation in games.

• "Treasure Stack Reveals Launch Date With a Trailer Powered By Artisanal, Locall… - Hardcore Gamers

Extra Extra! Hear all about it! All the news that's fit to podcast! Join us in the Nice Games Clubhouse/Newsroom to hear all about the latest and greatest news from the video game world- at least latest and greatest from our vantage point in the past. Mark takes Valve to task, Martha makes a case for golf being interesting and Stephen is only here for the mechanics not the entertainment.

It's an episode full of releases, re-releases, spiritual successors, and "Epic" fails!

Games

• Kingdom Hearts 3 (finally)
• Apex Legends
• God Eater 3
• Wargroove
• Resident Evil 2
• Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy (a rerelease)
• New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe on Switch
• Bury Me My Love
• Walking Dead Final Season Episode 3
• Pic-a-Pix Pieces
• Crackdown 3
• Anthem
• Far Cry New Dawn
• Metro Exodus

This week on the program we attempt another Nice Games Jam, where we are given a prompt from Martha's boyfriend (and Evil Games Club co-host) Dylan, which we have to use to create a playable game by the end of the episode.

The prompt was "Cold," owing to the extreme winter temperatures we were facing in Minnesota at the time of this recording.

We're hoping to do even more of these going forward, so let us know what you think of this episode format on the feedback from!

4-sided Die

4 Player Markers

Notepad to track player stats

Board

Martha took a photo of what we were using to play the game during the recording of the episode:

And here's a rough mockup Mark made while editing this episode:

The goal of the game is to leave your house and run a quick errand during the worst blizzard of your lifetime.

• The board is split into 4 stages. On your turn, you roll a 4-sided die to determine your movement. When you reach the first square of the next stage (even if you are in the middle of your movement), you draw from a deck of "events/challenges" giving you an situation to deal with. After resolving the challenge, complete your movement (modified according to the result of the challenge, if any).
• The game begins by having every player draw an event for the first stage (see below for event desciptions).
• Play order is determined in descending order by who spent the most time outside during the Halloween Blizzard of 1991. If you are unable to determine play order using this method, figure something else out, I guess.
• After every player draws an event for the first stage, all players will get dressed for their adventure by distributing winter gear stats...

• Players get 9 points to distribute on winter gear. Points you don’t "spend" here are saved and can be used later at certain opportunities. Each player puts 0-4 points in each of three categories:

• Shoes (to aid in snow-based challenges):

• 0 points is gym socks and flip-flops.
• 4 points is pac boots plus snowshoes.

• 0 points means just a T-shirt.
• 4 points is a sweater under a hoodie under a heavy parka under a pea coat.

• 0 points is bare hands/head
• 4 points is wool-lined mittens with a pocket for your hand-warmers, an inch-thick balaclava, and an 8-foot tartan scarf.

• If you accumulate 3 Cold Enough For Ya? points, you lose the game by giving up and going home to bury yourself under 100 fleece blankets (role-play optional).
• If you drop to 0 Minnesota Nice points, you may complete your errand, but you lose your Minnesota spirit (and also the game).

• For the purposes of this prototype, rather than draw from a deck, roll a 4-sided die and use the challenges listed below.
• 1st stage: "Getting out of the house"
  • 1 - Furnace out: +1Cold Enough For Ya?
  • 2 - You're snowed in: If you do not obtain a 3 or better in Shoes, you must end your turn when you reach your front door, no matter what your die roll is.
  • 3 - You slept in: Lose a turn.
  • 4: Whoops! Two errands: You must take "the long way" in the 3rd stage.
• 2nd stage: "Getting to your car"
  • 1 - Car covered in snow: If you have 3 or greater in Gloves and Stuff, ignore this, otherwise, chose from these options:

• Get rid of snow: +1Cold Enough For Ya?
• Don’t get rid of snow, -1 to all die rolls in the 3rd stage.

• 1 - "Thanks! I owe you one" You get nothing.
• 2 - "Rough out there. I've got an extra coat if you want it" +2 to Coat.
• 3 - +2 to Shoes.
• 4 - +2 to Gloves and Stuff.

• Power though it: +1Cold Enough For Ya?
• Move carefully: During this stage, you may only move one space per turn (if you have any movement left on this turn, you can move forward one space).

• 1 or 2 - "Thanks! I don't have AAA." You get nothing.
• 3 or 4 - "Let me pay you back somehow." +2 to Any Stat.

• 1 or 2 - "You know, they used to have people for this." You get nothing.
• 3 or 4 - "I'm on my way to the Goodwill, do you want anything?" +2 to Any Stat.

• -1Minnesota Nice as you shove your way past everyone.
• +1Cold Enough For Ya? as you wait patiently.