Épisodes

  • Nice Games Jam: "Grog"

    Nice Games Jam: "Grog"
    Nov 13 2025

    This week, Lydia provides all the fun facts about living on a boat while your nice hosts develop a card game based around scurvy management!

    • Hoyle's Official Book of Games - Wikipedia
    PromptCreate a pirate themed game about food and scurvy management.Game typeCard gamePlayer count2-4Materials

    Event deck

    Resource Deck

    Setup

    Shuffle the event deck and the resource deck separately. Deal 5 cards from the resource deck to each player.

    Rules
    • Card game
      • Set making
      • Need to create as many sets as you can to create grog, while preventing vermin from being in your hand
      • These resources will keep you going in phase 2 when pulling from port of call / event cards
      • Whoever is able to travel farthest (successfully draw the most port of call / event cards) wins
    • Beneficial food
      • Grog (face cards)
        • Rum - Jack
        • Sugar - Queen
        • Water - King
        • Limes - Ace
      • Salt meat/fish
        • Pork or Cod (Hearts)
        • Salt (Diamonds)
      • Hard tack (Clubs)
      • Suet (Spades) (added to meat or hard tack to enhance it)
    • Vermin (clogs your hand and could cause problems in events)
      • Weevil
      • Maggots
      • Rats
    • Rules
      • Each turn you have one action. You can either:
        • Draw a card
        • Play a complete set
      • After a certain number of cards (10 as default), you all go to sail and have ports of call events
        • Draw an event card each turn
    • Ports of call / Events? - you get a point for every port you successfully make it to. Certain cards when “won” enter your stack and give you extra points or mechanical advantage
      • Windfall of resources
        • Everyone draws 5 cards and makes stacks
      • Ship cat
        • The cat joins the most rat-infested ship (removes all rats from hand)
        • OR spend the most salt meat to attract it to your ship
      • Trade with each other
        • Draw 3 cards and give 1 card from hand to the player on your left. Make stacks
      • Injured shipmate
        • Spend water and salt from your hand
        • Spend maggots from your hand
      • Threat of scurvy
        • Spend grog
      • Weevil infestation!
        • Lose a hard tack for every weevil in your hand. Discard those cards from your hand and stacks(?)
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  • "That's an interesting example." Naming Files; Unity Security Vulnerability (2025)

    "That's an interesting example." Naming Files; Unity Security Vulnerability (2025)
    Nov 6 2025
    This week features a timeless topic followed by a timely one, both of them pretty important. Lydia prepares for Chicago, Mark shares his slides, and Stephen gonna chill.CHEST 2025 - American College of Chest PhysiciansSome of Lydia's escape room props!0:05:26Naming FilesMuseum Accessioning: Numbering SystemsOklahoma Museums AssociationRice County Historical SocietyMontshire Museum of Science0:43:13Unity Security Vulnerability (2025)"Unity Security Update, What Do?" presentation slidesMark LaCroixUnity Platform Protection - Security AdvisoryUnityUnity Platform Protection - Developer Remediation GuideUnityUnity Platform Protection - Patcher ToolUnityCVE-2025-59489: Arbitrary Code Execution in Unity RuntimeRyotaKGMO Flatt Security Inc.CVE-2025-59489CVE
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  • Nice Thinking: "Noble Tools"

    Nice Thinking: "Noble Tools"
    Oct 30 2025

    In this episode, Lydia and Stephen are rubber ducks for Mark as he talks through his ideas for a suite of Unity plugin tools. Buckle up, there's a lot! They also discuss whether to bundle or not to bundle tools, considerations of scope and price, and the deep appreciation for easy-to-use interfaces.

    • Will Mark complete these tools by Christmas?
    • Will Stephen get a reprieve from the nagging about his fishing mini game collection?
    • Will Lydia ever get over that one client project?

    Stay tuned to find out!

    • Star Trek: Starfleet Academy | Official Trailer - Paramount+, YouTube
    0:13:22Noble ToolsRewiredUnity Asset StoreNoble EngineNoble RobotLydia really needs to listen to the episode where Stephen and Mark talk about the localization of Widget Satchel."I definitely thought of that ahead of time."Noble Menuitch.io
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  • "This is the earliest we’ve been this unhinged." Health; Developing for Speed Runners

    "This is the earliest we’ve been this unhinged." Health; Developing for Speed Runners
    Oct 23 2025
    Sam! returns to the clubhouse to help your nice hosts decide that Lakitu is no longer a savoir that comes down from the clouds, but since he has a job as a referee, should therefore be wearing a little ref shirt.Sam Baeseman is a member of the IDGATC board, the Nice Games Alliance board, and founding member of JAMA Jam.Nice Games AllianceIDGATCJAMA JamSam! joined us last week to talk about:Creative Peer CommunitiesBlippo+ (Mark's game) released, and you can buy it:Blippo+ on SteamBlippo+ on SwitchBlippo+ on itch.ioLydia:Why Learning Is So Hard for Adults (And How Games Can Help) - ELB Learning, YouTubeBefore becoming a host, Lydia joined the clubhouse as a guest to talk about:Digital Escape RoomsStephen is:not going to talk about his fishing gamedoing a game jam, Ludem Dare0:15:30HealthCalculate your pet's HPPolygonYouTubeYour nice hosts talked about these health systems:Subnautica - oxygen/food/waterDave the Diver - oxygenPEAK - staminaGauntlet - timeSuper Smash Bros. - percentagesStar Trek Adventures (TTRPG) - stressDoom (1993) - health packsDoom (2016) - enemy damageSuper Mario Bros. - mushrooms (2D) / coins (3D)Bloodborne - dignitySonic the Hedgehog - ringsCall of Duty - regenerating healthBlades in the Dark - "harm"42:31Developing for Speed RunnersWe talked about normal players vs. speedrunners in:Ladder Game
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  • Creative Peer Communities (with Sam Baeseman)

    Creative Peer Communities (with Sam Baeseman)
    Oct 16 2025

    Your nice hosts welcome 3D artist and Nice Games Alliance board member Sam Baeseman into the clubhouse to talk about how online Discord communities become available and how to become a part of or lead such communities.

    • Blippo+ (Out now!) - Panic
    Creative Peer CommunitiesIRLMisc.Sam's Social Links - skrimbus, LinktreeJAMA Jam - itch.ioInternational Game Developers Association, Twin Cities ChapterGrape Juice City - Splashworks Studio, Steam
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  • Nice Thinking: "Ladder Game"

    Nice Thinking: "Ladder Game"
    Oct 9 2025

    It's been awhile, but it's time for another video episode! This week, Mark's colleague Mike Lasch enters the clubhouse to build a digital prototype live on-air!

    Ladder GamePlayable "Ladder Game" prototypeMichael LaschConstruct 3Kuru Kuru KuruinWikipediaRoundaboutNo GoblinSteamSokobanWikipedia
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  • Nice Games Jam: "I’m Holding It for a Friend"

    Nice Games Jam: "I’m Holding It for a Friend"
    Oct 2 2025

    We invite Joanna May into the clubhouse again in this supersized episode to design a game about stowing illicit goods into spacecraft as it's being built!

    (Note: Minor hiccup with the audio recording in the first 2 minutes, so Lydia is off mic briefly but it fixes itself.)

    • Tangrams - Wikipedia
    • We mention Dogpile!, a game we made in a previous game jam.Dogpile!
    PromptDesign a puzzle game about loading passengers and/or cargo into various spacecraft (or other transport).Game typeTabletop gamePlayer count4 or moreRules
    • The ship is a pad of paper with outline of ship (legal pad sized)
      • The interior is blank, what you draw is the interior spaces
      • Each turn, the freighter captain draws the modules
        • False walls, freezers, to shape what you can put in there
        • They have their own secret goal
      • Each turn, the other players are smuggling things (they don’t know about what others are doing)
        • Contraband
        • Each turn they can put one thing in there or move a thing
          • Maybe you have to slide it only, you can’t pick it up after it’s been added
    • Each game has an ending determination and then also a scoring system
      • Everyone loses if ship gets caught
    • Hidden role game?
      • Freighter Captain
        • Makes the ship
      • Contraband smuggler
        • Tries to add the most of contraband as they can
      • Honest worker
        • Wants to add the most of the goal as possible
      • Inspector
        • Wants to find the smuggler
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  • "Ain’t nothin’ left." Role-playing; To Rebuild or Not to Rebuild

    "Ain’t nothin’ left." Role-playing; To Rebuild or Not to Rebuild
    Sep 25 2025
    Joanna May returns to the clubhouse as a guest host! Your four nice hosts chat Tetris, knitting, and CSS, but also have a pair of actual topics to discuss...Mark's game Blippo+ is out NOW! Go buy it on Switch and Steam!0:13:36Role-playingComplete History Of The Soviet Union, Arranged To The Melody Of TetrisPig with the Face of a BoyYouTubeTetris (film) - Historical accuracyWikipedia0:35:27To Rebuild or Not to RebuildJoanna previously joined us as a guest to discussSerializationGodot 4.5 release notes - SDL3 gamepad inputGodotNoble EngineNoble RobotGitHubThe Slow Way Is the Fast WayMark SamplesJoanna and Mark debated a concept called "Utility-first CSS"A Year of Utility Classes (Pro)Michelle BarkerCSS { In Real Life }What is Utility-First CSS? (Anti)Heydon PickeringHeydonWorks
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