Nice Thinking: "Nice Puzzle Room, Part 1"

Attention Sega nerds! This Nice Bonus episode is for you!During our episode on 90's consoles Mark found out there were so many obscure Sega accessories that they couldn't fit in the episode and deserved their very own spotlight. Please enjoy this Nice Bonus short episode all about them!Sega Consoles

This is an aspirational part 1 of your Nice Hosts designing their own puzzle room. Lydia guides Mark and Stephen from zero to a basic outline of a Widget Satchel themed puzzle room. Will there be a part 2? I dunno; I guess we'll find out together.Nice Puzzle Room, Part 1Lydia's notes from her first puzzle room including the four tracks in the overall puzzle flow.Lydia gave a primer on designing puzzle rooms earlier this year.Escape Rooms 101Widget SatchelNoble RobotPatch Bay, aka. Patch PanelWikipedia

Ellen is in the clubhouse for another week while returning guest Sam Baeseman fills in for Lydia in an episode that's a bit punchy, mostly empathetic, and a little bit educational thankfully.0:02:12TexturesFelyx's Guide to Trim SheetsFelyx McGarryArtstationIs the world map about to change? New projections reshape how we see the worldJiang Li Global TimesPhysically based renderingWikipediaNormal mappingWikipedia0:29:14Frustration

We welcome returning host Ellen Burns-Johnson back into the clubhouse today for a Nice Games Jam! Lydia provides the other three veteran podcasters with a prompt and helps shape this paper prototype.The last time Ellen returned to the show was for the Serious Play Conference in 2025Serious Play Conference 2025Prototype ImagesPromptMake me a game about geometry - the only math class I enjoyed taking! Feature at least one theorum or postulate in the mechanics. For example: the theorum of transitive properties (if a=b and b=c than a=c).Game typeTabletop gamePlayer count2-4SetupTemplated Library of shapes:Squares3x3 square2x2 square1x1 squareEquilateral Triangles4 wide base equilateral triangle2 wide base equilateral triangle1 wide base equilateral triangleRight Triangles3x3 right triangle2x2 right triangle1x1 right triangleParallelagrams 3x2 classic parallelagram2x3 classic parallelagramLydia-assisted rhombus RulesStart with 5 random shapes Randomly pick a criteriaMust use at least 2 new pieces in your shapeMid-round you can trade up your shapes so long as they are of equal areas (eg. two 1x1 right triangles can be traded for a 1x1 square)Whoever finishes their shape first they get the card and their shape is “stuck” on the boardWhose who did not get it can wipe their most-recent shape additions from their boardAt end of round get 2 new pieces each person, draw a new criteriaCriteria:Convex (eg. a classic pentagon is a convex polygon)Concave (eg. a star is a concave polygon)Exactly 8 sides>10 sides

It’s spooky month, so before diving into the game jam the clubhouse talks about a couple scary things. Dinosaurs (briefly) and breast cancer awareness month. Lydia shares her experience with the screening process. Editor Dale, has some things to add. Fun fact, Dale was driven to her first mammogram by Stephen and (not her husband Mark). Not-fun-fact, her sister-in-law detected her breast cancer, only because her adopted mother was diagnosed. They are both fine, but cancer is the opposite of fun. Then they talk about mummies and card games mechanics as they make their game. That is fun.PromptMake a card game about what I have determined is Stephen's favorite monster.The monster that doesn't consume blood or brains or have claws: MUMMIES.Game typeTabletop gamePlayer count2MaterialsCustom CardsMummy IndicatorsSetupThe deck consists of the following cards: Alligator  Alive: 1 space, 3 attack (Charge Attack! Can move up to 3 spaces in one direction if it can attack something on the way) Mummy: 1 space, 3 attackEgret Alive: 2 space, 2 attack (Can attack any space on the board by flying into the fray but cannot fly back) Mummy: 2 space, 2 attackJock Alive: 2 space, 2 attack (Popular kid! Can draw 2 lackies from the draw pile) Mummy: 2 space, 2 attackNerd Alive: 2 space, 2 attack (Wizard! Can raise the dead at will from the top of the graveyard and place it in any column of Rank 1) Mummy: 2 space, 2 attackHousecat Alive: 3 space, 1 attack (After attacking, it can jump backwards after attacking if it defeats an opponent) Mummy: 3 space, 1 attackEach player starts with a Jock card, a Nerd card, and one other random card.The playing space is a 6x6 gridRulesEach turn, each card has one action:  Jock - pulls two cards from the draw pile "attracts two from the house party" Nerd - selects one card from the graveyard pile "revises one as a mummy" Other cards: Move within there abilities Mummy cards can only move forward. Goal is to get a mummy card to the opposite player's end of the board.

Bernie Mattson enters the Clubhouse to talk about researching inspiration as part of the game development process and along the way the Nice Hosts learn a whole lot about Dada. Do you like show notes? Well, Nice Listener, is this the episode for you!Researching InspirationArtGame DesignProductionDoo-DaaYou can buy Doo-Daa right now on itch.io... - itch.io...or wishlist it on Steam - SteamProcess Book for Doo-Daa - Bernie Mattson, itch.ioSpace Funeral, a big inspiration for Doo-Daa - itch.ioDada, a starting pointEurope After The Rain, 1970 - YouTubeDadA, 1967 - Greta Deses, YouTube1918 Dada Manifesto - Tristan TzaraInternational Dada ArchivesThe Dada Cyborg Visions of the New Human in Weimar Berlin - Matthew BiroThe Bride Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, Even - WikipediaDuchamp Research Portal - Duchamp ArchivesSophie Taeuber-Arp - Wikipedia

In this episode, Mark has some general notes on Europe, and walks though how he assembled the pitch deck that he brought with him to Gamescom. Meanwhile, Lydia wonders what it would be like to share responsibility on a schedule, and Stephen's clock is 10 minutes fast so we're not going to be as late to the screening of Star Trek III: The Search for Spock as he thinks.Mark on a bike in Dublin.Mark on a bike in Amsterdam.Mark on a bike in Cologne.Mark on a bike in Zurich.Mark on a bike in Paris.Mark feeding the birds underneath the Eiffel Tower.0:20:56Pitch DecksSlides in Mark's pitch deck:Title (with links to contact, build, video, etc)Table of ContentsFact SheetConcept summaryTeamEmbedded videoSlides covering each main topic from summary slide1-3 slides after each topic slideConcept conclusionInspiration sourcesTimelineBudgetWhy support this team?What we want from a publisherTitle (again)1:10:13Rotating Leadership

Mark returns with gifts from Europe! Then Lydia teaches her nice boys how to make a puzzle room: the ins and outs, the dos and don'ts, it’s an escape room special!The Sega coin that Mark stood in multiple very long lines to get.Junction Jam (Midwest US 2026) - itch.ioSaprolige - LydiaSymchych, HeadlessKhan, Ally, Ice Husky, Martin_Gazelle, itch.ioEscape Rooms 101Lydia's first episode on the program was as a guest, where she talked about:Digital Escape RoomsYears earlier, we spoke with another Escape Room designer, for:Puzzle/Escape Rooms

Your nice hosts discuss a previously talked about topic, and also engage in something completely new (though both are an excuse to discuss work issues in reality), with a brief divergence to mention a Star Trek anniversary. 0:06:02Replayability0:27:34Blue-skying

In this episode, your nice hosts welcome Heather Flowers into the clubhouse to talk about math and probability, while Heather insists they should be on Evil Games Club instead. The group reflects on art and the interpretation of art.Chance MechanicsGame DesignHeather Flowers GamesUnfair Flips - Heather Flowers, Steam500 Finger Fillet - Heather Flowers, SteamUnderstanding Systems Suspense - Cat Manning, Jason Grinblat, Max Kreminski, Graeme Lennon, Alexsei Pepers, Lauren Scott, Polaris Game Design RetreatOther mentionsBuckshot Roulette - WikipediaArchane Kids Manife$toNumber Gotcha - itch.io