Narrative-Driven Puzzles (with Brian Crick)

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

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

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

Two of your nice hosts are prepping to go to Junction Jam (which already happened, you'll hear about it soon!), but before then the discussion goes over the why players can and should be invested in your game, and how to push back against crunch in the workplace.Junction Jam - Global Game Jam0:06:57Player Investment'Cauldron of bats' and other great collective nounsEmma CownleyJot Jot Boom0:38:05Crunch CultureOccupational Burnout in Games 2024: Causes, Impact, and SolutionsLis Moberly, Tim StoboGame Developer Conference

From a floral prompt, a daring caper blossoms. This week your Nice Hosts answer the question: How many flowers to you have to eat to pull off a heist?Clank!: A Deck-Building Adventure - Board Game GeekClue: The Great Museum Caper - Board Game GeekThe game board for Clue: The Great Museum CaperOur spreadsheet of Flowers, Powers, and Barriers.PromptCreate a game about flowers. The flowers may give you powers (regular or super) or may become animated when they are in full bloom. An example of a regular power is power of attorney or a driver's license and example of a superpower is invisibility.Game typeTabletop gameMaterialsGame boardThief meeplesBarrier cardsFlower tokensFlower combination legendFlower box containersAbility tracker"a one-to-one scale replica of a particularly rare flower completely made of precious metals and gems"SetupLay out the boardPlace the "one-to-one scale replica of a particularly rare flower completely made of precious metals and gems" in the center chamberDistribute flower tokensShuffle flower tokens in a bagAdd flower tokens to flower boxes without looking at them Place the boxes on the marked spaces on the boardDistribute the remaining flower tokens around the flower patches marked on the boardPlace barriersShuffle barrier cardsFor each marked space on the board, draw a barrier card and place it on the spacePlayer setupChoose a thief meepleTake a flower combination legendTake an ability trackerRulesPlayers are thieves after the same jeweled flower in the center of the board  Players must gather different flowers to give them the ability to get through the board/mazeGoal is to get through to the center of the maze-like building firstPlayers navigate to get the different flowers Combinations of flowers give you new abilities (either mundane or super-powered)Players may only have 3 active abilities at a time (if you get a new one, the first one gets pushed out)Could be places or a power that allows you to remove all of your powersPlayers need to get these powers to get through barriers in the game Barriers can be gotten through by various means (2 or 3, minimum 1)On the board there are places where flowers grow (distributed fairly) (tokens of a color/image) Some places have flower boxes, and they’d give you a random flowerMore of the flower boxes in the center of the boardIf someone gets to the center, they win, but the others now want to try and get them caught (so they can now win) Players create new barriers for the winning one to keep them from being able to get out

In this episode, Mark touts the virtues of commenting, Stephen dreads the topic, and Lydia wishes she could talk about marginalia.Code CommentThe Critical Eye Part 2This is part 2 to The Critical Eye in Episode 416"I saw a Beatle."

Brian Crick is in the clubhouse to talk about how he intertwines narrative and puzzles in his game Tinselfly. We talk about character motivation, player buy-in, and where you even start with a project like this. And if you also are late to playing Myst, you'll learn you are not alone. Just... don't bring Mark the red pages...Narrative-Driven PuzzlesGame DesignNarrativeTinselfly - SteamGorogoa - SteamThe Longest Journey - Steam

Stephen is still away so Ian Peters uses that as an excuse to talk about rocks and how that relates to storytelling. Also in this episode, Mark is preparing for an exciting trip and Lydia is hype about trains for a good reason.Junction Jamgamescom0:15:35Geology In GamesNicolas StenoWikipediaThe potential for using video games to teach geoscience: learning about the geo…Edward G. McGowan and Lewis J. AlcottEuropean Geosciences Union0:36:00Shipping Updates

This week, Ian emerges from the clubhouse vents to fill-in for Stephen as Dale gives us a bare minimum prompt with maximum implications.Prompt"Make a game called 'Triage Simulator'"Game typeDesign documentPlayer count1RulesTriage - the verb Learn about the consequences of your actions later Papers Please-like interface   Situation/Scenario Buckets to sort in - limited space within the bucket Every level is a different situation  Level 1 - Hospital Level 2 - Pizza Day at the Elementary School Level 3 - Water Station at a Marathon Level 4 - Planning a Foot Route as a Courier Level 5 - Anubis is back from vacation and he’s backlogged ???Level 7 - In the pizza store making the pizza for the elementary school A system-based puzzle - Scheduling and ordering  Information you don’t have   How many more of each type are coming in? Information that lets you anticipate incoming situations  Events happening in the background that mean something going to come in at some point You get the case  Outside context as a bulletin on the side that is in natural language and would have some influence on the level that the player doesn’t know yet Time constraint known (5min, 90s) The Puzzle  Sorting - the simplest system possible of how much resources go where   Highest PriorityPretty ImportantMid-tierLow PriorityMehCannot rank within the bucket (eg. cannot say there is a highest priority of highest priority items) Put in buckets or stamp it with a stamp Each item gets ranked on certain variables which then designate which tier it should be assigned  No right answer - aiming for highest efficiency Walkthrough a level - Sandwich lunch orders   BIG TRIAGE MACHINE that gets plonked onto a desk  Area of the broader context of what’s happening (updated throughout the shift time) Deck of cards with variables for that level (eg. Order for 3, the order, how much it cost, extra paid to rush, for or to go) Timing element - different form per level  Punches into the card to annotate the cards (with unique shaped punches UrgencyImpactSeverityScaleConsequenceExceptional (YES/NO)Feed the punch card into a different part of the machine which crunches the punch numbers and gives a recommendation that the player can then either follow or ignore Want to be able to punch as much as you want into one card If punch 2, will average the numbers out  Or always read the lowest number? What if more than 2 punches? The machine is snarky at you? Put the card into 1-5 slots in the contraption that then stamps the thing and keeps it in its own mail slot as the final verdict (can’t get it back) with counters of how many went through each slot.   Someone picks up the tickets periodically and gives vague body language feedback on the ticket Accessibility features: Pause while reading Time scale adjustments 0.75x, 0.5x, 0.25x

In this episode Mark talks about an awesome Game Jam he is planning in association with Global Game Jam - Listeners in the Midwest or the UK (or have the ability to get there) can make a game on a train in Junction Jam.Mark rants about his new apartment, Stephen realizes that the purpose of this podcast is to rant and Lydia imagines what it would be like to have a following on YouTube, then waffles on sharing her social media TTRP in these show notes (let her know i the discord or feedback form if you want this)Mark philosophizes  about the artist's intent vs the receiver's experience. Lydia compares Slay the Spire to Slay the Spire 2.Junction JamJunction JamThe clubhouse discussed Junction Jam in"We need more train service in this country." What We Did On Our Winter Break (2025-26)Mark's apartmentLydia rediscovers a game she made, and then she waffles on sharing it with everyone. If you want to see her materials, you can ask on the discord or the feedback form.Story Players Won't SeeHe Won't Stop Making a Map to an Imaginary PlacePeople Make GamesYouTubeJerry's MapPolish Priorities