The Secret Lives of Games 153: Returning to the Wasteland with Jan Willem Nijman, Joonas Turner, and Jukio Kallio (Nuclear Throne)
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Mar 6, 2026 Jukio Kallio, composer (Fall Guys, Minit) who shaped Nuclear Throne’s soundtrack. Joonas Turner, composer/designer (Downwell, Noita) who added sound design and design perspective. Jan Willem Nijman, designer (Super Crate Box, Minit) known for kinetic, community‑driven arcade design. They discuss reopening a decade‑old game, community modding and maintenance, tactile audio/controls, design choices like no invincibility frames, and adding a big anniversary update.
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Use Community Modders To Modernize Old Games
- Do involve committed modders and original contributors when updating old games to fix bugs and modernize performance.
- JW worked with community modder Yellow Afterlife and original team members to port Nuclear Throne to GameMaker Studio 2 and add fixes before the 10th anniversary update.
Make A Flexible Theme To Hold Lots Of Content
- Designing a content-heavy game around a flexible, coherent theme lets you add wildly different items without breaking the game.
- JW and Paul used a 50s–80s wasteland movie vibe so dozens of odd weapons and enemies could coexist and feel intentional.
Design For No Waiting To Sustain Momentum
- Embrace impatience as a core design principle to keep the player moving and engaged.
- Nuclear Throne removes waiting: active abilities lack cooldowns, pickups fade, and leveling choices only appear after you finish the level to maintain momentum.