Some of my favourite things...

I thought it'd be fun this week to wrap up the year with a list of my favourite of the things I've done, read, watched, and listened to this year.

December 18, 2022

First up, the things I’ve done this year!

I’m actually excited to write this up, because so much of this year has been lost to the fog of time for me.

The games I wrote and published:

  • What Am I Made Of - a game about having childhood experiences as an adult, made for the Trans Fucking Rage Jam. I don’t know how I made this, as sick as I was last summer/early autumn, but here it is.

  • Fuck Your God - A game inspired by a transphobic tweet claiming that trans people are their own gods. Not safe for work. I published this, and then tried to hide under a rock for the next 24 hours to avoid being perceived, but I am actually very proud of it.

  • Hometown: A Wanderhome Nature - A nature that is somewhere you are welcome but do not want to be. Needless to say, moving back in with my parents affected me somewhat.

  • Layers of Creation - A solo worldbuilding game in which you create a game that is being played during a monumental event in a world’s history, showing just how much context has to come together to make one game exist.

  • Communion by Candlelight - Based on the game The Fire Flickers Between You by Viditya Voleti, this is a game about a god and their worshiper meeting face to face. In my mind, this is a companion piece to Fuck Your God, so take that how you will.

  • Additionally, This Game Takes Place in Dracula’s Castle received a new cover this year after blowing up on tumblr, and Children of the Court was edited and re-released.

Other projects:

  • Twitch - this has been a new adventure for me. In the last few months I’ve managed to become a twitch affiliate, and stream more days than not. I think twitch said the other day I had streamed for 117 days this year? Weird to think about, but it’s been very fun and I’m looking forward to continuing!

  • Writing - I didn’t get as far into NaNoWriMo as I would have liked, but the project is not over, and not being abandoned. Keep an eye on my Patreon for future chapters! I did write around 20,000 words this November, which you know - I think counts for quite a lot with everything else going on

  • Actual Plays - There may not be much to see for my work on Actual Plays this year, but plenty of work went on. Qomrades returned with our Halloween special, and season 3 should start not far into the New Year.

  • Kēmu Whakatau o Aotearoa - Obviously this is much bigger than just me, but it’s been great to be part of this fledgeling group this year, and I’m really looking forward to what we can achieve next year!

Other People’s Creations:

I made some wee graphics for this because I thought it’d be fun. Just scroll, there’s alt text on each image that transcribes the text.

Books: A Psalm for the Wild Built - Becky Chambers This was a deeply healing book for me while I was suffering burnout earlier in the year. I got to the end and sobbed. The Dawnhounds - Sascha Stronach Just a lot of fun! Gripping and satisfying, I absolutely devoured this book. Dis/Connected - Constellation Shulman I only read this yesterday and so it's fresh in my brain and I need to scream about it. It's so good. If you've ever liked hearing me talk about AI, you'll love this book (it's on itch.io under the username occasionalell)

Movies/TV: Everything Everywhere All At Once A friend and I went to the theatres to see this just before I moved home, and it touched on a lot of the exact feelings I was having with my depression at the time. Just brutal, and also an amazing movie in its own right. Andor I mean, obviously, right? I think everyone knows this show was incredible. I'm not special for liking it. But I can't not mention it. Revolutionary Girl Utena I didn't say everything I watched would have come out this year, did I? I watched this for the first time earlier this year and the story and characters were so rich, I don't know what I was doing without it before.

Podcasts: Lost Terminal An audio drama from the perspective of an AI built by astronauts stranded on a space station as society collapsed. Great pitch, great show. Short and digestible, and the music whips too. The Unexplored Places Every year this is true, let's be real, but this year's seasons and finales have knocked it out of the park. I can't wait to see what they do next. Friends at the Table Another staple of mine. I have to admit that I relistened to at least two seasons of the divine cycle this year, and I'm not going to stop being obsessed any time soon with Palisade on the Horizon

Albums: HOLY FVCK - Demi Lovato Banger after banger, the nonbinary slut younger millenial representation I needed from an album (this is not a joke, even though it sounds like one). Are You Happy Now? - Jensen McRae I don't know what to say about this one, I don't know enough about music to pin down what about it has had me put it on repeat all year but SOMETHING got me, so you should listen to it. Dance Fever - Florence + the Machine I never really got into Florence with previous albums, but this one is hanging out on a playlist with Holy Fvck and Are You Happy Now and it's been a go-to writing album for me

Video games: Kentucky Route Zero I'm definitely late to this party but I played this earlier in the year and it kicked my ass. Phenomenal Disco Elysium Just accept that I'm late to most parties please. Anyway, this was great. I'm hoping to replay it at some point though, because I definitely did a lot wrong and I want to see what I can do differently Iron Lung I played this whole thing on a single stream. It's a bite sized game, only about 2 hours, but it's a great atmospheric horror game, and does a lot with very little.

Tabletop games: A Land Once Magic by Viditya Voleti I know nobody's heard it yet, but the Qomrades game of this absolutely kicks ass and the game had a lot to do with that. Amazing worldbuilding game Un-Navigatable by Kaden Ramstack amazing game both for evoking nostalgia for the teenage me and for presenting a reminder of the importance of internet archival. Really fun in conversation with Forum_Crypt by Nathaniel Joseph which I played a few weeks later! How to Embrace a Swamp Creature by Rat Wave Games I haven't had a chance to play this yet, but if I had a printed copy I would be longingly stroking its spine every time I walked past it on the shelf. I want to play this game so goddamn bad, and it just will not leave my mind, so it gets a spot here.

And that’s me for the year folks. I’ll be back either on the first of January, or the eigth with (some of) my creative plans for 2023. Happy holidays!

-Jack