August Hottest 2023
Writing
Indiegames
I'm still getting into the groove, so there's not much planned for my writing in indiegames this month. I expect that to change in the fall when more of the gaming conferences and expos happen. In case you missed it, I did manage to share my Standout Demos from the Wholesome Direct this year before going on break.
Boardgames
My Oros review should be coming out shortly on Board Game Quest this month, which means I'm caught up on my backlog and will need to go back on the hunt for the next interesting board game. 2023 has been quite a slow year in terms of innovative games that I think are worth my time, but maybe there's more to come in the future after Gen Con.
I'm currently in a casual BoardGameArena Obsession tournament and it's been a ton of fun! For the uninitiated, Obsession is a worker-placement game often referred to as "Pride and Prejudice the Board Game" due to its setting in mid-19th century Victorian England. It's one of my favorite games and my knowledge is definitely being tested in the tournament. As of today I'm placing 4th out of 12, and while I do prefer to win I'm trying to enjoy the competition and learn from the losses with grace.
Fiction
I started writing a new story during my break, this time by hand (pen and paper) as I was trying to stay off the grid. Can't share any details about it just yet but it feels like a romance novel with some science fiction elements. The closest media to what my new story is like would be the movie Her.
Video
Streaming
What I want to stream seems to change every few quarters and right now I'm focusing on puzzle games and wholesome games that can be finished in a sitting (or two). Our next long play will likely be Wylde Flowers, which I've heard is incredible with full voice acting. While I adore using my voice in the narrative games we play on stream, sometimes it's nice to get a break. I'm also still holding out hope to see Mail Time come out on the Nintendo Switch so I can finally give away the Steam key I have!
Short Form
Some of these games have had surprising moments like A Little to the Left which had a chaotic cat and seem to be built for goofy TikToks! Looking forward to having more material to share there.
Personal
Currently Playing
Octopath Traveler II continues to be a game I fall back to while I try to make my way through Tears of the Kingdom and dodging spoilers. It's so much bigger than Breath of the Wild to me and I've been a little overwhelmed at how many paths I can take in what seems to be a multi-layered death cake.
To be honest I've been doing a lot more reading than gaming offline lately, and currently I'm making my way through Yellowface by R.F. Kuang which has some jaw-dropping themes around white privilege and cultural appropriation.
IRL
The last major movie my partner and I watched was Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, and it did not disappoint! I was a little fearful about how they could possibly follow up the first one, and not only did they succeed but they opened up a mind-blowing series of questions and thoughts. If you haven't seen it yet, please do at your earliest convenience, especially if you have a mind for thinking deeply about turns of events and the characters that play a role in them.
Once the hype dies down, my partner has agreed to accompany me to see Barbie. I've managed to avoid spoilers but of the opinions I've seen, I guess I should be prepared to cry and be entertained at the same time.
My break from June through mid-July was full of self-discovery and honest conversations. You may have heard me mention 5 Why's in the past but I really went deep into examining my relationship with content creation and my self-worth. This time around I have all my values clearly in my mind and have figured out how to focus on the things that make this kind of effort sustainable. Sometime in the past year I lost my way, but I'm finally back to my roots and why I started doing this. If you find yourself feeling burned out or approaching it, I really recommend -- if you can -- digging deep. It can look or feel ugly at first but the healing is worth the work.
I've been enjoying playing tennis more often with the new Twitch schedule changes and being available for spontaneous outings with family. Along this same theme I'm prioritizing my physical health more now that I have found a sweet spot between life coaching and medication for my mental health. Feeling much stronger and more confident by making sure I move daily, and it's become more of an integrated part of my life than a chore.
Finally, my first voice acting class is this month, fully funded by the support from folks across Ko-fi and Twitch! I'll report back on my experience once complete and I plan to start auditioning more with the new learnings. I haven't been in a major voice acting project since my anime parody days so I'm determined to land a new role after all these years.
Picture of the Month
Who knew that weeds could look so pretty given the right time of day? A true summer vibe for you all.
Feel free to reply directly to this email to let me know your thoughts, or perhaps any content that you'd like to see or questions you might have. Otherwise, sending you all my coolest thoughts for the month and I look forward to writing to you in September!