Intended audience

Like my 2024 retrospective, this post is mostly intended for future me, but it’s possible you’ll find it cathartic to review the same categories in your own life.

Summary

• Played some of my favorite games of all time this year
• Read a lot of Brandon Sanderson books (like, almost his whole collection), and found a new great series in The Will of the Many
• Wrote some personal apps (5) and a couple simple games (2)

Q1

• 👰 Went to Charleston for my sister-in-law’s wedding
• 🍿 Switched from Plex to Jellyfin
• 🌻 Made a game (Kill All Dandelions) for the Bevy Game Jam

Q2

• 🐝 Went to a local Honey festival
• 🎸 Saw Linkin Park
• 🎮 Played the best game in 15 years: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

Q3

• 🎉 Went to Houston and was promoted to Manager/Lead
• 🎸 Saw Breaking Benjamin and Three Days Grace
• 💰 Our furnace died so we had to get a new one
• 🌶️ Went to a local Chilifest + Beerfest
• 📱 Wrote multiple mobile apps (5 total this year) that scratch my own itch
• 🎮 Played the amazing game Hollow Knight: Silksong
• 🎮 Played the great game: Hades II

Q4

• 🎸 Saw All Time Low and Mayday Parade
• 🎸 Saw A Day to Remember, Yellowcard, and The Wonder Years
• 🐵 Got a new job
• 📚 Finished my 42nd book this year, and most of what I read this year was fiction
• 🎮 Played the wonderful game: Ghost of Tsushima
• 🕹️ Wrote a BALL x PIT game clone

Media Lookback

Podcasts Consumed

Books Read

42 books read, and I’m excited most of them were fiction.

Games Played

My favorite 5 were:

1. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
2. Hollow Knight: Silksong
3. Ghost of Tsushima
4. Hades II
5. Chained Echoes

And some honorable mentions are: BALL x PIT, Passant, and Aethermancer (the demo is 🔥)

Creative Lookback

Open Source

Apps Created

1. Kill all Dandelions - a Bevy Game Jam video game
2. Pomagotchi - a Pomodoro + creature raising productivity application
3. N-Back - a Dual N-Back cognitive training game
4. Spaced Out - a spaced repetition app
5. Tension - a blood pressure tracker
6. BALL x PIT clone - still a work in progress and not published

Mood Review

Recorded in Daylio

Wrap Up

I think overall, I’m getting worse at these retrospectives as I go along. I have lessons learned, but they’re more personal and not universal enough to mention here. I like laying out the stats overall, but I’m not entirely motivated to give context to them. I’m glad I tracked what I did, but I have my eye on next steps instead of the past. Maybe that’s healthy? Maybe I’ll come back later and add more of my thoughts. But for now, it’s been a good year and I’m looking forward to the next.

Signing off.