Goodbye 2023! Hello New Year! (Dec 2023 newsletter) (Patreon)

Hey folks! 2023 was a hell of a year. I released more tutorials than I ever have in a year before! Made more commissioned videos than I've done in a year before. And for both of those, I'm kinda hitting the upper limit to how many I'm currently able to do with the time I have. Because I focus on complex games and my set up requires a LOT of editing, one tutorial a month is pretty much the max for me. But that doesn't mean I'm done growing! I have a bunch of ideas for new things to add to the channel in 2024 and I'll be talking about them and asking you what you'd be most interested in seeing very soon. For now though, I played a few new games this month.

Over on Rahdo I did a runthrough of Dune Imperium: Uprising, and I think it's safe to say I like it better than the original. I enjoyed the original a lot, but everything they added to the sequel (contracts, spies, WORMS) I'm a big fan of. I still think it's better with three, or especially four players, but regardless it's just a solid game. No shade to those who don't like it, but I'm definitely replacing basic Dune Imperium with this new one.

I also got to play Hegemony, which I'd been curious about since I first heard about it last year. This class warfare simulator is such an interesting take on economic management. While the mechanics of the game itself are pretty good, placing each player as the concept of a different social class (working, middle, corporate, government), what really makes the game shine is how quickly you dive into the role that you're playing. Throughout the game the corporate player was talking about how no one wants to work these days, whereas the working class player was constantly pushing for social change and more government programs. The gov player was just trying to stay afloat while paying for all of this stuff and I was the middle class, constantly feeling pulled in each direction as I try to have it all. The game has a pretty rough teach, but once you get into it it moves along really nicely. Definitely recommend trying it if you get the chance.

The rest of the games I played were all with family, so it was a fair bit of Rummikub with my inlaws (if you know the game, you know how god-awful this spread of tiles I collected is). I also introduced them to The Mind, and let me tell you, you have not played The Mind until you've played it with a group of middle-aged relatives all screaming at each other in Japanese. Not even after making bad plays too. They were yelling at each other during the round. Not saying what they had or anything, but practically taunting each other to play the next card. Just a fascinating experience.

Anyway, that's all for my December, and my 2023! What about you fine folks? Do you have a favorite game of the year? I think mine was Earth, but there were a ton of games I loved, many of which I've only had the chance to play once, so it's hard to call them a favorite yet. Looking forward to trying them again in the new year!