Another year has come and gone.. As is tradition, let's take a look back and then think a bit about the future.

I kinda met all my goals?

It may be because I set the bar too low, but I did basically everything I thought I would in 2024.

• 🎮 Participate in 3 game jams? Check. (UPDATE: I only did 2.. so half check?)
• 🏃 Run the TriShark Triathlon, and the Crystal lake Aquathlon? Check.
• 📚 Read 12 books? I read 14!
• 🕹️ Play short games? Sure I played some short games.
• 🚽 Renovate my bathroom? Nearly killed me but yep it's renovated!
• 🍼 Have baby number 2? Yep, and he's super cute.

Wild.

Ran in 1 Sprint Triathlon, and a Sprint Aquathlon

It seems like as I have more kids I participate in less races... Ah well, parenting is a race all its own right?

Trishark Sprint, 2024

2 minutes faster then last year, I'll take it!

Crystal Lake Aquathlon Sprint, 2024

Participated in 2 Game Jams

I unfortunately missed the fall Ludum Dare because of a family event, but hopefully I'll get back up to 3 Jams in 2025.

• 🃏 Ludum Dare 55: Upcard Writ. Got to partner with Whales on this one, and also spent the extra day on polish. I also wrote a post on the card effect here.
• 🎏 GMTK Jam 2024: Akoipella. I'm really proud of the visuals in this one, but the gameplay ended up hard to understand and overall lacking.

Wrote 4 Songs

One thing I did not expect for 2024 was that I would get back into composing music! It has felt really good, and I have Whales to thank for inspiring me.

For me writing songs is a slow going process, so 1 a quarter is probably all I’ll be able to manage in 2025.

Played 28(ist) Games

To be honest I'm kinda surprised by the number of different games I played. Maybe I'm more willing to abandon games? Or alternatively I am just playing shorter titles?

Similar to how in 2023 I played a bunch of GBA games, I had a multi-month stint where I played only DS games. The standout was Capcom's cult classic Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective, which had one of the best stories I've ever experienced. Literally every chapter ended with a bombshell revelation which re-contextualized the entire story thus far.. It was truly a wild ride from start to finish. Plus the Rube Goldberg machine inspired gameplay was admittedly simple but fun! Everyone needs to check this game out.

Another game worth mentioning was Cocoon. The puzzles built around worlds within worlds within worlds had me saying stuff like "no way, we're really gonna do that?!".It's extremely polished, good looking, and does not overstay its welcome. The internet seemed to think it was too easy but it was just right for my smooth brain.

2024 was the year I finally started playing "live service" games! It's been a ton of fun getting murdered in Lethal Company & Phasmophobia with friends. I think my 2025 will see more multiplayer games with proximity voice chat.

Books

I read (or listened to) around 14 books this year, not bad!

I can happily recommend every book on this list, but my "book of the year" has to be Piranesi by Susanna Clarke. If you know me in real life this comes as no surprise, since I've been recommending it at every opportunity. It's a book best started completely blind so I wont say much. However I will say it is one of those rare fantasies with a truly original and foreign world. The type that will make you read just one more chapter in order to figure out what the heck is even going on.

Seriously, go read Piranesi right now. 🔫

Some honorable mentions go to Reforming Criminal Justice by Matthew Martens (which will deepen the parable of the good samaritan), and GK Chesterton's Father Brown short stories (which will make you feel very british).

What's in store for 2025?

Ya ya ya I'm going to play games, read books, do game jams, run a race or 2, but you don't care about that boring old stuff. What are the exciting new things I have planned for 2025?!

1. Journal 📓

One thing God has been putting on my mind is the practice of taking sermon notes, and more generally journaling. People I really look up to take good notes, and it seems to me like a good practice. I often feel a twinge of guilt when I can't remember any part of a sermon hours after hearing it, and I've heard writing things down helps you remember them. I want that for myself.

The goal is to use a journal not just for sermon notes, but notes of any kind! I have already bought the notebooks, so I really have no excuses to get writing.

2. Bigger Projects 🗂️

I've slowly amassed a collection of unfinished medium sized projects; the sort that takes months instead of days. I've decided 2025 will be the year of finishing them... or at least working on 'em.

I plan on writing individual posts about each one, so for now I'll just give their elevator pitch.

• 🍂 the Gravel Road: Browser based TTRPG about spooky monsters & cold autumn nights
• ♟️ Phalanx V2: With a real wooden board, & marbles!
• 🎚️ Fidgetboy: Baby's first gameboy made with fun inputs and a 16x16 led grid.
• 🗡️ Project Tao: 2d zelda like game thats been in my head for 10+ years

3. Camping! ⛺

My wife and I have had many talks throughout our marriage about being a "camping family". Our ideal vacations are exploring beautiful forests and sitting around the campfire. However the thing that always seemed to hold us back was the age of our 2 boys. But this fall we decided life is too short to always just be waiting for our kids to be "old enough", so we bought an old popup camper! The solid walls will give us some emotional security without losing the feeling of roughing it too much.

I also have some major nostalgia of pop up campers, since my grandpa had one. I have many memories of him setting it up in his yard and all the grandkids have the time of our lives in it!

The current plan is to do 3 big camping trips around the midwest. Let's pray my family will make good memories.