Tag: YouTube Update

12 Days of Epic Games 2024 Round Up

My 12 Days of Epic Games series is complete!

In this second season of my 12 Days series we took a look at 12 different games that I have received for free during Epic Games giveaways, trying them out for an hour or two, or a chapter or two, whichever came first. I then decided whether to continue them online as content, continue them offline for myself or to drop them, content that they are no longer part of my backlog.

Now that the challenge is over, I thought it would be nice to do a wrap up post. I recorded the videos in advance so in the time between recording and the series finishing, I managed to secretly play through a few of the games to completion.

Day 1 – Recipe for Disaster (2022)

Recipe for Disaster is a management sim that captures the fast-paced, drama-filled environment of a professional kitchen and dining room. Build your dream restaurant, create recipes, design menus and manage your staff, all while contending with demanding customers and disastrous situations!

While I thought that Recipe for Disaster was doing something interesting with its menu creator, it turned out to be a very forgettable experience for me. Despite being one of the longer videos, I did move on from it completely once the video was done. I am always on the look out for the management games that scratch the itch that I have, but unfortunately this wasn’t the one for me.

Ranking – That’s enough for me.
Current Status – Dropped.

Day 2 – Frostpunk (2018)

Frostpunk is the first society survival game. As the ruler of the last city on Earth, it is your duty to manage both its citizens and infrastructure. What decisions will you make to ensure your society’s survival? What will you do when pushed to breaking point? Who will you become in the process?

Oh man.. Frostpunk. Les than one week after I finished recording, I had completed the entire scenario. By then, it felt like a shame not to show how it ended so I managed to find a way to add it in to the video.

This was my favourite game in the entire 12 days and I think that is for good reason. The tension kept me on my toes throughout, every decision made me question whether I had made the correct choice. The desperation was palpable and the stress had me sweating, despite the bitter cold my colony were trying so hard to survive.

An extremely memorable experience and I am really glad I have it on video for memories sake even if it isn’t a full Let’s Play.

Ranking – Continue playing offline.
Current Status – Completed the scenario and moved on. May try other scenarios in the future if I ever run out of new games to play and get the itch.

Day 3 – Transistor (2014)

Discover the world of Transistor, a sci-fi-themed action RPG from the creators of Bastion.

I am a little sad that Transistor didn’t hit for me the way it seems to have for a lot of others. I found the combat difficult to navigate and the story even more so.

I respect a game that doesn’t drown you in exposition. Naturally, when a story is set in its own world like this it will take time to learn about, but I have discovered that I like at least a little more handholding than Transistor offers. Having said all of that, since playing I have enjoyed what I heard about the story while listening to podcasts and will look forward to seeing the full game vicariously as a Let’s Play with this new context.

Ranking – That’s enough for me/watch someone else.
Current Status – Have listened to a podcast, looking for a Let’s Play to watch.

Day 4 – The Spectrum Retreat (2018)

Check-in to The Spectrum Retreat for a stay you won’t forget. Manipulate your way to the truth in this captivating narrative-driven puzzler.

I really liked The Spectrum Retreat as a first person puzzler. I went on to finish the game and I think it was the perfect length, never overstaying it’s welcome while regularly revealing more of the story as you go (it evolved after the video ended and I like where it went). The puzzle difficulty never got too much, adding in fun new mechanics each chapter to keep it fresh.

A pleasant surprise and an easy recommendation.

Ranking – Continue playing offline.
Current Status – Completed.

Day 5 – The First Tree (2017)

A beautiful, 3rd-person exploration game centered around two parallel stories: a fox trying to find her missing family, and a son reconnecting with his estranged father in Alaska. Uncover artifacts from the son’s life as he becomes intertwined in the fox’s journey towards The First Tree.

It is never a good feeling to not gel with a game, especially an indie and especially during recording. But there were a lot of reasons The First Tree fell flat for me. Rather than get into a critique of the game, I will report that I did finish it, and that unfortunately did not fix my issues.

Ranking – Continue playing offline/That’s enough for me.
Current Status – Completed.

Day 6 – Death Coming (2017)

‘Death Coming’ is a non-linear puzzle game where you must harvest human souls ‘Final Destination’ style. However, pesky mortals are not your only problem, as the Agents of Light will do everything they can to stop you.

I liked Death Coming for what it was, but after some time away I didn’t find myself desperate to play anymore. I booted it up one more time just to be sure, and as I got back into the swing of it, I enjoyed seeing what the remaining chapters had to offer. More than anything, I feel like the developers must have had a blast pooling together their ideas, and I am glad to have played through this game.

Ranking – Continue playing offline.
Current Status – Completed.

Day 7 – 20 Minutes till Dawn (2023)

20 Minutes Till Dawn is a survival roguelite where endless hordes of creatures lurk from the dark. Craft an array of overpowering builds and eradicate waves of Lovecraftian nightmares. Will you be able to survive the night?

20 Minutes till Dawn made me feel very similar to Vampire Survivors. I enjoyed trying it out but there is no magnetism for me to get back in there to try to master it. I was going to replace Vampire Survivors with 20 Minutes till Dawn on my PC, but I realized it is fine enough to keep them both installed as they take up next to no space. I think one day the genre will either click with me, or I will drop it completely, but for now, I keep trying.

Ranking – Continue playing offline.
Current Status – Still installed.

Day 8 – Loop Hero (2021)

The Lich has thrown the world into a timeless loop and plunged its inhabitants into never ending chaos. Wield an expanding deck of mystical cards to place enemies, buildings, and terrain along each unique expedition loop for the brave hero.

Considering how much I enjoyed this one, it is shocking how little I remember about how it played. I shelved it immediately as I knew that I could sink a lot of hours into it, but in the few weeks that have passed, I can barely remember the gameplay loop.

That doesn’t put me off continuing though, I know that it will all come back to me when the time comes and I look forward to seeing how it escalates.

Ranking – Continue playing offline.
Current Status – Still installed.

Day 9 – Breathedge (2021)

Survive in outer space! Together with your immortal chicken, discover the truth behind your sudden spaceship crash. Craft tools, pilot vehicles, and even control space stations to survive and explore the wreckage.

Breathedge is a game I enjoyed as I was playing it, but am hesitant to say that I will definitely play the full thing through. Going out on little expeditions and gradually upgrading my equipment is fun, but I do wonder how long that fun will last.

I am so thoroughly confused as to how I am remembering this as a chill game that I could perhaps listen to a podcast to, yet we were in such a precarious situation in the most dangerous setting there is. I will find out whether the podcast idea works out when I pick it back up soon enough.

Ranking – Continue playing offline.
Current Status – Still installed.

Day 10 – Beyond Blue (2020)

Beyond Blue is a single-player narrative adventure that takes you deep into our planet’s beating blue heart. Explore the awesome wonder and unbounded mystery that exists within the world’s ocean.

Beyond Blue is the game that I always wanted. It isn’t a huge game, but the focus on the ocean and what lives within, having an ongoing story while giving you the freedom to take your time, educating you while entertaining you, all create a Noob tailored combo that I would love to see more of. I, predictably, ended up spending a lot of time in photo mode, the results of which will be shared on the blog soon enough.

While I am most interested in the life below, I was grateful that the game took the time to acknowledge the people that work in the field. I had no idea the sacrifices they make, but their passion is clear and it is a good thing we have people like them in the world, striving to not only understand, but do so in an ethical way.

Ranking – Continue playing offline.
Current Status – Completed.

Day 11 – Kingdom Come: Deliverance (2018)

Story-driven open-world RPG that immerses you in an epic adventure in the Holy Roman Empire. Avenge your parents’ death as you battle invading forces, go on game-changing quests, and make influential choices. Explore castles, forests, villages and other realistic settings in medieval Bohemia!

Kingdom Come: Deliverance was more difficult than I expected, but also so much more engaging. I love a dramatic story like this and I am curious to see the twists and turns that may be presented as the narrative unfolds.

I am still intimidated by the gameplay. Research has told me that you can get quite strong to make the game easier, however that is my biggest worry about continuing online. Either way, I had loads of fun and would love to see how the story continues one day, despite the game not making it to my 2025 backlog list.

Ranking – Continue playing online/Continue playing offline.
Current Status – Not on my immediate backlog but would like to play fully in the future.

Day 12 – Wilmot’s Warehouse (2019)

Wilmot’s Warehouse is a puzzle game about keeping a warehouse running in tip-top shape. Just remember where you put everything, because when the service hatch opens, you’ll need to find the things people want quickly, in order to earn the coveted Performance Stars.

Wilmot’s Warehouse is even more niche than I expected. I didn’t know 100% what to expect going in, but it is literally exactly as the description says. It is the kind of game that is satisfying when it goes well, and makes my brain itch in all of the wrong ways when it doesn’t.

I have played more since the video and appear to be exactly half way through. I am enjoying it but almost feel as though I have had my fill. I will continue as I have a feeling it is going to become absolute chaos, but I have to admit, the game running slightly long for what it is for me.

Ranking – Continue playing offline.
Current Status – Half way through. I don’t know how I am going to do the rest 😂

Playing new games always feels nice. Even if I don’t like the game, removing it from my backlog list is satisfying in itself. Playing so many in a short space of time doesn’t really reflect a natural way of consuming games, but I think I will always enjoy it.

We had some very different results when compared to Season 1. It has been great to play through some of the ‘continue offline’ games during my holiday, and I am going to strive to finish them all up throughout the year, as well as Tunic which is the only game that remains from the Game Pass season.

Continuing online

  • Kingdom Come: Deliverance (very unlikely though)

Continuing offline

  • Frostpunk
  • The Spectrum Retreat
  • The First Tree
  • Death Coming
  • 20 Minutes till Dawn
  • Loop Hero
  • Breathedge
  • Beyond Blue
  • Kingdom Come: Deliverance
  • Wilmot’s Warehouse

Thats enough for me

  • Recipe for Disaster
  • Transistor

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12 Days of Game Pass – One year on

This time last year I was living my best life. Driven mad by my backlog and the continually rising number of games on my Game Pass ‘play later’ list, I gave myself a beautiful gift. That gift was permission. Permission to dive into said list. 12 games, 12 videos, 12 impressions – maybe I should have called it the Duodecuplary games. It turned out to be an absolute treat.

One year later I am still looking back fondly on this time. While it was so much more work than I anticipated (why would I even consider that this would only be 12 hours of gameplay?!), I loved every second. I didn’t only do it for enjoyment though, it served a purpose. I wanted to try out a bunch of games before they left the service, experience what they were about, decide if I wanted to play them to completion and by extension, see whether I wanted to make content with them. 

I would have loved to have done it again this year but circumstances mean that my content has slowed down. Even if I somehow managed to carve out the time to do the 12 Days of Games, it would feel bad knowing that I didn’t manage to Let’s Play most of the games that I wanted to from the previous batch. So instead I am doing a recap!

Finished

Citizen Sleeper (2022)

You are a sleeper, a digitised human consciousness in an artificial body, owned by a corporation that wants you back. Thrust amongst the unfamiliar and colourful inhabitants of the Eye, you need to build friendships, earn your keep, and navigate the factions of this strange metropolis, if you hope to survive to see the next cycle.

Citizen Sleeper was the first game from the bunch that I decided to complete as a Let’s Play, and little did I know, the only game. It was quite an undertaking as it is primarily a text based game with zero voice acting, but it turned out to be the perfect choice. The final DLC got released at exactly the time that I reached it and we got to experience the full story, and honestly, the DLC is very worth playing. I was pretty happy with where I ended up in the main game and felt strongly content in my decisions. The DLC was great at how it managed to progress that in a very natural way and a reminder that the end of one story can be the beginning of another.

Super glad that we played this one, I love that there is a sequel on the way and I really enjoyed getting back to recording.

Game Pass Status – Still available.

Original Ranking – Continue playing online.
Where are we at now? – Let’s Play completed.

Exo One (2021)

A strange signal… an alien craft… Exo One is an interplanetary, gravity-defying journey through space and time.

Exo One was such a strange one. After reflection with the context of having tried out so many games, I was pretty sure that I was just going to let this one go. I got the idea, I didn’t thrive with the controls and thought I had had my fill. But for whatever reason, I couldn’t.

I think that reason could possibly be that I played 1 and 1/2 hours of a game that ‘How Long to Beat’ tells me is a two hours long. I was so close, I needed to see it through! Of course, HLtB hours are shorter than Noob hours so it did take longer than anticipated. However, I think I am pleased with seeing it through.

I can’t say that I understood what actually happened in the game, but I can say that my favourite thing was seeing the variety of absolutely stunning environments. While it didn’t blow me away with its gameplay, I am glad that I reached the end because no doubt I would still be kicking myself to this day for putting it down unfinished.

Game Pass Status – Left the service.

Original Ranking – Continue playing offline/That’s enough for me.
Where are we at now? – Finished offline.

Spore (2008)

Be the architect of your own universe with Spore, an exciting single-player adventure available for download to your PC. Will you be a bloodthirsty carnivore destined to crush your competitors, or a gentle herbivore seeking out stronger allies to enforce your quiet way of life?

Confession – I didn’t technically finish Spore. BUT I played enough to be satisfied so I am keeping it in my ‘Finished’ category.

The game is made up of 5 eras correlating to stages of evolution, but what I didn’t know is that the final stage can be as long as the rest of the game combined. I didn’t love the gameplay throughout but I did desperatly want to see how my species turned out, and the levels changed regularly enough that everytime I was beginning to feel fed up, it was almost time for the next one.

I made it to the space phase and once I saw what it was about I was happy to call it a day. The evolution of my specific creature while also discovering different creatures around me were my favourite parts of the game. If I could have that in a game with a different gameplay structure I think I could get really on board, the only problem is that I can’t identify what I would rather the gameplay be!

Game Pass Status – Still available.

Original Ranking – Continue playing offline/That’s enough for me.
Where are we at now? – Finished offline to an extent.

Opus: Echo of Starsong (2021)

Asteroids emitting a sound known as “Starsongs” have become the center of conflict for the immense power they hold. Determined to claim asteroids of his own, a young man ventures out with a girl who can imitate starsongs, lending her voice to unravel an ancient myth deep in the heart of space.

I ended up continuing this one offline due to the voice acting being in Japanese. I wanted to hear it but I didn’t want to talk over it which obviously doesn’t make for a good Let’s Play!

I am SO glad I went back to it though, once I got into the flow of the story and the exploration I had a really good time. It was beautiful, emotional and I enjoyed it more than I expected.

It has parallels with Citizen Sleeper in a way, being Visual Novel adjacent, set in a fictional space world with time/resource management aspects. Having said that though, they are both entirely different experiences, both of which I think are worth the playthrough!

Game Pass Status – Still available.

Original Ranking – Continue playing online/Continue playing offline.
Where are we at now?– Finished offline.

Dropped

Valheim (Early Access 2021)

Valheim is a brutal exploration and survival game for 1-10 players set in a procedurally-generated world inspired by Norse mythology. Craft powerful weapons, construct longhouses, and slay mighty foes to prove yourself to Odin!

I am so hit or miss with survival games, with miss being the much more likely outcome. I thought that I might have been drawn back to the game because so many of my friends have thoroughly enjoyed their time with it, but the more time that passed, the more happy I was admitting that it just isn’t for me.

I still see the appeal of being part of a community server, but solo, I have so many other games to play that even just trying out Valheim was enough. On the other hand, I don’t feel like I got to see much of what the game is actually about – what with the savage deaths and mechanical confusion. This does feel like a shame, but like I said, moving on feels good too.

Game Pass Status – Still available.

Original Ranking – Continue playing offline/That’s enough for me.
Where are we at now? – Didn’t play more.

Signalis (2022)

Awaken from slumber and explore a surreal retrotech world as Elster, a technician Replika searching for her lost partner and her lost dreams. Discover terrifying secrets, challenging puzzles, and nightmarish creatures in a tense and melancholic experience of cosmic dread and classic psychological survival horror.

I mean… I really did try and I think I managed much better than I anticipated. The thing that kept me going was knowing that once I put it down, I was not going to pick it back up again. This is absolutely not a criticism to the game, I am just not built for survival horror.

I am not built for any horror really but survival may be the most stressful kind. Not only is there the worry of dying at any moment, but something even more stressful? Deciding when to use your resources. I’m a gatherer, I like to collect stuff and I like to keep stuff. Making the decisions about what to carry, what to use and what to pick up is the nightmare of the indecisive. So this was a nightmare within a nightmare.

I did go on to watch a full playthrough of the game and I enjoyed it a lot more that way! I can’t say I understood it well, but I enjoyed the journey, even if it was vicarious.

Game Pass Status – Left the service.

Original Ranking – That’s enough for me.
Where are we at now? – Didn’t play more but did watch a full playthrough.

Kentucky Route Zero (2013)

KENTUCKY ROUTE ZERO: TV EDITION is a magical realist adventure game in five acts, featuring a haunting electronic score, and a suite of hymns and bluegrass standards recorded by The Bedquilt Ramblers. Rendered in a striking visual style that draws as much from theater, film, and experimental electronic art as it does from the history of videogames, this is a story of unpayable debts, abandoned futures, and the human drive to find community.

I believe I picked Kentucky Route Zero back up as it was put on the ‘leaving soon’ list, so that provided some urgency. This is the first impression that changed the most after playing more of the game. I am sad to say it but I’m very glad that I didn’t try to continue this one as a Let’s Play.

I managed to complete Act III (of V) but I could not get any further. By the time I got there I had accepted that I just fundamentally do not ‘get‘ the game. Surrealism doesn’t really do an awful lot for me or my imagination. Not understanding what was going on and not being too fussed about figuring it out already sealed the deal, but potentially the most damning thing was, I just found myself quite bored.

Alas, I am glad that I got the chance to play as much as I did before it left the service. Finding out whether I enjoy these games was a huge reason that I begun the series so whether I liked the game or not, I still enjoy the data that comes from trying.

Game Pass Status – Left the service.

Original Ranking – Continue playing online/Continue playing offline.
Where are we at now? – Continued playing offline before dropping it.

No Man’s Sky (2016)

In No Man’s Sky, every star is the light of a distant sun, each orbited by planets filled with life, and you can go to any of them you choose. Fly smoothly from deep space to planetary surfaces, with no loading screens, and no limits. In this infinite procedurally generated universe, you’ll discover places and creatures that no other players have seen before – and perhaps never will again.

If I am being totally – and maybe brutally – honest, this is the game that I remember the least out of the 12 that I played.

A year has passed and I remember being on a planet, in a house near a cave. I think I was building it. And that is all I have got. Perhaps it is the curse of the survival game striking again and I need to accept that I don’t enjoy the mechanics. But I don’t think that is the whole problem here. It could be another game that requires more time to really dive in and see what it is about, but with the amount of games that exist now, I am happy enough to leave this one behind in a similar way to Valheim.

Game Pass Status – Still available.

Original Ranking – That’s enough for me.
Where are we at now? – Dropped it.

Pending

Undertale (2015)

Welcome to UNDERTALE. In this RPG, you control a human who falls underground into the world of monsters. Now you must find your way out…or stay trapped forever.

Ahh Undertale. I feel like I have had a little bit of a mess with this game. I spent a while considering that if I was going to continue my Let’s Play, how should I approach it? Should I continue with the strategies I was using? Should I let go of my arbitrary rules and just do what feels right in the moment? Should I start again?

All of these questions were then answered by the game leaving the service. It is now on Ps Plus which I do have access to, but of course my save file does not, so starting over would be the only option.

Secondly – and a deciding factor that I should continue offline – is that I had something spoiled. I have no idea how big of a spoiler it really is, but it is enough that I am dissapointed that I know about it and it will impact the enjoyment of being blind on the game.

All of these factors combined helped me to decide that I am just going start again in my own time from my couch. It is still a game that I want to see through to the end and add to my catalogue of knowledge and references. But the Let’s Play unfortunately isn’t meant to be.

Game Pass Status – Left the service.

Original Ranking – Continue playing online.
Where are we at now? – Want to continue playing offline.

As Dusk Falls (2022)

As Dusk Falls is an original interactive drama from INTERIOR/NIGHT that explores the entangled lives of two families across thirty years. Starting in 1998 with a robbery-gone-wrong in small town Arizona, the choices you make have a powerful impact on the characters’ lives in this uncompromising story of betrayal, sacrifice and resilience.

In hindsight, it probably would have made sense for me to Let’s Play this game first. It is the shortest of the bunch and games like these don’t really allow for any meandering. BUT if I had done that then Citizen Sleeper wouldn’t have been so perfectly timed, and if my memory serves me, my Game Pass ran out right as I finished CS so I didn’t have time to play these other games.

This game is still on my list, I would have to go back through the video as a reminder for the choices that I made, but the tension was so high, I can only imagine how the rest of the game will go!

Game Pass Status – Still available.

Original Ranking – Continue playing online.
Where are we at now? – Want to continue playing online.

Deaths Door (2022)

Reaping souls of the dead and punching a clock might get monotonous but it’s honest work for a Crow. The job gets lively when your assigned soul is stolen and you must track down a desperate thief to a realm untouched by death – where creatures grow far past their expiry and overflow with greed and power.

As mentioned above, I no longer have Game Pass, and while that isn’t the reason that I haven’t done anymore Let’s Plays, it is obviously a hurdle for these specific games that I had chosen. Thankfully, in the last year Death’s Door became a Ps Plus game! That means that I can now play it at any time that I want.

While there is a chance that I just play this one offline instead, I am not going to do that yet unless I get a really really big urge as I still think it could be a fun YouTube series. The only downside to me now having it on Ps Plus is that it lowers it down the priority list, as it is no longer time limited. When I get Game Pass back ‘As Dusk Falls’ and ‘Tunic’ are the focus. But the bright side is I can start this one back up any time I like (that is, after I have played Pyre, Batman, Scarlet Hollow and any other games that I have promised 😅).

Game Pass Status – Still available.

Original Ranking – Continue playing online.
Where are we at now? – Want to continue playing online.

Tunic (2022)

Explore a land filled with lost legends, ancient powers, and ferocious monsters in TUNIC, an isometric action game about a small fox on a big adventure. Stranded in a ruined land, and armed with only your own curiosity, you will confront colossal beasts, collect strange and powerful items, and unravel long-lost secrets.

The last but the opposite of the least is Tunic! If I could suddenly have the time and facilities to Let’s Play a game right now, it would be this one. I LOVED exploring around the world, seeing what we would find and how it connected together. It was really fun and I feel like I clicked with it very well.

This is a game that recieved such heavy praise, but I got the impression it was for doing something different. I didn’t get far enough to know what that is and I really would like to discover it for myself, so while I currently still don’t have time to record and have already promised Pyre as my next series, I still have a huge itch to play this game and will do so as soon as the stars align.

Game Pass Status – Still available.

Original Ranking – Continue playing online.
Where are we at now? – Want to continue playing online.

If anyone out there is stuck in a rut with your backlog or struggling with analysis paralysis on what to play next, this was an extremely refreshing experience that I would recommend to others to try for themselves. While I haven’t followed through with the recordings that I would still love to do, I did manage to knock 8 games off my backlog and had a tonne of fun doing it. You don’t have to make it into work or a project, just pick a number of games that you want to try and play the first hour. Don’t think too hard, just press play and before you know you might be playing your new favourite game.

Finished – 4
Dropped – 4
Still Pending – 4

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12 Days of Game Pass 2022 Round Up

Last month I sat down to start my first Let’s Play since Exit/Corners. I was so excited to get back to recording. Just me, the game, the freedom of recording whenever felt good, and the flexibility of being able to take a moment and edit it out. What I didn’t anticipate was the colossal struggle of deciding what I wanted to play. Often, it is not until you begin a game that you know whether you should have recorded or streamed it, which resulted in me staring at my screen in complete decision paralysis.

Then, all of a sudden – there was a lightbulb. Christmas was coming and there were still a few weeks to prepare if I wanted to do a special series. I was too late for an advent calender scenario (in hindsight after 21 hours of recording, thank goodness), but the 12 Days of Christmas doesn’t start till Christmas day. Score!

I immediatly knew that this would be a perfect opportunity for me to finally try out some different games that I have had my eye on. I decided on Game Pass because games can leave at any time and I rarely have a subscription, so if I wanted to get through some of my ‘Play Later’ list I would need to hustle. I painstakingly managed to whittle the list of 70+ games down to 12, and looking at the result – I was extremely excited about it.

Day 1 – Valheim (Early Access 2021)

Valheim is a brutal exploration and survival game for 1-10 players set in a procedurally-generated world inspired by Norse mythology. Craft powerful weapons, construct longhouses, and slay mighty foes to prove yourself to Odin!

Back when this game released – when everyone’s life temporarily became consumed with exploring the mysterious lands, building the fanciest buildings and voyages to collect lost equiptment – I didn’t have access to join in myself. This is probably for the better because I can be known to lose myself to games from time to time. While I think that I barely scratched the surface in my look at the game, I was very pleased to finally have the opportunity to do so.

I definitely wanted to play more when I was done, but I have found that the more games that I have played since then, the less tempted I was to go back. At this point, I have played the beginning of many survival games. Sadly though, it is very rare that I get hooked and while I still could go back to it, it has moved down the priority list far enough that I could be ok leaving it there.

Ranking – Continue playing offline/That’s enough for me.

Day 2 – Undertale (2015)

Welcome to UNDERTALE. In this RPG, you control a human who falls underground into the world of monsters. Now you must find your way out…or stay trapped forever.

Undertale was one of those legendary games for me where I feel like I have heard whispers here and there, but in reality knew virtually nothing about it. As a result, the main desire to play it came from a curiosity and ability to add it to my game reference archives rather than excitement to play the actual game itself. That probably heavily adds to the surprise of how much I loved playing this game. Of the titbits that I had heard, not one thing had lead me to believe that this game was going to be half as funny as it is. That alone would be enough for me to continue, but the intrigue to see where it is going is also strong enough that I didn’t want to put it down.

Now that I have completed this series, Undertale is at the bottom of the Let’s Play priority list purely because I feel like it isn’t going to be easy to pick back up. I also have no idea if I have screwed myself with the choices I have made so I am conflicted as to whether I need to do a little research before diving back in. Don’t worry though, I certainly have to see it through at some point.

Ranking – Continue playing online.

Day 3 – As Dusk Falls (2022)

As Dusk Falls is an original interactive drama from INTERIOR/NIGHT that explores the entangled lives of two families across thirty years. Starting in 1998 with a robbery-gone-wrong in small town Arizona, the choices you make have a powerful impact on the characters’ lives in this uncompromising story of betrayal, sacrifice and resilience.

I am so surprised I didn’t jump on this earlier. It feels like an alternative to a Telltale or a Quantic Dream game, which are some of my absolute favourites. Add in that one of the primary genres – at least in the first chapter – is thriller. How did I not play this sooner?! As opposed to a horror narrative like a Supermassive game (Until Dawn, Man of Medan), I can play this and experience making stressful decisions without the need for reassurance and distractions from the atmosphere. That makes this the perfect game for a Let’s Play as it is exactly the type of content that I love to record. I am always curious to what my gut instincts are in these difficult situations and what happens as a result. It is going to be a lot of fun returning to this and the chapters make for good episode dividers which is always handy for me.

Ranking – Continue playing online.

Day 4 – Deaths Door (2022)

Reaping souls of the dead and punching a clock might get monotonous but it’s honest work for a Crow. The job gets lively when your assigned soul is stolen and you must track down a desperate thief to a realm untouched by death – where creatures grow far past their expiry and overflow with greed and power.

I really enjoyed this game. I loved the concept, I loved exploring the weird world and I loved my little character. I certainly want to continue it, the only hesitation I have is the difficulty. I managed well enough with the combat so far, but I am concerned that I will get stuck and drop off, which I don’t like to do with a series that I am sharing if I can help it. If I do continue online it will be a Let’s Play because that means I can edit any repetitive failures into death montages. I am going to play the other games first then reassess, but if you would like to see it then please let me know. Same goes for all the other games in question as if there is external interest then I will make special effort to continue it online.

Ranking – Continue playing online/Continue playing offline.

Day 5 – Citizen Sleeper (2022)

You are a sleeper, a digitised human consciousness in an artificial body, owned by a corporation that wants you back. Thrust amongst the unfamiliar and colourful inhabitants of the Eye, you need to build friendships, earn your keep, and navigate the factions of this strange metropolis, if you hope to survive to see the next cycle.

Ahhh, Citizen Sleeper. I was nervous about trying this one as I knew it was going to be a lot of reading. To top it off, I got sick and lost my voice right as this was my next game to play. So, as much as I heard good things, I was entering this one with an ever so slight dread in my mind. It didn’t take long, however, before I was enraptured in the world. You know it is a good game when you want to keep going and going despite the reading out loud. The further I got and the more mechanics I learned, I was more and more won over by the game, leading it to be my favourite in the entire bunch. At the time of this post it is likely that the Let’s Play has already begun as I am planning on continuing this game first! Don’t sleep on it (hur hur hur).

Ranking – Continue playing online.

Day 6 – Signalis (2022)

Awaken from slumber and explore a surreal retrotech world as Elster, a technician Replika searching for her lost partner and her lost dreams. Discover terrifying secrets, challenging puzzles, and nightmarish creatures in a tense and melancholic experience of cosmic dread and classic psychological survival horror.

I tried really hard with this one. This game is well loved by a lot of people and I wanted to see why. It is just unfortunate that in survival horror, both survival and horror stress me out massively. This was the first excessively long video as I knew that once I put the game down it was likely I wouldn’t be able to pick it back up, so I wanted to see as much as I could. All things considered, I think I did pretty well! It is awesome to have the classically influenced genre in an entirely new style. It feels modern and old school at the same time.

The great thing is, as much as I suffer with survival horror, I LOVE watching other people suffer through it. So even though I won’t be continuing the game, I will certainly enjoy watching someone else’s playthrough and enjoy it vicariously.

Ranking – That’s enough for me.

Day 7 – Exo One (2021)

A strange signal… an alien craft… Exo One is an interplanetary, gravity-defying journey through space and time.

This is another game that I was nervous to record. I had it recommended and wanted to give it a try as it felt like the type of game that could leave the service before I get around to playing it. From what I understood about the game, I was worried that there was going to be a lot of downtime with nothing to talk about. There certainly was a lot of downtime, but each uniquely beautiful environment seemed to offer enough intrigue to fill the gaps, in a game that also seems well suited to some flow state meditative time.

At the time of recording I decided that it was enough. I reached a point that felt appropriate to stop and called it there. However, for a reason that I cant quite put my finger on, this game stayed in my mind. It could be that we made good progress or it could be a fear of missing out, but not finishing it isn’t sitting right with me. So I think I will actually update my ranking from ‘That’s enough for me’ to ‘Continue Offline’.

Ranking – Continue offline/That’s enough for me.

Day 8 – Spore (2008)

Be the architect of your own universe with Spore, an exciting single-player adventure available for download to your PC. Will you be a bloodthirsty carnivore destined to crush your competitors, or a gentle herbivore seeking out stronger allies to enforce your quiet way of life?

This game is adorable. Seeing where we started and where we ended up is so entertaining and fascinating to me. From weird little critter to slightly bigger weird critter, I am still curious to see how far the game goes. The fun part about it is that everyone’s game is going to be slightly different. I am definitely more interested in the evolution and creation than the rest of the gameplay, but it kept a pace so that you were never far away from your next adaptation. The rest of the gameplay was made more interesting by the other weird critters that you can meet. I am unsure why the game isn’t calling me back, but at the same time I don’t think I can uninstall it until I’ve at least played a little more.

Ranking – Continue playing offline/That’s enough for me.

Day 9 – Kentucky Route Zero (2013)

KENTUCKY ROUTE ZERO: TV EDITION is a magical realist adventure game in five acts, featuring a haunting electronic score, and a suite of hymns and bluegrass standards recorded by The Bedquilt Ramblers. Rendered in a striking visual style that draws as much from theater, film, and experimental electronic art as it does from the history of videogames, this is a story of unpayable debts, abandoned futures, and the human drive to find community.

It is funny how there are so many individual things that I like about this one, but as a whole it didn’t really capture my attention or imagination. I enjoyed the freedom of being able to talk to people then explore the map, seeking out the places they talked about. It felt fantastic that I found a place that was just mentioned off hand when my objective was to go elsewhere. The issue was that I didn’t really feel any pay off from it. Things were weird but I don’t know why they were weird, and even whether to expect any explanations or just more weird.

The thing I liked the most was the art style. It is distinctively simple and effective, and I loved the use of shapes. I am still interested in continuing the game, I am just unsure whether I should record it as there is no way of knowing whether it is going to fall flat for me or not. It will be interesting to see how it developed over the years, but I can see that by playing it myself. Do let me know if you would like to see more.

Ranking – Continue playing online/Continue playing offline.

Day 10 – No Man’s Sky (2016)

In No Man’s Sky, every star is the light of a distant sun, each orbited by planets filled with life, and you can go to any of them you choose. Fly smoothly from deep space to planetary surfaces, with no loading screens, and no limits. In this infinite procedurally generated universe, you’ll discover places and creatures that no other players have seen before – and perhaps never will again.

For whatever reason, I did not expect this game to be such a survival game. I knew it was about exploration but it has all the fundamentals that I have seen in survival games before. The great thing about this though is that you can customise to your heart’s content.

I did enjoy my time with it but I am beginning to think that survival games in general aren’t for me. The introductions and tutorials tend to either be very long and by the time I get freedom I have had enough, or very short with no direction and I lose patience trying to figure it out. That, combined with either a lack of a beginning direction or a lack of an end goal and I should probably conclude that I am not the target audience for the genre. Having said all of that, I am glad to see that this game turned everything around from release and has turned into a vast game with lots to discover, should you choose to.

Ranking – That’s enough for me.

Day 11 – Opus: Echo of Starsong (2021)

Asteroids emitting a sound known as “Starsongs” have become the center of conflict for the immense power they hold. Determined to claim asteroids of his own, a young man ventures out with a girl who can imitate starsongs, lending her voice to unravel an ancient myth deep in the heart of space.

I am not sure whether it comes through on the video – I think I hid it well enough – but I honestly shouldn’t have recorded on this day. I did it because I was on a schedule but I was so exhausted, I probably should have rescheduled. Having said that, if there was any game that I could have played while feeling that way it was this one. The story moved along at a good pace to stay engaged. The world was fictional enough to capture the imagination yet familiar enough with its politics. It was easy to play, nice to look at and is told from a perspective that I feel is more common in movies than games, which happens to work very well in my opinion. The characters are imperfect which makes choices fun, and I definitely would like to see more of the story. It is just a huge shame that the voice acting isn’t in English. Please let me know if you would like to see more of this one.

Ranking – Continue playing online/Continue playing offline.

Day 12 – Tunic (2022)

Explore a land filled with lost legends, ancient powers, and ferocious monsters in TUNIC, an isometric action game about a small fox on a big adventure. Stranded in a ruined land, and armed with only your own curiosity, you will confront colossal beasts, collect strange and powerful items, and unravel long-lost secrets.

Tunic swooped in at the end there to claim the title of my second favourite game in this series. It is very similar to Death’s Door in genre, gameplay and perspective, but with an entirely different vibe. Both of these games have similarities to the Souls series and as a fan from a distance, it is wonderful to get to have the things I like about that series in a game that is more my style. The exploration and level design is wonderful, and the lack of direct information elevates the achievement of figuring something out, as well as the mystery of the land. It is colourful, satisfying, and the accessibility features give me the confidence to definitely pursue this one as a Let’s Play. I cannot wait to get back in there and find a god damn shield!

Ranking – Continue playing online.

The best part about doing this series is not only that I got to experience so many games, but it has also given me a great insight in to the types of games that I would like to play on the channel. Since then, I have created a bigger list of games that I would like to record, so I have plenty of options when my Game Pass runs out. This has been an experiment, a challenge and a joy all at once, and I am so glad that I managed to get it finished in the planned timescale without sacrificing any quantity or quality (I did sacrifice my Christmas Eve so rip to that, but it was worth it). I hope you guys had at least some of the fun that I had. Thankfully, this was just the beginning. I now have the pleasure of actually playing these games!

Definitely continuing as Let’s Plays

  • Undertale
  • As Dusk Falls
  • Citizen Sleeper
  • Tunic

Potentially continuing as Let’s Plays

  • Death’s Door
  • Kentucky Route Zero
  • Opus: Echo of Starsong

Along side this post I am going to run some Twitter Polls to see if I can gauge interest in the games I am unsure about so please look out for those!

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2022 Reflections and 2023 Goals

I wasn’t going to make a New Year post this year, but upon reflection it almost feels necessary. Instead of publicly reflecting on what has been a particularly difficult year for me, I think it will be a lot more useful and enjoyable to think of what comes next.  

A constant in my life is my resistance to consistency. Give me 6 months of anything and I need change, it is just the way of the Noob. With that in mind, these are the latest thoughts in the everchanging realm that is my brain. 

Twitch

I am really enjoying my current schedule on Twitch. Two consecutive days and a seperate third is pleasing for me, allowing me to get into a zone and then let it go to work on other things. I recognise that a day stream can be inconvenient for many and I wish that I could change that, but it is the only way this structure fits together with my other commitments for the time being.

When it comes to game choice, I am going to continue to alternate longer games with shorter ones. This year we played a few games that were the start of a series. For now, I am going to continue to prioritise new games over sequels. This is because there are still so many games that I have no experience in. I’d rather spread the limited time I have around to new experiences wherever I can. That doesn’t mean we won’t be playing sequels, but do expect the potential of years between them.

I am going to continue to balance older and newer games in the same way, but all of this is really dictated by whatever I have access to at the time. Anything with limited access is probably going to take priority.

YouTube

Something that I have learned this year is that I need recording time to balance out stream time. Both are great but they are entirely different experiences that I love for their own reasons. A YouTube playthrough is entirely about the game. For this reason, I am really looking forward to bringing Let’s Plays back. I am unsure about the distant future but I have a list of games that may end up lasting the entire year without any further planning, so that is one possibility.

The current plan is Let’s Plays 3x a week, Indie Showcase Saturdays forever, and I have some other ideas. Depending on my workload, a potential I have been considering is Repentance Sundays. I haven’t played any of the Repentance DLC for The Binding of Isaac yet. It could be fun to put out a run or two a week as I get to know the new content. I will see how my schedule is in a few weeks.

YouTube is such a strange thing for me. I have been doing it for much longer than Twitch but can’t say I have ever found what anyone would call success. It is wonderful to hear when people enjoy my videos, or the rare occasion I see my series is being binged. But when you look at my overall time, I can’t help but think there is a problem. The trouble is, it is hard to figure out what the problem is. Is it just oversaturation, or is it my content? Occasionally an Indie Showcase video will get more viewers than normal because it gets in the algorithm, but it rarely ever translates into more subscribers. I have tried to make my intros as short as I can while including all of the information. I kind of like my thumbnails how they are. My channel is clearly organised. I have tried calls to action but I just can’t do it. I can’t help question whether I am just not entertaining enough. My philosophy is that I make the content that I would want to watch. The thing is, I can have weird and different tastes that potentially others don’t. All of this is to say – I would LOVE for my YouTube to become something. I am not a fool and know it wont, which even makes it difficult to admit my aspiration. But man, I love what I do and just wish it had more appeal. I think the only actionable thing that I can do towards that at the moment is to keep creating.

Just to be clear, I didn’t used to care about numbers, but since trying to make my content a sustainable career it makes it especially sad to think about. Unless something drastic happens, it is not going to work out long term, which sucks but I do need to start coming to terms with.

Blog

I go through phases with my writing. Blog time has been wonderful in a year when I haven’t always felt up to speaking or being around folks. Having said that, if I am not in ‘the mood’ then what I write can be just terrible. When I started using my Blog more regularly this year I hoped that I would do some more thought pieces, a hope that I will bring forward into 2023. The amount of half written pieces and pages of notes that I have that just need a little more time in the oven is excessive. I want to write things worth reading, but I also have to work on finishing them.

I have really enjoyed writing reviews this year and I hope to continue. I have found a format that clicks very well with my thought process that I also believe is good and reader friendly. It has been a great outlet, particularly for games that I didn’t play on stream. What I would like to do going forward is take this to the next level. I would like my reviews and my blog in general to be visually friendly and interesting too. While I don’t have specific ideas yet, I am taking inspiration from the magazine I made.

I’m making it a goal this year to try out a monthly game service recap post, as well as finally figuring out my own way of covering the Indie Festivals. These things are the type that need to develop over time, but I hope to make a start on them relatively soon.

Others

Game Dev – I am in a place in my life where I need to seriously consider my future. I have worked so hard since I lost my job, trying out different things and seeing if I can find a place. Unfortunately, I am still struggling with that. I want to work in games, but I am not skilled enough to write or design anything professionally. Once my schedule has settled down, I would really like to look into Game Development. It is a little difficult because I don’t know what areas I could be good at, so I would like to dip into a bit of everything and see what calls to me. I find self learning incredibly difficult but in my current situation, I have to use all of the time that I can right now to develop a skill that can help me be self sufficient in the future. The great thing about this is that I am surrounded by talented, creative and motivated people. I would like to join that group too!

Podcast – Finally, I have been wanting this for so long that I am writing it here for my own benefit if nothing else. I have so much on my plate currently, no matter how much I wish I could make a Podcast, the circumstances just aren’t right. I still have hope for the future but for now, I have to eliminate this from my current goals. The strange part about doing that is that Podcasts are probably my favourite form of entertainment. I really enjoy and respect them, but as a result of that, I don’t want to do it until I can do it right and that unfortunately just isn’t now.

While this has been a little back and forth on past reflection vs the future plans, I believe they go hand in hand and I do like to let everyone know where I stand every once in a while. It is an unfortunate fact that I don’t know what the state of my content will be in a few months time, let alone a year. Realistically, at the current rate, I will have to be seeking other employment before then. The thing is, I desperately need that to be something that I enjoy. So this year is really going to be a juggling act between trying to grow my current content while also learning new skills. There was a time in my past that I found the unknown exciting more than scary, that is how I would like to be again. I am going to do everything in my power to make 2023 a great year.

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Channel Update – December 2022

Hey guys, it is that time again for a channel update!

Some personal issues that I am having are seriously impacting my ability to provide the content that I have promised and I hate it so much. I think my schedule needs to be a fluid thing untill I figure out something that works for both me and everyone who supports me.

Streams

I am going to try going back to 3 set streams a week. I feel like I am currently cancelling more than I am doing. Through the nature of the current flexible schedule they were always going to change, but I can’t get my head around feeling like every time slot that I don’t stream is a failure (even though I know it is not) so obviously the system isn’t working for me.

So the new schedule trial is going to be –

  • Monday – 1pm GMT
  • Thursday – 4pm GMT
  • Sunday – 5pm GMT

These are the days that fit the best around my other commitments. It does mean that there will only be 2 evening streams, I apologise for that.

When it comes to my Evening/Day stream games, I haven’t quite figured that out yet. I would like a name for my day stream concept, then we can just do them whenever. The biggest concern is that if I play an evening game on a day stream then people may miss chunks of the game. I will open this up to discussion in Discord.

YouTube

There will be no change with Indie Showcase, they will continue to release weekly.

I would like to bring back Let’s Plays. I miss making them. Regardless of how well they do, I think having a balance of solo recording time and live streaming time brings out the best of both – quality wise. I haven’t decided on any games yet but I am going to take a look in the coming days.

So the new YT schedule should be –

  • Monday – Let’s Play
  • Tuesday – VOD
  • Wednesday – Let’s Play
  • Thursday – VOD
  • Friday – Let’s Play
  • Saturday – Indie Showcase
  • Sunday – VOD 

Blog

I would really like to make this into something. I spent some time last week intending to upgrade it but deciding I like it the way it is. It is a fun outlet for me and I have some ideas to make the individual posts a lot cooler if I can figure it out. Sort of like taking elements from the design of my Magazine and incorporating them into the posts here. These are only in the early idea phase so I have a lot of playing to do.

I plan to continue with reviews, eventually finish some of the thought pieces I started and most importantly to me, cover the Indie Game Festivals. I would love to do some sort of monthly round up of the game services and some other stuff but these are eventualities.

I would also love to get back to weekly Tuesday posts but I have no guarantees, I need to see how the above scheduling goes first.

I designed my (previous) new schedule to make sure I had 2 days off while maximising conent. What ended up happening is that I only saw my fixed Saturday as my day off. I would then burn out during the week and have accidental days off, which lead to the spiral of working on my scheduled days off to make up for it. With this new more fixed schedule I have 2 days off, as well as time to focus on Streams, YouTube and the Blog respectively. I am going to try this out for the rest of the year. I still have other projects that I would love to work on but first, I need to go back to basics.

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Channel Update – August 2022

Guys, I have hit a video block. Remember when I had all of those ideas? Reviews.. Guides.. all of that? I have put substantial time into both of those things but I haven’t finished either, and what I have made.. well.. it’s just bad.

My style just doesn’t suit edited content. I can’t read a script. I mean, technically I can, but it sounds stiffer than my neck after a bad nights sleep. Something I tried to combat this was making notes and free styling. This definitely helps me to get my point across but the videos end up far longer than I would like, even once I have edited them down. I made the decision to stop making Let’s Plays so that I could focus on other things when truthfully, they are the only video content that I am good at. That doesn’t mean this was wasted, I have learned a lot. It also doesn’t mean I am jumping straight back into making them because I still have other things to try.

There are more things on my list that I have still yet to try, and given the results of my experiments so far, these might be much better suited to the way that I think and how I like to make content.

Podcasting | I like long form conversation and I generally have a lot to say about games. If I try to condense things too much like I have in the videos I’ve tried to make, I end up losing my point and my personality. What I love about podcasts is that they can be whatever you want them to be, and as long as you stay relatively on topic then there is plenty of unscripted time to say what you want to say. The only trouble with podcasting is that I really do think they are their best when they are a conversation. I can’t imagine anyone would like to listen to me talking to myself in that way. I thought about solving this by having guests, but I’m not even sure that would work. I have been listening to a bunch of Duckfeed TV and Gary and Kole have a great thing going. They listen to eachother, they support eachother, their subtle communication works so well and ultimately, they are both passionate about what they do. Having another person feels not only essential for the quality of the end result, but also for the support along the way, bouncing ideas back and forth and sharing the workload.

Writing | Writing doesn’t often come naturally to me. I usually need to be in a specific mood at a specific time. I have no idea how professionals manage to make magic with their words every day, on demand. But, the advantage of writing is that I can take all of the time that I need to shape my words into sentences that actually make sense, without the worry of having to do that on the spot or how I sound. I don’t have the most diverse vocabulary, I dont have the best spelling or understanding of punctuation, but I also don’t have the best speaking or reading skills and that didnt stop be from becoming a streamer. What I do think I have is my own unique tone that is easy to read and who knows, maybe with practice I will get better at those other parts too. The drawback is that there is probably even less of a demand for my writing than there is for anything else I could do. I’m not sure anyone will be interested in reading. Having said that, my videos aren’t popular either so it seems worth a try. At worst, I get the idea off my mind, discover I hate it or develop my skills. At best though, people enjoy it and something comes of it.

The reason I am writing this is becasue I need to let go of the video ideas. Despite everything I have written and the want to let it go, I clutch onto the hope that maybe I can make something good. The ideas constantly circle around my head, half formed, taking up space as a fog that never takes form, clouding the way for anything else. No matter how much I want it, I have to accept that I suck at scripts, I find editing a chore and the glimpses in my head of what could be are not translating into the actual content. Let’s Plays and Streaming suit me well because there is no script, minimal editing down, just pure thoughts. Perhaps the things above will too. So it is time for me to move on and try new things. I’m just sorry there is nothing to show to everyone that is supporting me.

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What I do [2022 Edition]

I make a lot of content, some more consistent than others, so I though I would write a post specifically to explain show all the different things that I do and what any donations/membership money goes towards creating!

Twitch Streaming (CtrlAltNoob0)

My most successful and consistent content all comes from my Twitch channel. I have been streaming for a year and a half now, and tend to stream three times a week. I aim to start at 5pm UK time and go for around 4 hours, but the times are very flexible and if I get lost in a game, well.. time sometimes vanishes.

We play a wide variety of games, most of the time they are story based. I mostly play games on the shorter side with a few longer games here and there. I like take things slowly, getting immersed and exploring everything I can. We have the occasional never ending game that we will always go back to and other little streaming projects on the side, but that is generally what you can expect from Noob streams. I do prioritise my Twitch channel over my other content purely because it is the only avenue that is monetised for me, the more sustainable I get then that will hopefully free up time to do more projects in the future!

YouTube (CtrlAltNoob)

I have been doing my YouTube channel for years. If you were to look at my old videos (don’t do it) you could see how far I have come. I used to make full Lets Plays on my PS4, from recording to editing using the on console features. It was not the best but I loved doing it very much so I didn’t let the technological limitations stop me. Since beginning streaming I have barely made any YouTube specific Lets Plays. It is something that I really want to get back to and will as soon as I have the time. I used to cover every single PS Plus game in ‘Let’s Try’ videos, but now instead I have moved that focus on to indies. I have a weekly Indie Showcase where I play either a free short game or a demo that looks interesting. I also like to cover the indie festivals on steam. I do have aspirations for YouTube and I do see glacial amounts of growth even without putting in all the effort that I would like to. But it makes it difficulty to justify spending the time that I want on YT projects when I am earning my money elsewhere. I’m going to work hard to try to get sustainable, continue my passion projects on the side and then one day, I will deliver all of the plans that I have begun in my head.

Blog (www.ctrlaltnoob.com)

I have a Blog that I use occasionally when I have updates or thoughts that I would like to write long form. My blog is like my YT channel in the sense that I have so many aspirations, but putting in the time is another matter. You should see my plans, I have so many post ideas raring to go. Sadly though, for now my blog is on my passion project list and I can only get to it when I have worked hard on making all of the stream improvements I would like to make. The plans include catching up on all of the posts that I neglected since I started it, game reviews, thought pieces about specific games – either about their narrative or their importance in the gaming world, other more obscure gaming related pieces and more. Currently I mostly use it as a place to share another hobby of mine, images from doing in-game photography which is another passion project that I would love to do more of.

Discord (CtrlAltNoob’s Server)

I do have a discord server for the community and we have a few fun things on the go. Sometimes it is multiplayer games, sometimes its tournaments and then sometimes it is things not even related to gaming like our monthly creative prompt. I like to try to make it a nice place for people to be to spend some time and hopefully find some inspiration to do whatever it is that you would like to do.

Other Socials (Twitter/Instagram)

I have other Social Medias like Twitter, Instagram etc. which are mostly used for keeping everyone up to date and sharing things that I have done, made, or anything else that might excite me. Twitter is more current thoughts and polls for future games, where as Instagram is more photography screenshots. I am thinking about dabbling in Tiktok and YouTube Shorts simply because I have so many fantastic clips. I have made a vertical video template so it seems worth a go, at best it is marketing, at worst nothing happens, so lets see how that goes!

Merch (Redbubble)

I have a Merch store if anyone would like any Noob merch! I would like to do more with this but that would be something way in the future when everything else on the above lists are already on the go. More of a hobby for funsies than anything else. A chance for me to practice art or graphic design and share them with others. I did buy the Do It Noob Hoodie in a large size (I’m a relatively small person) and it is an extremely cozy hoodie, so if anyone was interested in that I would recommend buying one or two sizes up!

Secret Projects

I do have two secret projects that I would really like to get going, but they would take a lot of time and effort that I would love to give but I just don’t have yet. When I do manage it then members will get the sneak peaks of the ideas hopefully coming to life 😊

Eventually I am going to catch up with all of the channel updates I would like to do on Twitch (emotes, fun things, channel trailer etc) and when that time comes, I will have more time to either stream more, work on my other projects, or a bit of both. So hopefully that is a good breakdown of the work I put into creating and how much I would love to do more, hence why memberships became a thing. Having somewhere to share the things that I am working on in advance has been super fun for me and I hope to keep it going for as long as possible!

If you are wondering how you can support me, there are many ways. Liking and commenting on my videos are a good way to give me engagement on YouTube. Sharing a video you like or my stream with a friend who might enjoy my content is fantastic. If you have Amazon Prime that means that you get a free subscription on Twitch. All you have to do is create a Twitch account and link it to your Amazon account. From there, you can subscribe to a streamer of your choice for no extra charge. So if you would like to give away your free money I will always be happy to receive it! Finally, if you would like to leave me a tip you can make a one off donation on Buy Me A Coffee. Alternatively, you can subscribe to my membership, which will get you some sneak peaks at what I am working on for £5 a month, or you can explore the other tiers through the link. Thank you so much for everyone’s patience while I work towards making this thing I love doing a think that I can continue long into the future, I appreciate you all.

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