Time for the annual wrap-up post. In many ways, I feel a bit blah about this year, though it has still been an important one in the process.
Business is still the same as last year: i.e. there’s not enough of it. I’m really hoping to have the time to do more branching out and make more changes in 2026.
Like last year, I only released two short games, and one of them was a deliberately bad one for the Bad IF Jam. I would love to be able to make more time for game-making and creative pursuits in general, but it just can’t be a priority at the moment.
I’ve been consistent with my running but I’ve not improved this year – I didn’t get any PBs at all in 2025, which is disappointing. I do still feel I have them in me but I think my training needs an overhaul. I’ve done a lot of thinking about that and I know what I’m going to change next year.
I did a bit better with the parkrun goals! I earned my 250 shirt in March and visited another 12 new-to-me venues, achieving my 50th different venue at Ekebergsletta in November.
Music: I listened to a lot of classic pop and film/game soundtracks! I also went to see the Duran Duran Hallowe’en gig (very exciting, review to come soon) and the Boomtown Rats in November (ditto)!
Videogaming: I have done a lot of gaming this year, largely because I have played an obscene amount of Disney Dreamlight Valley (in total: 724 hours and 27 minutes, which is over 30 DAYS of gaming time – meaning I spent an entire TWELFTH of my life in 2025 playing this game). As such, you wouldn’t think I had much time for any other games, and largely you’d be right. However, in addition:
- I have finished Radiant Historia: Perfect Chronology, Etrian Odyssey HD, Disney Villains Cursed Café, Layton Brothers Mystery Room, and Parascientific Escape 3: Crossing at the Farthest Horizon.
- I have continued my years-long journey playing Block-A-Pix Colour and Luigi’s Mansion.
- I have started Ace Attorney: Spirit of Justice, Layton’s Mystery Journey: Katrielle and the Millionaires’ Conspiracy, The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, Sea of Stars, and Zombies Run! (all to continue next year).
- I played a few text adventures from the IF community, but not as many as I would like.
- Finally, I have continued to play Wordle, Monopoly Go, and Water Sort Puzzle daily on my phone!
My successes and failures regarding last year’s New Year Resolutions:
- Finally finish my de-hoarding in the house and get started on the decorating. I CAN do this. De-hoarding I didn’t have much time for this year (the house is manageable, so I tend to forget about it, but there is still quite a lot to get rid of). Decorating… well, I did at least get some painting done! (It was just anti-mould paint, but still something I’d been putting off for a long time!)
- Put some work into getting my creative energy back (largely by taking some downtime from my race training every now and again, which didn’t happen last year). I did take occasional training downtime, and the creative spark has returned at times, but I’ve not been able to make time to be productive with this.
- Run PBs in all four main running distances – they don’t have to be big PBs seeing as I’ve already improved so much over the last two years, but I do want to keep improving! Complete fail. No PBs this year.
- Make time for videogaming like it’s part of my job. It’s really important for my mental health. I did make a lot more time for it this year and I do feel happier as a result.
- Live a slightly quieter life again – fewer trips, fewer races etc. I thrive on daily/weekly routine and get distressed if things disrupt it. Special occasions are lovely but they need to be rare or I start to resent them rather than appreciating them. No more than two events/trips per month. This is really difficult to do as Geth and I both get so excited about the idea of doing things that need to be booked many months in advance. What I have realised in 2025 is that some times of year are better than others for being a little busier.
- Don’t go back to regular scrolling of social media. I am so much happier since I took a permanent break from it. I’m nowhere near as bad as I used to be but it has crept in now and again. I really wish it weren’t the default way of keeping up with people.
2026 resolutions coming up tomorrow!