2012 in(trospection) review

I am using this personal public space less and less. More often than not, the kind of self-observations I would have previously have posted here are instead getting posted to Facebook. This is a trend I can only feebly justify by stating that, while facebook’s privacy settings are a quagmire, at least there are privacy settings. Additionally, I no longer expect that more than a handful of close friends and family will see this post unless I make an effort to cross post it to twitter or Facebook.

2012 was an intensely satisfying year for me.

The year I finally went out on my own and started a business for myself. Abstract Puzzle has been a dream for so long now, and it’s finally a reality. I launched three brand new apps, four if you include freelance work (freelance GAME dev). I finally feel in control of my own destiny. It’s too soon to tell if that’s going to be hugely successful, but it’s already been hugely satisfying.

The year Colleen began to talk and think in earnest for herself. Of course every parent says this, but she surprises and amazes us daily with her increasing intelligence, creativity and personality. Florence and I are at home tonight, having gotten as far as the car before Colleen proved to us she was still sick by throwing up on her party dress.

The year I started logging all my board game plays to BoardGameGeek. This was my only real New Year’s resolution for 2012, and I stuck with it. 741 games (if my in-my-head-summing of monthly totals was correct), and the night is still young! I’m not doing anything interesting with the data (yet), but it’s fun being able to say exactly how many plays of a particular game I’ve gotten in. I’ll definitely be continuing this into 2013 and beyond.

For next year, my resolution is a bit more practical. I want to get better at the practice of making games, and that means making more of them with less time spent on each one. I’m going to attempt to create at least one a month. There are somewhere around another 2000 people who are going to try for this same goal (thanks at least in part to http://onegameamonth.com). I’m tempted to make it my goal to also publish or otherwise make those games available publicly, but who knows how many of them will totally suck. I guess that’s a bonus goal I’ll also work toward.

Happy new year, everyone!