Alrightgames: Solo Fluxx – Star Fluxx

Solo Fluxx: Star Fluxx

2022 / Solo card game / 1 player

**

Most of the appeal of Fluxx lies in the amused bewilderment of fresh-faced initiates, so while a solitaire rule variant gives veteran deck owners something to do, there isn't much point.

Alrightgames: Math Dice Jr. (DIY version)

Math Dice Jr. (DIY version)

2011 / Dice activity / 2 players

**

We had plenty of substitutable components available, so didn't need to invest several pounds on the real thing, which is lucky, since she got bored on the first round of dice rolls. I should have called it Unicorn Dice, didn't think.

Alrightgames: Avatar World

Avatar World

2022 / iPad game / 1 player

**

Five-year-old's aimless, wordless, instruction-free piss-around that mainly serves to delay the inevitable Minecraft singularity a bit longer.

Alrightgames: Star Realms – Bases & Battleships & Fleets & Fortresses

Star Realms: Crisis – Bases & Battleships & Fleets & Fortresses

2014 / Deckbuilding card game expansions / 2+ players

***

Thanks to an undervalued and misrepresented eBay listing, I could add this final pair of moderately sought-after reinforcements to the ranks and break even with surplus resales. Nothing too exciting, but they'll pop up in the trade deck just over 10% of the time and I'll be quite glad to see them, until I get used to them and forget what the big deal was.

My Star Realm

• Star Realms
• Colony Wars
• Gambit Set
• Bases & Battleships
• Fleets & Fortresses
• Events
• Promo Pack I
• Missions
• Scenarios
• Tech

Babyliography CXCVII

Michelle Robinson and Paddy Donnelly, Daddy's Footsteps

2024 / Library book / 32 pages

*

Not sure what appealed to her in this motivational dino book, but it's one of the less exciting in the field, with no carnivores in sight.

Unknown, Monster High Collection

2015 / Paperback / 224 pages

***

Bargain-bin Parragon omnibus haphazardly collecting profiles, puzzles and stories like some meta Frankie Stein.

Unknown, Aimee Helps Santa

2024 / Personalised paperback / 18 pages

***

She didn't question the historical accuracy of these supposed events, so she probably took it in the same tribute spirit I did my own personalised Christmas book, only these modern versions edit the text and images on a computer before printing rather than slapping them on awkwardly with a typewriter.

"David McKee," Elmer and the Gift

2023 / Library book / 32 pages

**

Thoughtful dementia discussion starter, whoever actually wrote it in the deceased author's name.

Unknown, My Little Pony Annuals 2008/09

2007/08 / Hardbacks / 128 pages

*

Deemed not worth buying along with the rest of the annuals last year, but discounted pre-coloured Christmas landfill gave her some cute stocking filler and bookshelf squatters. The decision to replace the comics and varied short stories with a single extended Christmas novella is bizarre.

Babyliography CXCVI

Jamie Smart, Looshkin: Honk If You See It!

2024 / Library book / 208 pages

****

Ahh, hyperactive, crazy kid humour. Long time no see. I advised against reading these deranged comics at bedtime, which predictably made her want them even more, and even more predictably struggle to sleep afterwards, impressionable young mind exploding with Looshkin. It made me laugh a few times too.

Unknown, Peppa Pig: Peppa the Zookeeper

2022 / Library book / 32 pages

**

This felt a lot longer than the ones she had at two, or I was just bored.

Dawn Isaac, 101 Things for Kids to Do on a Rainy Day

2015 / Library book / 224 pages

**

I didn't expect to find more than a couple of time fillers for the long Christmas holidays, but we made our own variations too. Their 'have a backwards day' suggestion is pathetically lightweight, involving no regurgitation or reverse bodily functions at all.

Jamie Smart, Looshkin: Oof! Right in the Puddings!

2023 / Library book / 208 pages

***

Off-puttingly crueller than the book we started on, or maybe I've had my fill of bonkers.

Julia Donaldson and Lydia Monks, What the Ladybird Heard at Christmas

2023 / Library book / 32 pages

***

This year's Christmas Eve book, which may have started as a Halloween book before someone missed a deadline.

Babyliography CXCV

Ben Clanton, Narwhal Peanut Butter and Jelly: A Narwhal and Jelly Book

2019 / Library book / 64 pages

***

Genuinely funny, but you fly through the pages so fast, you'd need an omnibus of like ten of them to feel you were getting any value.

Vashti Hardy and Katie Cottle, Santa's Marvellous Mechanical Workshop

2023 / Library book / 32 pages

***

Puts a necessary creative spin on the whole thing.

Lisa Ann Scott, Enchanted Pony Academy: All That Glitters

2017 / Paperback / 128 pages

**

It may be supermarket-own-brand Unicorn Academy, but she found it more engaging than those books.

Suzannah Ditchburn, Collins Big Cat Phonics for Letters and Sounds: Pop It On!

2020 / School book / 16 pages

***

Continuing to hammer in a couple of phonemes a week through repetitive inanity. She strangely doesn't mind.

Jamie Smart, Max & Chaffy: Search for the Ice Chaffy

2023 / Library book / 128 pages

***

These cute, excitable things actually have a developing arc, but she prefers to read them out of order, even though she doesn't have to.

Babyliography CXCIV

Various, My Little Pony, Vol. 2: Smoothie-ing It Over

2023 / Library book / 120 pages

**

Brony-baiting lore interrupted by lessons in empathy. She mainly enjoys spotting Amy Mebberson's art.

Heather Amery and Stephen Cartwright, Usborne Farmyard Tales: The Hungry Donkey

1990 (updated 2017) / Library book / 32 pages

**

Another boring story salvaged by educational activities.

Emma Adams and Katy Halford, Unicorn and the Rainbow Poop Save Christmas

2021 / Library book / 32 pages

*

I was worried the book was constipated, but it delivered at the end.

Unknown, Peppa Pig: George's Birthday

School book

**

Y'know.

Mª Isabel Sánchez Vegara and Sam Rudd, Little People, Big Dreams: Helen Keller

2022 / Library book / 32 pages

***

She picked out a Princess Diana one that I was worried to be too sad, so I recommended this cheery one about a deafblind girl instead.

Babyliography CXCIII

Fiona Undrill and Jon Stuart, Collins Big Cat Phonics for Letters and Sounds: Tick Tock and Mick

2021 / School book / 16 pages

***

Introducing contrasts via awkwardly adding not to sentences. She accidentally abbreviated one "can not" to "can't," don't get ahead of yourself.

Nancy Tafuri, The Donkey's Christmas Song

2006 / Library book / 32 pages

**

Baby Jesus chuckles at ass noises. She read the simpler words, helped a little by all the repetition.

Various, My Little Pony: Adventures in Friendship, Volume 2

2013-14 (collected 2015) / Hardback / 76 pages

***

Not bad for repackaged filler compilations. Better than those Turtles videos themed around a character, but that's not the highest bar.

Ben Clanton, Narwhal's Sweet Tooth: A Narwhal and Jelly Book

2024 / Library book / 64 pages

***

One of the funnier ones and more good lessons.

Jamie Smart, Max & Chaffy: The Cupcake Mystery

2023 / Library book / 128 pages

***

Extremely cute little mystery broken up by some easy rounds of Where's the Disembodied Rabbit Head Thing?

Best of 2024, Not from 2024

Continuing to rest in the comfort zones of retro styles, but my new calling as a junior roleplaying Game Master kept me from stagnating and got me scribbling furiously on notepads again. Welcome to this year's influential round-up of Some Things I Liked This Year, Not Necessarily Also Produced This Year, Although Some Were.