Here's What Aimee Probably Liked Best This Year, I Guess? Includes things that were released in other years, but that she got around to late, for reasons such as not existing at the time.
I may not do this again, though the idea of keeping it up when she's 27 and living in a different country, based on an old man's poor comprehension of social media memes, amuses me.
Full-time work and full-time parenting left negative time for personal pissing about for most of this year, but hacks like passive audiobooks in work-prep time and secret subtitled anime when she's watching My Little Pony kept me sane.
Here are the things I enjoyed discovering (or sometimes revisiting) in 2023, some of which were even released in 2023, though mostly not.
1995 / Sega Mega Drive emulator game / 1 player
****
This old-school favourite isn't quite the classic Sonic rival I remembered, but fun and attractive enough to be worth revisiting and passing on. I found the fire world depressingly oppressive, but splashing around in the water world's still pleasant.
1994 / Sega Mega Drive emulator game / 1 player
**
Appallingly crude for the period, but accessibly oriented to kids too young to play good games by themselves. I'm creating such weird nostalgia for her.
***
A nice, dreamy image to help sleep along, shame the big, pink get hogs most of it.
2003 / Tile placement board game expansion / 2-6 players / Germany
****
I was supposed to be looking for board games for a four-year-old when I got distracted and took care of some unfinished business for a lower price than I used to see it. The trade goods made a simple and satisfying addition to our lite version, but I left out the builders for complexity. The pigs are irrelevant; her attention span doesn't extend to farms.
My Little Pony Mega Annual Board Game Marathon
2005-17 / Annual board games / 2 players
***
You know those fold-out board games that have been a staple-free staple of children's Christmas annuals for generations, despite not really being any fun to play? That's only because you haven't unlocked their full potential!
Here's how we turned a pointless 20-square trip to school into a 202-square epic adventure across time, space and the living room floor.
You will need:
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Apparently, these are characters from the spin-off 'My Little Pony: Feather Wings.' Not to be confused with the 'Keylocker' ponies, or the live-action 'Acorn Wood' ponies from her unicorn colouring book. I can't find any of this information on the internet, but she seems to know what she's talking about.
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A notable omission from her collection, mainly because I kept forgetting to look for them on eBay until one eventually showed up in a charity shop.
Two years on from her Peppa sets, her jigsaw capabilities are developing directly proportional to her age. She spotted the Applejack clipart clones before I did.
2009 / Matching card game / 2+ players
**
Bought mainly for the sake of Generation 3 Stuff, it's a child-friendly card game, even if she takes losses far too seriously.
Loses a point for lazy and confusing reuse of the same few ponies across different number pairs, as if they didn't release enough toys to cover multiple sets.
2021 / Card game / 2+ players
***
Six Eight Most of them are "too scary" to play with right now, resulting in quite short games, but the rest compensate with cuteness.
