Aimee's Best of 2023, I Guess?

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.

Best of 2023, Not from 2023

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.

Kirby: Nightmare in Dreamland / The Amazing Mirror

Kirby: Nightmare in Dreamland / The Amazing Mirror

2002/04 / Game Boy Advance emulator games / 1 player

****

I was only aware of the lovable blob from adverts for game systems we didn't have back in the day, but I got around to it eventually. And once you've played one, you've played them all, it seems.

Alrightgames: Ristar

Ristar

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.

Alrightgames: Crystal's Pony Tale

Crystal's Pony Tale

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.

Alrightgames: 100-Piece Children's Sparkly Jigsaw – Unicorn Kingdom

100-Piece Children's Sparkly Jigsaw: Unicorn Kingdom

***

A nice, dreamy image to help sleep along, shame the big, pink get hogs most of it.

Alrightgames: Carcassonne – Traders & Builders

Carcassonne: Traders & Builders

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.

Our kingdom:

• Carcassonne
• The River
• Inns & Cathedrals
• Traders & Builders
• Cult, Siege & Creativity
• The School
• The Labyrinth
• DIY expansions

Alrightgames: My Little Pony Mega Annual Board Game Marathon

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:

• My Little Pony Annuals 2013–18 (plus any older ones with board games, like 2006–07, if you're really cool)
• My Little Pony figurines (the ones from My Busy Books are a good size and mostly don't fall over)
• Two dice (or more if you're some kind of maverick / have a short attention span)

How to play:

Seriously?

Fairy Tale by Aimee

Babyliography CLII

Pablo Pintachan, Changing Faces: Wake Up, Santa!

2017 / Library book / 18 pages

*

Nice gimmick, shame about the content.

Julia Donaldson and Nick Sharratt, Toddle Waddle

2009 / Preschool book / 32 pages

***

She corrected some of the inaccurate sound effects on her own read-through.

Various, Busy Christmas / Elves

2018/22 / Library books / 20 pages

**

Releasing multiple versions of basically the same thing in the spirit of Christmas.

Sam Taplin and Sarah Allen, Usborne Little Peep-Through Books: Are You There Little Unicorn?

2019 / Board book / 12 pages

***

She treasured this semi-knackered 25p ex-rental.

Sarah Coyle and Adam Walker-Parker, Pick a Story: A Superhero Mermaid Dragon Adventure

2023 / Library book / 32 pages

***

The mermaids would have been a good fit in the unicorns one, but they know what they're doing.

Babyliography CLI

Julia Donaldson and Lydia Monks, What the Ladybird Heard on Holiday

2021 / Library book / 32 pages

**

Dull London special for the Anglophiles.

Pat Jacobs, Pet Pals: Hamsters

2017 / Library book / 32 pages

***

I may have got myself more excited by the modest daydream than she was before conceding it's probably better to wait a few years, at least so I don't have to do everything.

Selma Knight and Emma Levey, Oxford Reading Tree Word Sparks: Adventure Mouse – Pip's Scarf

2020 / Library book / 12 pages

*

The Oxford Reading Tree logo gives me the vaguest nostalgia. This isn't really reading, skipping straight to literary theory.

Mandy Archer and Martha Lightfoot, Busy Wheels: Fire Engine is Flashing

2012 / Library book / 24 pages

**

The fire brigade's diversity hiring needs some work.

Kes Gray and Nick Sharratt, Really, Really

2003 / Library book / 32 pages

**

No comeuppance for the little sod.

Babyliography CL

David and Aimee Warburton, "Aimee Book"

2023 / Hand-written story, activity and songbook / 120 pages / UK

*****

I didn't have time to write another secret birthday book at nights, so this year's was a collaborative time capsule jumble that she can puzzle over when she's older.

Becky Davies and Richard Merritt, I Want to Be... a Ballerina

2022 / Library book / 18 pages

**

This bilingual propaganda primer for her dance class skirts over the pain aspect.

Unknown, My Little Pony Annuals 2019–20

2018-19 / Hardbacks / 128 pages

**

Completing her prenatal catch-up (unless she decides she needs to backtrack to the 80s). Having already abandoned stickers, these don't even include the board game any more. The death of an art form.

Sam Harper and Chris Jevons, 101 Bums

2020 / Library book / 32 pages

*

More unicorn-teasing filth.

Pippa Goodhart and Nick Sharratt, You Choose Christmas

2023 / Library book / 32 pages

**

A weak festive entry, but at least it sets the mood.