Hey all :)))) What a year this one's been! Back when I created my account in May, I never expected to really get noticed, let alone as much attention as I have! I'm super grateful for everyone who's followed me, played the games I've made, the games my friends have made, and hell even the games people I don't even know have played. A big thank you to you guys, and everyone on Newgrounds, for supporting the site and the creators that choose to express themselves on this platform! Y'all rock for that!!

This year started off pretty poorly for me. When I came to Newgrounds I was really struggling with IRL stuff and thought "why not" when my dear friend @Stepford suggested I give Newgrounds a shot. We'd jammed together in the past and worked on some games together throughout the years we've known eachother, and I saw Newgrounds as an opportunity to branch out a bit and try something new. Again - back then I didn't know what was in store for me here :)

Back when I was a wee lad, I'd played games like Castle Crashers and Fancy Pants and never really picked up on the fact that they'd come from Newgrounds, I didn't even really know what Newgrounds was. But all these years I've finally made it here and man I've been missing out on so much cool shit that I never even knew about!

I started my Newgrounds journey with Bloodmoon, a game by the lovely @plufmot, @larrynachos and @Stepford.

I wasn't that involved with this game, and back then I was still very new to Newgrounds, but it was a nice opportunity to test the waters and learn what the site was all about :)

My second game, Claret, was my first real attempt at making a game for Newgrounds.

I wasn't 100% happy with the result, but it was a nice way to test some of the features of the site (such as highscores and medals and such), as well as a way for me to try and create a simple little game from scratch around these features. I worked again with @larrynachos on music and I had a great time with this :)

My third game, Sunnyside vs. the Eggies, was created by myself along with the talents of @Stepford, @POSTBOY and @Dieswyx.

We banded together to create this pretty awesome game for the Newgrounds July Jam, and we ended up placing second (still amazed by it). Had a lot of fun doing this with some awesome people, and it was great to participate in something where everyone could come together and create some dope ass games :) @POSTBOY's art shone through (like always) and @Dieswyx's tunes slapped hard. I have extremely fond memories of the voice calls where we talked shit and all had a good time making a game we were all invested in!!

My fourth game, ULTRA FORCE: OBLITERATION, was created by me, @Stepford (notice a trend?), @spazgunk, @ConnorGrail and @YuriKadry.

The five of us set out and created this game for the Opera GX Game Jam, which we unfortunately didn't place in. @Stepford and I were pretty busy at the time if I recall correctly, but we figured we may as well create a game for the jam. We enlisted the likes of @ConnorGrail for music, and he did not fail to deliver (when does he ever), @spazgunk for the amazing cover / promotional art, as well as the opening comic panels and of course the dope character and ship designs (holy shit), and last but certainly not least @YuriKadry for some additional help with the pixel art for the game. Had a hell of a time making this game and I'm so glad I got to create it with such awesome people :)

Between my fourth and fifth games of this year, my cat unfortunately passed away which threw me off my stride for sure. I didn't handle it very well, as this cat had been a part of my life since the day I was born, and I didn't know what life was like without him in it. Through the amazing support and comfort of my friends however, I got back up and kept doing what I love :)

The fifth game I was a part of this year was the ever-popular roulette game, Madness Roulette.

I was taken on-board as a pixel artist and animator, with the multi-talented @larrynachos as the main programmer / designer, along with myself, @spazgunk and @YuriKadry on pixel art related stuff and @TeraVex on the tunes. Had a lot of fun helping out on this, and I was pleasantly surprised at how well received and popular the game went on to be :) Was definitely a good way to bolster my animation skills whilst getting back into my groove :)

Around the same time, I was dabbling with animation in flash and created my first proper animation. I was pretty happy with this all things considered, and it was definitely a nice learning experience :)

Throughout the year, as well as making games, I was trying my hand at improving my non-pixel art skills and I created a few pieces I was really quite happy with :) I hope to improve next year and some day perhaps get as good as some of my artist friends who I look up to so much on this website!!

SOME HONOURABLE MENTIONS

MAD AT MADNESS - A GAME I NEVER FINISHED (MAYBE NEXT MADNESS DAY?) WITH ART BY @PROSCIUTTOMAN AND MUSIC BY @TERAVEX!! (BANGIN')

MADNESS MUKBANG - ANOTHER MADNESS GAME I NEVER FINISHED (MAYBE NEXT MADNESS DAY?) WITH ART BY @SPAZGUNK

SOME OTHER STUFF I'M PROBABLY FORGETTING?

and all of those other games that never saw the light of day this year! maybe next year!!!

AND ALL THE PEOPLE I'VE INTERACTED WITH OVER THE COURSE OF THIS YEAR! I LOVE YOU GUYS!

ALSO PODCASTS?

I WAS ON THE NGP BLOCK PARTY TALKING ABOUT GAME DESIGN?? ALSO SQUATCH CAST AND THE BENNY SHOW SO THAT WAS KINDA COOL!!

PETER THE ANT SOON I PROMISE

probably missed some stuff out cause im stupid but thats ok ill get it next time...

To all of the friends and the fans and just everyone on Newgrounds, big thanks for makin' my year great! See you guys next year!