December 2025
Time for another one of these already?? And I thought October went by quickly.
I've got a decent number of links for this final edition of 2025. More than I thought I had, with how busy I've been, so that's nice!
It feels far too early in the life of this site to start looking back, but I'm very happy with how it's gone so far and the response I've seen, and I'm glad it exists!
See you next year! Until then, let's see what else is on...
Put This On
My girlfriend found this artist randomly on Pandora, and I was glad to discover they were on Bandcamp! It's very pleasant, dreamy, fantastical, and almost ambient music. You can really tell they've worked in and been inspired by video game music. In a good way!
Read This
Extremely well-articulated post from Eevee tying “AI” to “content” and why the internet feels like it sucks. If you only read one of these links, make it this one. It's a longer read and well worth your time.
Don't trust the human slop telling you how much of the web is AI slop
Don't let your doomer brain blindly accept PR.
The Bad News Is There’s No More Money, But That’s Also The Good News - Alex Sujong Laughlin
A fascinating look at the state of the podcast industry from this year's Resonate podcast festival.
What’s left when the rich people lose interest is the work, and Resonate was a reminder of the best parts of that work.
To My Unmasked Friend in the Fifth Year of COVID - Anna Holmes
When "I can't blame them" isn't good enough anymore and you can, in fact, blame them.
Against 'Metroidbrania': a Landscape of Knowledge Games - Bruno Dias
and...
Bruno Dias and v buckenham in conversation, trying to define and rename a video game genre.
Why Do Ships Measure Speed In Knots? - Chino Ortiz
What Actually Happens If You Shift Into Reverse While Driving - Nishant Jayaram
Why Boeing Noses Are So Pointy And Airbus Noses Are So Round - Rohaan Sakrani
A trio of informative articles from Jalopnik. I saw each of these headlines and thought, "actually that's a good question." Maybe you will too! Regarding the Boeing one specifically, as a somewhat nervous flier, I've found it helpful over the years to learn more about aircraft where I can. Interesting stuff!
People filming themselves in nature - Laura Michet
Laura writes about thinking about the fact that when you watch a video of someone doing something alone, you know they had to set up the camera first to grab the shot, something I'm ALWAYS thinking about. Probably just because I work in video production. I think more people could benefit from thinking about where the camera is and how it got there when watching a video.
Huge Super Mario 64 Trick That Will Change Speedruns "Forever" Has Been Discovered - Alana Hagues
It's not everyday that a major new speedrunning trick is discovered for a game as big as SM64. This one looks like an absolute doozy.
The Top 10 Legendary GameFAQs Contributors - whowasphone404
If you've played a video game in the last 30-ish years, and gone looking for answers about it online, chances are you've crossed paths with one of the many silent heroes doing the thankless work of writing and posting guides to GameFAQs for free. This list pays tribute to some of those heroes.
A webcomic I discovered through Laura about a fictional online community investigating a harmless-looking screensaver in the 2000s. It's a fun look at what happens when the phenomenon of the human brain needing to see patterns where none exist meets the advent of online communities. I recommend checking out Laura's post for added context and further reading!
Watch This
I Bought David Lynch’s Weird Coffee Maker - James Hoffmann
Does what it says on the tin. After his passing, David Lynch's estate auctioned off a bunch of his possessions, including a weird, old Italian coffee maker that it is unclear he ever used. James Hoffmann bought it and, perhaps inadvisably, tried it.
Kerokerokeroppi out of Soap - 부달조 BUDALJO
An artist who carves little guys out of soap. A fun and soothing watch. They've done a bunch of Sanrio characters, and also BMO from Adventure Time!
Cat 319D LN climbing onto rail car - Kyle Eastwood
An absolutely ancient video of a backhoe pushing itself up onto a rail car that made its way to my YouTube homepage this week. Wild stuff. I did not know a backhoe could do this.
Play This
$24.99, PC, Mac, Linux, Switch, PS4/5, Xbox
Necrosoft's long-awaited tactics RPG about a bunch of misfits fighting demons and going to college is finally here! I don't feature a lot of paid games on this list if I can help it, but I like this team, and I hope this game does well!
❗ Stealing the rest of this month's recommendations from Michael Klamerus, who posts Indie Game Roundups with alarming regularity, and whose RSS feed should absolutely be in your reader if you care about following indie games!
Free, Browser
A humorous combination of Minesweeper and the Monty Hall Problem.
Free, Browser
A fun take on a suika-like in which you drop colored balls into a box, but rather than combine, they shrink each other on contact. The object is to not overflow the box. Also there's an elixir and bugs, but you'll figure that out.
Some Good Websites
Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards 2025 Finalists
Wildlife photographers capture some beautiful moments. And then there's the rest (still beautiful in its own way).
Take a break and doodle something with your mouse in this series of web toys from Toms Toys. Choose between Oil Paints, One Line, Paint with Text, and Paint like Mondrian. There's still nothing like zoning out for five minutes to make some lines and blobs on a canvas, particularly in this weird, busy, liminal holiday time. When you're done, you can save your masterpiece to share, use as a new wallpaper, or just admire.
A great way to waste time and rediscover the magic of the web before social media poisoned it. Also a great resource for coming up with obscure, independent websites to recommend 👀
Thanks for reading! Til next time! 👋