What kind of year has 2024 been? Part 1, The Site

Its that time of year when we all reflect on the year that has been. As with last year I am going to spilt this up into a couple of parts. Part 1 this year will focus on the site, podcast, and what I’ve been up to in the world of game criticsm. Part 2 will be a summary of the news of the year.

Site

We are going to have a little look at the stats on the site. As I’ve said before I think creating only to increase the stats on your channel will lead to the wrong kind of pressure on you. Love what you create first and foremost.

Last Year: 28.9k Visitors, 46.6k Views

This Year: 30.1 Visitors, 50.6 Views

The site has held well with a little uptick in both visitors and views. I got back into writing more regularly this year, but that was mostly post UK Games Expo when I made good on my intention to do more RPG work this year. That convention is so large now that I felt overwhelmed. I tackled that by focusing on the indie RPG scene and I really enjoyed talking to all those folk. I have since started to do first reads of RPGs, work in which I give my initial impressions of the text. I have also done more RPG reviews and will continue that trend into the new year.

What have people been reading on the site this year? Arkham Horror: The Card Game continues to draw folk to the site. I might even get around to playing more of that this year and writing more Beyond the Veil. I am several campaigns behind, and I would like to replay Innsmouth before writing up my guides.

Ignoring the Home Page, I should figure out how to exclude that from results, RPGs brought some traffic with my Blades in the Dark guide and player’s review, Scum & Villainy, as well as my Agon GMs review all seeing decent views. I am quite surprised to see my Twilight Imperium first thoughts in the top 10. Eldritch Horror makes no sense being in there, it’s a game that isn’t really supported anymore! I am glad that folk are enjoying that work, but I didn’t realise so many would be looking for it. It goes to show you can never fully predict what work will attract people.

Podcast

The cast has had a pretty decent year. I’ve honestly not been checking in on the performance much over 2024, so it is nice to see a good uptick in dowloads over the course of the year. The work we are putting in to the cast has been increasing as we try to do a bit more investigative work.

This is reflected in our most downloaded episode this year being Ethical Dilemma, where we covered the controversy around influencer Simon Lavender. We interviewed many folk involved with him, and Simon himself. I was really pleased with the response to the cast and the work we put into it. We will hopefully get time to do more of that in the new year. It was quite the way to celeberate our 150th episode.

2023: 5.1k Downloads

2024: 6.4k Downloads

Financials

As for last year I have not been as good at updating the financials for the site as I should be. I would hope to improve that next year. Here is the current state of the finances

Finances

We’ve upped the number of patrons slightly this year and are in a healthy position financially. Keep in mind I am just looking to keep the lights on, not turn this into a living. Also you can sign up to the Patreon for free to keep track of the work I put up only on that platform.

What did I buy?

As with last year I didn’t keep month to month track of what I bought. Thankfully I can just go back through the various sites I use and some of the photos from post convention. Here is what I picked up. I’ve made a note of condition and whether or not I’ve produced a piece on the game. With these titles I am not obliged to review them of course. I am always aiming to have every game I own reviewed (which is probably unachievable but one can dream).

I bought a lot more this year than I did last year, probably a bit too much. Enthused by the idea of working on RPGs I dived into that world and picked up a bunch of games. I’ll be slowing down again this year as I try and get these titles looked at and played. I have some new groups forming and I am hoping to run some games online as well.

Resolutions

As it is that time of year, I have made resolutions in previous versions of this post. I have taken a look at the ones I made last year

• Write every day
  • I failed at this pretty comprehensively. I do want to try that again this year, not just writing for the site or TTGM.
• Play more games
  • Didn’t manage this either. I actually played a lot less board games last year than I had the year before. Over 2024 I had 135 game sessions. 2023 it was 224. That’s quite a step down but I was running more RPGs on my regular game nights. That is not something I have kept track off but I will be trying to this year.
• Do more RPG work
  • Well one out of three ain’t bad as the scholar Meat Loaf tells us. I have done a lot more RPG work than I have in previous years and I have really been enjoying it.

Despite missing two of my resolutions, these are a good way to set some goals for myself. So what should I be looking at in 2025

• Write every day
  • I just really need to get into a habit here, and I want to do some more creative writing just for myself. So far I have managed this!
• Run more RPGs for more groups
  • This one really is top of my ambitions for the year. Become a better GM by running more games for different groups. I’ve run almost exclusively for my friends over the last 20 years. They are great and I will keep doing that. However I can challenge myself and how I run games by experienceing the responses of different players to my style.
• Advocate for indie RPGs
  • This is kind of a cheat as I am already doing it, but this is about aims for myself more than anything. I’ll be continuing to write for TTGM with my Indie RPG column and my focus on the site is shifting more towards that part of the hobby. It’s because that is where I truly believe the really cool design is happening.

Conclusions

I am really pleased that the site is holding its own and that my RPG work is bringing folk to the site. It’s really gratifying to know that people appreciate the work I put in. I hope I can be an advocate for the interesting, fun, and often bizarre games that are emerging from the TTRPG scene. I also hope to return to interviews and some more editorial work. I have loads of folk I would like to talk to and many RPG subjects I think are worthy of some indepth analysis

I was so happy to get to write for TTGM this year and some of my attention will be taken up by doing that this year. That’s not to say you will see less work on the site, far from it. Just that some reviews may go to TTGM first and then expanded on the site like I intend to do with Deathmatch Island.

I’ve had kind of an incredible year. It’s had its downs for sure but the majority of 2024 has been filled with new opportuniuties, friends new and old, terrific trips, and fantastic games. I hope that 2025 is just as fulfilling and that I and the team can continue to bring you the cast and articles that you enjoy. Thanks to all of you for your support over the year.