Welcome back. It’s been a while. 69 days to be exact, from July 15th to September 22nd 2025.

It was a wise choice to take a break and live some life over the last couple of months but I admit that I have really missed writing these, and it is good to be back. This is what’s ahead for you today:

• Fitness
• Living some normal life
• Long overdue personal projects
• An unexpected Destiny 2 raffle win
• Notts VGE and Timeless
• Retro reading and a surprise mention
• Sleepytime Village gets into AdventureX
• Norwegian Fjords
• Luck Be A Landlord
• Eulogy for Nonno

Fitness: Since July 14th, I have challenged myself to losing one pound of weight per week until I hit the goal I want. I have been roughly 1.5 stones overweight for a very long time. Long story short, a combination of chocolate and cake, a lack of exercise, and too much caffeine has led to a day-to-day fall from grace. Where I had once been able to run a couple of miles each day without too much trouble, sleeping soundly at night, and waking the following morning with more energy than ever before, now I ache, can barely jog 100 yards, and struggle lifting anything heavier than a large box of books. The why doesn’t matter right now; instead, I have been concentrating on steady, forward progress, and that is what I’ve done. Unfortunately, I’ve had to cut the detail from here, as this 15 Days would have been way too long but I’ll share it next time. Let’s just say I’ve highlighted three things I can remove and added two things that should help. So far, it appears to be working.

Living some normal Life: The first two weeks after Part 13 was just normal life. To the day job I went, home afterwards, some reading, chores, television, just everyday normal stuff. Very little testing was done and that was odd initially as I have had something to fill my time almost constantly for years. I realised I had kept myself very busy and it’s a state that I had obviously become accustomed to; which was all the more reason to stop, take a break, and appreciate everything else around me.

But that didn’t last long before I got a bit twitchy. I need something to put my energy into. Sitting around watching TV is fine but I get bored. A bit like going on holiday. Lying on the beach is fine for about ten minutes but then I’m up and about, exploring the world around me. I needed to do something.

Long overdue personal projects: First up was to make a list of the personal projects I want to work on. A little move towards what will coincide with testing over the next 15 months or so. All the stuff I talk about but never actually sit down and start. As I wrote this rough list that became longer and longer and therefore overwhelming and seemingly impossible, I told myself to simply pick one. So, out of the purposefully vague ‘Boardgame 1’, ‘Boardgame 2’, ‘Book 1’, ‘Book 2’, ‘Book 3’, ‘Pixel Art Course’, ‘Narrative Adventure’, and ‘Website Updates’, I picked ‘Website Updates’, which is why this website looks different. I’m not 100% happy with the choices I’ve made (I do not like the top of the webpage at the moment) and I miss the black background but it was due a change. My app for WordPress gives me some insight to the traffic it gets. It’s high-level stuff like 2 people from the US, or 4 from the UK visited on a particular day but what caught my eye was the number (or lack thereof) of people looking at other pages like How I Test or The Longer Story, so my main aim was to have the important points more front and centre. Those two pages are gone and the homepage now gives more information about me, showcasing some of the projects and a few testimonials. The contact page is still there but it now links to the bottom of the homepage. It works a bit better like this, I think. I still miss the old version but it’s important to make things easier.

Ultimately, with this being my website, I get to choose what goes on here and play around with its design. I’ll always take constructive feedback onboard but I like that it’s my space to experiment with and fill as I want. It being here is a sanctuary from whatever social media is now, and I can find peace with these pages. As for the rest of the list, I’ll have to pick another and get on with it.

An unexpected Destiny 2 raffle win: I have not played Destiny 2 very much in recent months. In fact, I have only played it twice since early July, and that was for a distraction and to keep my general gaming skills up. It’s the first time in years that I haven’t been intensely involved with the game but that was always my intention anyway. If you’ve been following my socials for a while, you’ll know I was working towards completing my Destiny 2 display, and I knew that once that was done, it was time to move on. It just so happened that by the end of The Final Shape, that moment had arrived. I will pick up The Edge of Fate expansion in a sale but this is a chapter I will now say I have enjoyed and look back upon fondly. In the book I’m writing (that’s ‘Book 1’ above), I’ll go over this in more detail. I’ll always have my Guardian but I’ve also earned my spurs, and he’s due a break.

Anyway, as you also know, I am a big fan of the work by my buddy, Irrezolut AKA Rez, having commissioned my Guardian portrait that I mentioned in Part 1. Rez had recently begun a fundraiser for St Jude via the GCX event (link here for context) where there was a copy of the latest expansion as a prize, as well as an original painting, among other fun stuff. And being someone who likes to support charity when I can, plus that anything Rez creates always has my interest, I bought some raffle tickets. The draws for the expansion and the painting came and went and I forgot all about it; just being happy to have helped in some way with the fundraiser.

Time passed and then I get a message from Rez saying I’d won the first runner-up prize! This included a print of the original painting, stickers and an in-game emblem that I had no idea even existed but looks very cool. From what I gather, during a separate Bungie fundraiser, this would have set me back $77 so to win it in a raffle was a happy result. Now my Guardian rocks the emblem, called Neon Fade, and Rez reliably informs me that its global rarity is 0.007%, which I think is awesome.

Notts VGE & Timeless: After Brighton, two events on my calendar came around very quickly. Notts VGE on 26th and 27th July in Nottingham, followed by Timeless on 13th August in Liverpool. I really enjoyed both of these events and I especially enjoyed how different they are from one another. Notts VGE being held at Harvey Hadden Sports Village, and Timeless held at Cains Brewery Village. The former being in a large sports hall with a varied range of stalls, indie games, speakers, and familiar faces (MBP UK and Debug crew members in the photos below, plus the dev behind Gameboy title The Train), and the latter with stalls, indie games, panels, competitions, a VIP night, and a three-storey arcade filled with everything you can possibly imagine playing (which was something to behold). I also found Blue Prince on a PS5 and played the credits on a huge screen just to see my name. Yes, I am that guy, and I have no regrets. It was beautiful.

Notts VGE had the added benefit of showcasing two games I have been testing called It’s Grim Up North (Chapter 2 has now been released) and, as always, UrbX Warriors, also giving me the chance to catch up with my Brazen Gameplay pals, Stoo and Tony, quaff a few beers and talk through a little of what is ahead. A good time was had by all, and a slightly sore head by me the following morning…

Timeless was similar in that Sleepytime Village was one of the indie games being showcased which meant that because of the testing I have done, I also had a nice booth to sit in where the demo was set-up. As you know, I do like my occasional quiet space to chill in at these events. The bar was also REALLY close (literally opposite the booth), although I was well-behaved and only had my one free pint from the VIP ticket I had bought months ago.

In total, only four indie games were on show here, and I suspect that is due to Timeless packing in as much variation as possible throughout the venue, which they did a fantastic job of.

• Nanuka: Secret of the Shattering Moon by OutOfTheBit Ltd
• Rock and Scroll by Fowlplay
• Sleepytime Village by Lightfoot Bros Games
• Safe Hayven by Escape Code Games

Events-wise, I have two left this year and both come back-to-back in November. CRASH Live! of which I am looking forward to catching up with Stoo and Tony again, but also for the in-person return of AdventureX, after the online-only event in 2024. This will feel very much like a full-circle moment for me, when I consider that tentative first visit in 2022, my journey since, the projects I’ve worked on, and the wonderful people I’ve met. It will be a great way to finish off 2025.

Retro reading and a surprise mention: I have been very fortunate to have had a mention in CRASH magazine (Knightmare) and Debug Magazine (Sleepytime Village) so it was a wonderful surprise, after a long day at work, when I sat down with a cup of tea and the latest issue of NEXT magazine, and saw my name in the UrbX Warriors update. It always makes me smile and I am grateful for the acknowledgment. There is a lot of time and hard work that I put into testing so to see that appreciation in a magazine I enjoy reading is something I, in turn, appreciate.

Sleepytime Village gets into AdventureX: I’ve been working with James Lightfoot, one of the devs behind Sleepytime Village, on and off throughout the year, fine-tuning the demo. It’s a really fun game that needed a little love from a testing perspective and I’ve seen a lot of positive changes and hard work implemented by James off the back of this. It’s a solid demo now, and one of the main goals was to get Sleepytime Village selected for AdventureX in November. With the event being highly regarded and attracting people from around the world who are very experienced at what they do within game development, having an opportunity to showcase there is a big deal, and I was happy to help James out. It deserves a spot, in my personal opinion. AdventureX is also a wonderful opportunity to network, in an environment where you are made to feel very welcome. I am of the understanding that the competition for places to showcase is high due to limited capacity; not all applicants secure a spot, and this is where our work on Sleepytime Village has been focused in recent months. Can we give the demo enough care and attention that it can be worthy of a coveted AdventureX spot?

We worked hard on it and caught a lot of bugs. The fact that it’s a fun demo, with a very different vibe than any demo I’ve tested before (creepy, thoughtful, sinister, and playful!) means the work is also enjoyable. When it was time to send it through to the judges at AdventureX, James pressed the button and we waited.

And as I waited, I started to reflect about a time two years ago, where I thought about how I wanted to be regarded within game development. Testing is not generally seen as an integral part of the process to a lot of people until they realise how important it is, and I do take it seriously. I have fun as well but I think about how my name is attached to projects and what that means. So, I admit, there was a small part of me that thought if Sleepytime Village is not accepted, that is a reflection upon me, especially if it comes down to bugs and game crashes.

Thankfully, as I am sure you have already guessed, Sleepytime Village was successful and James can proudly claim his spot at AdventureX later this year!

Norwegian Fjords: My wife and I recently went on our first cruise to celebrate her fortieth birthday; our destination, the Norwegian Fjords.

I looked at our cruise ship as though it were a floating city. It was vast. We dined at several of the many restaurants, sipped coffee or enjoyed a few drinks across the many bars. We played pool, went to the cinema, booked ourselves into the spa, and enjoyed sunrises and sunsets while walking along the ship’s promenade or from our cabin balcony. Entertainment was available throughout the day until late at night, or if we wanted some quiet time, there were many places to relax. You can have as much of a party cruise, or a relaxing cruise as you want, or a mix of both. To have the option made it even better. We also checked out the gym, the shops and the casino. It had pretty much everything.

Getting onto the ship on day one, was remarkably easy, and the disembarkation equally so. I’m used to the chaos of airports, buses and trains, so to experience such a smooth process has been almost unbelievable to me. It’s often one of the first things I tell people, as boring as that sounds. But anyway, that’s enough about the accommodation; we had booked it for Norway, not the ship!

Norway itself was wonderful. Our stops were Stavanger, Olden, Ålesund and Haugesund, and within these, trips to Loen’s Sky Lift, Langfoss Waterfall, and a ‘troll car’ ride to the Briksdal Glacier. It was all amazing. Rather than bore you with hundreds of photos, here’s a little collection:

Luck Be A Landlord: Within all of this (and I admit this catch-up 15 Days could have been even longer; I’ve already cut out so much), I have found time to play Luck Be A Landlord. It’s oddly captivating, in that at first glance it doesn’t appear to have much to it, only for me to then realise I’ve already pumped 16 hours into it over the last month. The premise is that I need to win enough coins via the slot machine to pay my rent or my landlord will throw me out i.e. game over. Doesn’t sound like much but give it a try; it’s more fun than I first thought. My current strategy is: Oysters + Pearls + Geologist.

Finally, and this wasn’t in my initial draft but, just as I did last year, I find myself testing a game for this year’s $109 Adventure Game Challenge. A call for testers came and I said “OK!”. I know the developer, Gugames, who has previously won this game challenge in 2020, and has several fun point and click games available on itch, steam and GOG, which you can check out here. Anyway, Eulogy for Nonno is this year’s entry and I hope it does well. It also means another credit and project for me to add to the list, along with a fun game in the collection!

And that is it! I appreciate this is a long blog post. I’ll drop in bits and pieces in future that I may have forgotten about. If you made it this far, I salute you.

As always, until next time, stay safe, and thank you for reading.

Paul.