![Daniel playing Meeple Circus](http://www.morphweasel.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Daniel_Meeple_Circus2-771x1024.png)
Woah, it is 2024 already! I almost broke my tradition of looking back at the last year to reflect on the things that happened and make some super clickbait-y top 10 lists. While AI is slowly taking over the world and software like Spotify can tell me perfectly fine which artists I listened to the most last year, I still think there’s value in making my own year overview. Because while I might have listened the most to certain albums according to Spotify, that does not make those albums the best ones in my opinion (some just took a dozen of listens to get into). So here am I, a real human being, describing in real human words the things that I found fascinating about 2023. And while there are also some terrible things that happened last year and wars are still going on in the world, I do my best to only look at the good stuff here.
On a personal level, I developed myself a lot and finally obtained my driver’s license! At Guerrilla, we released the Burning Shores DLC for Horizon Forbidden West, which was an exciting milestone. Additionally, I bought another plethora of board games (and played them all with my lovely housemates and amazing girlfriend). I traveled to some nice and warm places and went to one of the biggest music and cultural festivals in Europe. Oh and I submitted a talk for the Game Developer’s Conference, which got accepted, so I’ll be giving it in San Fransisco in March; exciting times ahead! Now onto those top 10 lists…
Favorite Board Games of 2023
When it comes to new board game releases, I think it’s a close call between Heat: Pedal to the Metal and RUN for me. Heat is an excellent racing game that truly feels fast and exciting, while RUN is a very well crafted two player cat-and-mouse hidden movement game.
If I look older games that made it into my collection this year, I should definitely highlight the hilarious dexterity party game Meeple Circus (see first picture in this post). But also the brilliant two-player puzzle Lost Cities and the somewhat heavy, but oh-so tactile sci-fi engine builder Terraforming Mars: Ares Expedition.
![Heat Pedal to the Metal](http://www.morphweasel.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Heat_cover.webp)
Favorite Video Games of 2023
![Chants of Sennaar](http://www.morphweasel.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/chants_of_sennaar.jpg)
My video game of the year is Chants of Sennaar. This stylized indie adventure is all about understanding glyph-based languages that can truly make you feel lost in translation. But when the translating clicks, it makes you solve the biggest puzzle of all: understanding other cultures and figuring out how we can all live together in harmony.
The Talos Principle II is another brilliant game that got released this year and I think it should deserve way more attention than it got. A philosophical puzzle game that looks gorgeous and is almost out there with other puzzle masterpieces like portal, even though it can be a tad repetitive at points.
I also heard good things about a game expansion called Horizon Forbidden West: Burning Shores, but didn’t got around to playing it yet… 😛
Favorite Music Albums of 2023
Oh there were a lot of albums this year. Hard to make a top 20 out of the 125+ new releases that I listened to, but here goes nothing…
- Bombay Bicycle Club – My Big Day
- Teleman – Good Time Hard Time
- Slowdive – Everything Is Alive
- Mando Diao – Boblikov’s Magical World
- Paramore – This Is Why
- The National – First Two Pages Of Frankenstein
- Russkaja – Turbo Polka Party
- Daughter – Stereo Mind Game
- John Butler – Live from Paris
- Nothing But Thieves – Dead Club City
- Metric – Formentera II
- Belle and Sebastian – Late Developers
- Spinvis – Be-bob-a-Lula
- M83 – Fantasy
- Gruff Rhys – The Almond and the Seashore OST
- Jape – Endless Thread
- dEUS – How to Replace It
- Slow Readers Club – Knowledge Freedom Power
- Pitou – Big Tear
- Half Moon Run – Salt
![Bombay Bicycle Club - My Big Day](http://www.morphweasel.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Bombay_Bicycle_Club_My_Big_Day.png)
Favorite Concerts of 2023
2023 was also the year of getting to see some of my bucket-list bands. I finally got to see Red Hot Chili Peppers live (didn’t make the top 5 however) and my girlfriend surprised me with tickets for My Morning Jacket, who finally came back to Europe. Please come again, boys. I miss your fantastic live energy already!
![My Morning Jacket live at TivoliVredenburg 2023](http://www.morphweasel.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/My_Morning_Jacket_TivoliVredenburg-1024x576.png)
- My Morning Jacket @ TivoliVredenburg (June ’23)
- John Butler @ Amsterdamse Bostheater (July ’23)
- M83 @ Sziget 23 (August ’23)
- Billie / Foals @ Sziget 23 (August ’23)
- Tash Sultana @ Pinkpop 23 (June ’23)
Favorite Movies of 2023?
Well, there was Oppenheimer and Barbie. Did anything else come out? Oh yeah: Wes Anderson came out with two masterpieces: Asteroid City and his short The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar (that last one is available on Netflix, go watch it!)
![Wes Anderson's Asteroid City](https://www.morphweasel.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Asteroid_City-1024x511.png)
And that’s it, my 2023 in review! Now onto more beautiful things and developments for this new year and hopefully a slightly better state of the world. Cheers!