2023 was a busy year, gang. As such, I really didn’t have nearly as much time for media as I would have otherwise. Between working full time, podcast work, and frequent shortages of my prescribed medications, finding time for myself was a challenge. However, there were some wonderful things I experienced this past year that I would like to share with you. I’d like to highlight some of my favorite things that I experienced, and for that I’ve come up with five awards I’d like to give out. And so, my special, hyper-specific awards for 2023 are…!
The “Reality Show That I Could Watch With My Partner On A Friday Night After Being Burnt Out At Work While Eating Cheap Pizza” Award
In March 2023, me and Jennifer took a drive to see Six while they were on the East Coast visiting family. During the visit, Six put on Top Chef: World All Stars. This was the latest season in the Top Chef series, featuring winners from previous Top Chef competitions, and I was transfixed. Reality shows are not my usual cup of tea- I had watched them when I was younger, but watching from week to week wasn’t something I had done in a long time. This changed with Top Chef and its captivating focus on skilled chefs doing what they did best. There was a reason they had done this for 20 seasons, it’s just compelling TV.
For those who don’t know, Top Chef is a show where 16 chefs compete in weekly challenges, with two challenges per episode. The first challenge usually conferred some small reward, such as a cash prize or immunity from elimination in the main challenge. That simple structure meant that most of the run time is focused on the chefs coming up with creative dishes on the fly, with a fast paced edit that meant the show always had forward momentum. Little time for petty squabbles and rivalries that make up the reality TV genre, there is lamb to undercook!
But the big advantage was its release schedule. New episodes always premiered on Fridays, with a companion show that went along with it. Fridays are almost always our busiest day of the week at the pet hospital I work at, so there was relief coming at the end of the shift that allowed me to keep pushing forward. Jennifer would order pizza, and we’d watch the show together. We would be talking over the less compelling bits and being on the edge of our seats when our favorite chefs were on the verge of elimination. Top Chef: World All Stars gave me a critical release valve to the stress of my days and weeks, and I appreciate it for that.
The “Tokusatsu Show That I Could Watch When Ever I Just Wanted To Drown Out The Noise In My Brain” Award
Tokusatsu is a comforting genre for me. Growing up on Power Rangers and then learning to torrent so I could watch Super Sentai and Kamen Rider, a transforming hero show helps my brain quiet down. Living with mental illness means sometimes my thought patterns will race and stress me out, and I sometimes need something simple to quiet that. Whether it be in a group of friends basking in the action or by myself, I found great comfort this year with Ohsama Sentai KingOhger.
Set on a distant planet, five rulers of the five kingdoms of Terra are in conflict with each other. The Bugnarok are rising to the surface, and the villainous King Racles would gladly sacrifice his own people to take control of the other kingdoms. Spurred by this injustice, Gira takes up the mantle of The Tyrant King to unite these kings against their common foe. Or try, anyway, as each of the kings would bicker and scheme behind the other’s backs. Every week was filled with intrigue, clashing personalities, and plenty of action in a familiar rhythm to me.
That isn’t to say the show couldn’t surprise me! KingOhger is a series with great moments that I wouldn’t expect out of such a storied franchise. The team doesn’t always work together! It has genuine non-binary representation that is respectful and cool! It focuses on adults dealing with complex dilemmas! It still has the appeal of a children’s show with its jokes and simple storytelling, but when the narrator of the story stepped in to shape the narrative, I knew KingOhger would be something special. This show will be a hard act to follow, because Ohsama Sentai KingOhger cut through the noise and did it with style.
The “Anime That I Couldn’t Help But Watch In One Sitting After Episode 1” Award
I don’t love binging shows. It’s one thing to watch a couple episodes at a time, but I’ve never liked the expectation of watching an entire season of television all in one sitting. I used to do it frequently, and it rarely felt good to do! I like to take my time with the media I watch and roll it over in my head from week to week. But sometimes, very rarely, I am in a position where I have the time and energy to watch a show all at once. Scott Pilgrim Takes Off, on one Sunday afternoon, was in the right place and right time for me.
Scott Pilgrim, college aged loser and bass player, has fallen for Ramona Flowers, a new arrival in the province. However, he must defeat her seven Evil Exes in order to have a chance to date her. At least, so the story goes. In the last 30 seconds of episode one, the status quo is flipped on its head when Scott is defeated by the very first evil ex, and the story spirals from there. This alternate story allows the show to be free from the shackles of merely adapting the original comic and rehashing familiar beats.
I won’t spoil much more than that. While I think this show could have benefited from a weekly release format, I am glad it was all available. I watched all eight episodes in one sitting and had a blast with its stellar writing and vocal performances. It was this reflection of what that original comic and movie meant to people, myself included. It was refreshing to see the honesty it has with reflecting on the source material and being willing to right its own shortcomings. This show was a moment for me to reflect on how I have changed and how I have grown up in the decade since reading that comic, too. Scott Pilgrim Takes Off provided me with an afternoon to indulge the old me, and then quietly put it away to face the present.
The “Game That I Could Play When I Just Wanted A Little Break And Didn’t Have That Much Time On My Hands” Award
I simply don’t have as much time to play games like I used to. I’ve come to peace with that fact now that I am approaching 35. But I still like finding time to play. Problem is, short form games are almost always nowadays some kind of predatory gacha or dead-simple puzzle games coated in ads. But I’ve always had a love of card games, and Wildfrost slotted perfectly into moments of short-form fun.
Wildfrost is a rouge-like card battle game set in a world covered in snow. You pick a randomly generated Leader unit, a pet companion, and a starter deck is assigned to you based on the clan of your Leader. From there you participate in turn-based battles of playing cards from your hand, while cards on the field activate attacks and other effects after individual countdown timers go off. You quickly learn what kinds of cards have synergy together to fight escalating boss battles. Along the way you’ll draft new companions and tool cards, along with modification charms that you can attach to different cards in your deck.
Games were short and quick, which meant I could fit in runs on some of my busiest days. A full run making it to the final boss only took about 15 minutes of playtime to get to. Since the game has a pretty brutal difficulty curve, though, runs would last shorter than that. But it was satisfying all the same to try and avoid narrow defeat, or crush enemies because of your perfect deck-building. While the game has shortcomings (small card pool, cards that are mechanical dead ends, repetitive music) it became my go to for when I needed a break. Streaming it for friends and working together on runs also could make it a social activity, or a game I could play while idly chatting. I could fit in Wildfrost into the little breaks of time I could find, and I am glad for it.
The “Game That Captured My Imagination More Than Any Other In This Difficult Year” Award
Over the course of the Gimmick Awards, we have had plenty of talk about the bombastic and spectacular. Games where individual elements shone so brightly that we couldn’t help but dedicate entire categories to highlighting them. But sometimes a game isn’t constructed in that way. It doesn’t have the most banging tunes imaginable, or most intricately composed moments, or even have the most compelling game play. Every once in a while, the individual elements of a game come together to mean so much more than the sum of their parts. That game in 2023 was Lunacid.
I hardly know where to begin, so the beginning seems like a good start. Cast down into a vast well, you find yourself in a vast interconnected cavern of winding tunnels and strange creatures. You’ll find spells and new equipment along the way, exploring strange new places with enchanting music underpinning the experience. I was drawn into the experience from the moment I started it, even when it was frustrating me from its lack of a map and general guidance for where to go next. But in that frustrating space of unclear objectives is the joy of discovery, and the thrill of making it through an area much too dangerous. There was little like it in 2023.
I didn’t spend nearly as much time with Lunacid as I would have wanted, and that’s a shame because it was a game I couldn’t help but rotate in my brain. The game is solvable but life’s challenges are not as simple, and that’s OK. It was a game that I could bask in its vibrant and mysterious dungeons, enjoying the new discoveries I made along the way. Catacombs of undead, castles with strange floating orbs, or a blood red sea occupied by a massive fog creature lumbering about. Every turn was equally mysterious, dangerous, and thrilling. And when it became too much, the wonderful NPCs in Wing’s Rest felt like bright spots in a game that could have turned even more bleak. Taking a break by listening to a skeleton spin a fantastical yarn is this sort of quietly amazing thing to include in a game of such dreariness.
Lunacid’s ending involves a simple and heartfelt plea – love, and get out into the world. And I went out into the world in 2023 as best as I could. I shared my time with my loved ones, despite the frequent hardships and painful losses. Despite everything that happened in 2023, I am still here, and I am still making wonderful things for myself and others. I am thankful for your support, as always. I am thankful that I can spend my time with my best friends making incredible things for a great audience. I hope that in 2023 you found time to celebrate the small victories and moments of reprieve, which is what these things meant for me. No signs that life will necessarily get easier in the future, but I will cherish the times of peace and joy where I can get it.
I hope you’ve enjoyed the Gimmick Awards, and I look forward to coming back again next year. Let’s make 2024 as best we can, yeah?
