New Year, Fresh Ideas

The eagle-eyed among you might have noticed that I’ve really neglected the newsletter. I’ve tried over the years with various platforms and tools, but it’s always fallen by the wayside. It’s a tricky thing. I want to interact with my readers and friends in a way that’s additional to just writing reviews, but finding the best way to do that has been difficult.

I’ve made a few decisions - nothing drastic - about some small changes that will affect Punchboard as a whole, and also the way I structure my reviews moving forward.

You might have already noticed, but I’ve changed the design of Punchboard up a bit. I reduced the size of the header, some of the colours, and also made myself a nice, simple logo. I liked the idea of the ‘punched-out counter’ design, but I have to say I prefer the clean look of the new. The new logo is on the left below, the old one on the right.

The template review is more plain, too. I like to keep things simple, and without too much in the way of distractions.

Another new touch is a ‘pros & cons’ box in all new reviews. I’ve retrofitted it to some recent reviews, but for the foreseeable future I’ll be adding it to all reviews. There are a few reasons for this.

Firstly, and most importantly for me, it keeps me honest. I can get very enthusiastic about games. I want people to enjoy games and see all the good they have to offer, and I know that can lead me to come across as overly positive at times. While I pride myself on being able to see the good and bad in a game, it can be easy to overlook the negatives. By making sure I give some time and mental energy to consider the bullet point versions of the good and not-so-good things in a game, it adds a useful lens to look at a game through.

Secondly, it’s good for SEO. Google likes to mine websites for easily digestible content, and pros & cons offer exactly that. It’s not the most important thing, for sure, but it helps get my stuff out there and seen.

I’ve really struggled with community over the years. Everyone likes the idea of building community, but the reality is that some things just don’t need a community. I don’t have a bunch of people tuning in to watch videos or live streams. I don’t have guests on a podcast to talk to. Interacting with Punchboard is a very passive experience.

I started a Discord server back in 2020 because, well, everyone did. It’s a lovely idea, to have a bunch of people hanging around and chatting, but again, the reality is I don’t need it. Most of the people who joined my Discord server were already in a bunch of other servers. Why would you want to talk in mine? You wouldn’t.

As a result, it’s become a stale ghost town. Not even I post there anymore. I’m a firm believer in kill your darlings, so as a result I’ll be retiring the server and closing it down in the next few weeks. I won’t miss it, you won’t miss it, so it needs to go.

Instead, I’ll be putting my effort into breathing some life into this newsletter, into ko-fi and patreon posting, and into social media. I’ve already started making more effort with the socials this year, regularly posting on Bluesky, Facebook and Instagram. I still don’t really get Instagram, but I feel like I ought to use it.

I still want to interact with my readers, I just need to find the best ways to do it. So I’ll try to make sure I’m posting polls and asking others what they want to see. I’m always open to suggestions, so please…

With all of this in mind, I want to take this opportunity to turn things over to you. What should I be playing and reviewing?

Something new?

Something old?

A big name?

An obscure indie game?

Leave a comment and tell me what you think.