We feel like we say this every year, but wow, did this year fly by! It’s been the busiest year by a fair margin among a pretty busy past few years, so maybe that’s part of it. We can’t fully talk about why just yet, but as we’ve alluded to in posts this past year, we’re cooking up something we think you will really like, so stay tuned for news! 😀 You can sign up for our newsletter (which we send very rarely, so when you get one you know it’s big news) at the bottom of this page, or you can join the discord too.

In possibly related — but also possibly not related news, just to keep you on your toes — next year is the 10th anniversary of N++. Can you believe it’s been an entire decade since N++ first came out?? That’s bananas. It’s been a pretty incredible decade for the game, with a growing base of players and a community that is richer than ever; the list of 100%ers continues to grow, with 5 more this year for a total of **48**. Every year we get a little more amazed that people are still pulling off something we once thought impossible. 😉

(Thinking of attempting your own journey to 100% and getting a certificate of your own? That’s awesome! We and others will cheer you on in the N++ discord, if that helps!)

Last year may have been the Year of the Map Pack, but this year has some solid entries in that category as well, notably NateyPooPoo’s EON tab, which re-imagines the game as a classic side-scrolling adventure game in a terrifically creative and inspiring way, across 600 contiguous levels. Check out this amazing trailer!

In other N++ news, skippy7552 made this in-depth and insightful look at the game, and the history of the series. Well worth a watch!

So what else has been happening during this extremely busy year? Well, we celebrated some pretty big milestones. It was the best of times (the 20th Anniversary of N, and Metanet Software) and the… well not worst of times, but the less-best of times (the end of XBLA and sunset of N+). We made some super cool new merch to celebrate the anniversaries, which you can get from our Etsy shop here! We also listed some of the last few copies of the physical version of N++ for Switch there, so check that out if you’re interested.

The new batch of corporate fat-cats are doing great, and are very helpful — reducing our stress levels from work, if nothing else, though they have had a few interesting game ideas we’d love to explore (and they’re good playtesters) 😉

And finally, to round out the year we thought we’d recommend some things we tried this year that we really loved, that you may enjoy too.

First up, this book of essays on video games written by our friend Mathew Kumar: https://www.amazon.com/Every-Game-Ive-Finished-14/dp/B0DJPFPVFT It’s insightful and thoughtful and superb to read if you’re interested in games or game design.

Finally, here are a few games we enjoyed this year:
Leap Year https://managore.itch.io/leap-year
Mosa Lina https://stuffedwombat.itch.io/mosa-lina
SylvieRPG https://sylvie.itch.io/sylvie-rpg
Utopia Must Fall https://pixeljam.itch.io/utopia-must-fall
Stray Shot https://punkcake.itch.io/stray-shot

Happy Holidays to all of you and those you care about; thank you again for being kind and cool people. <3 We're looking forward to 2025, and hope it's a good one for everyone!