Year One Stats
The first year is over, first 600 posts done! Writing took us about 24 hrs a week, then there's the research and the playing of games in preparation. But it's a very nice hobby and totally worth it.
340 of these posts were announcements for Kickstarter campaigns, some 85 for retail games. We are a news website first and foremost and we always try to find out how a game plays and what is known about the solo mode. But we also just post whatever we feel like. As this is not a business, but a labour of love. So we wrote 140 session reports, of which 40 for PnP games. Amazingly, only 40 grumpy posts. And then we tried some series. Some unsuccessful (Lazy Links), some successful (Home Alone and End Times). Oh! Just a month ago we opened Loners Lounge, where all the cool kids hang out with us.
We've got our weekly overviews on BGG. Somewhere during the year we added a Facebook page, but as we are lousy photographers, we didn't venture into Instagram. And hopefully Twitter's dead, as I don't think we can handle much more.
Anyway. What was popular on Solitaire Times? Here's the top-10 in pageviews.
[Essay] Garden of degenerate delights: musings on the art and theme of Dungeon Degenerates
[Table Presence] Finally landed (D-Day Dice)
[Grumpy Gamer] Things I dislike in solo games (sometimes without even trying them)
[Kickstarter News] Upcoming Kickstarter from Portal Games: Scenario Book for Robinson Crusoe
[Grumpy Gamer] CMON don't know what they just sold
[Kickstarter News] Return of the Leaders (Thunderbolt Apache Leader, Tiger Leader, Fleet Commander Nimitz)
[Retail News] Gloomhaven lite coming in 2020 (Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion)
[Kickstarter Overview] 63 solo and soloable Kickstarter releases of 2020
[Solitaire Select] Intruder's happy in the dark (Nemesis)
[PnP Overview] Home Alone (time to Print and Play)
Most reader interaction was on my post about depression, that was a nice and welcome surprise. Thanks.
If you have any suggestions for us to improve or try out, do let us know. We're always interested in what you have to say. And if we ignore your advice, it's only because we're just the two of us.
(And sometimes because we're stubborn and grumpy).
Hello both.
I really like your website, and being able to post 600+ posts in a year is amazing. I think this website is the best solo-games-related website ever! Congrats!
Those PnP games you two introduced are fantastic, and I have already played some of them (ex: Under falling Sky, Ada Lovelace,. etc). Hope to see some other games soon.
Lol, my day ain't right without some solitairetimes. It's the newspaper and coffee that starts my day.
Ehm, Magic_erwt and Jeffary: the giveaway is actually in the next post. But we'll throw your answers in, thanks!
Hey Frank! Our number one commenter. Every hobby website should have one - but we'd like to keep you. Thank you so much.
John Smallberries, my Human Sorcerer in D100 Dungeon...many a giant rat had fallen to the mediocre spell casting of this beloved hero...if only he was better at fighting giant spiders...eww...spiders. (shiver, shiver).