Paula’s Game Ramblings: Fourth Anniversary

Another month has gone by so it’s time for me to ramble. Welcome to another of Paula’s game ramblings; you can find the other ramblings here.

Last month I had an anniversary pop-up. I’ve been writing for LadiesGamers for four years in August past. They say time flies when you are enjoying yourself, and that is true. The last four years have flown by while I played many, many video games and wrote many articles.

Four Years

I never thought of writing about anything but I’ve been a gamer for many years, probably going on 40+ but writing about a game I’ve played never entered my thoughts.

Readers who are frequent visitors to LadiesGamers will know that Yvonne and I met through playing Animal Crossing Wild World. We both joined an older ladies’ animal crossing group, seems I’ve always been old as that was fifteen years ago.

We used the group to set up Animal Crossing Wild World Wi-Fi dates. We used to visit each other’s towns and spend hours fishing and whacking each other on the head with a net. It was great fun and a good laugh.

Four years ago in August, Yvonne asked me if I would like to write for LadiesGamers. As I’ve mentioned, I never intended to write about the games I played. So I initially thought, nope, I couldn’t write a review.

You Never Know Until You Try It

But you know what, if you don’t try, you will never know if you can do something, so I gave it a try. At first, I was terrified I would break something on the site when using WordPress. I know, silly, but it was all new to me.

I used to write my reviews and send them to Yvonne in an email; she would then put the review into a draft on WordPress and tidy it up for publishing. That’s how terrified I was of messing up WordPress and breaking the site. Now, WordPress is like a second home and I’m comfortable using it and not put off by the blue publish button at the side of a draft, as I have learnt a few things in the last few years.

I can’t even read my first review now, and I’d like to think my writing has improved over the last four years from those first tentative steps into the world of game reviews. Anyway, if you want to compare, here’s a link to the first review I ever wrote.

Second Nature

Nowadays, reviewing games and writing have become second nature to me. I enjoy discovering new indie games and playing them before they are released to the public. I then think about what I have played and write my thoughts out.

The review process is pretty simple. First, I play the game and take notes on the different components that make up a game. From the storyline to the game mechanics, right up to how the game performs on the system I’m playing it on, be it Nintendo Switch or PC.

Many Years, Many Games

I’ve always been a gamer who likes to simultaneously have different games on the go. For example, playing an hour or two of an RPG, then an hour or so maybe playing a puzzle game.

Naturally, depending on the genre of the game I’m playing depends on how long it takes me to finish and review the game. For example, an RPG can take a while as they are usually long games, whereas a puzzle game, one of my favourite genres, can sometimes be finished in one gaming session.

We also have the embargo dates to contend with. We receive review codes from publishers. Sometimes, the embargo date can be short. The embargo date will lift a few days after receiving the code, and the publisher expects a published review. I always have more than one review code at a time.

However, due to some embargo dates, it is mainly a case of concentrating on the game that the release is coming up first. Therefore, I go back to play the next game on my list. With the different release dates, I’ve got to adapt to juggling my playtime to match the release date of a game review.

Just Try It, You May Like It

I enjoy reviewing games and writing about my thoughts on said games. If it wasn’t fun, I couldn’t do it as it would feel like a drag. It also proves, that if you don’t try something new how will you know if you will like it or not? Most of all, I work with an incredible team and my dear friend Yvonne. If it hadn’t been for Yvonne wanting to share her thoughts on gaming in a blog, LadiesGamers wouldn’t exist. So thank you, Yvonne, and thanks to our readers!