As the year draws to a close and frosty winds begin to blow, the beloved gaming website Rock Paper Shotgun (RPS) has decided to take a well-deserved winter holiday. Fans and readers have been informed that there will be a brief digital silence from the team, who wish to remind everyone that emails and messages will have to wait until they're back in action after the holidays. Their virtual treehouse office will remain empty, cold, and undisturbed, signaling a pause on their usual gaming banter and insightful articles until the new year.
Yet, the team at RPS isn't leaving their audience entirely in the lurch. They understand the love for games doesn't take a break, and thus they've planned ahead. Before switching on their out-of-office replies, they've lined up a selection of content to ensure their community stays entertained. As a gift to their devoted followers, they've guaranteed a festive bounty of posts to keep their readers engrossed during the seasonal downtime.
As a special holiday treat, RPS will still be unveiling their Game Of The Year 2023. This much-anticipated reveal is set to occur right in the midst of the holiday cheer, a tradition akin to the suspenseful unwrapping of a final, much-anticipated gift. The anticipation among the community is palpable, with whispers of predictions and hopeful guesses filling their Discord channels. The RPS team playfully acknowledges this, even as they prepare a dramatic reveal, serving as a reminder that the joys of gaming remain at the core of this festive season.
In true holiday spirit, the RPS staff has also put together what they call the RPS Selection Boxes. These are compilations of games that, although they did not make it onto the Advent Calendar, still hold a special place in the hearts of the RPS team. They call these honorable mentions, or "hon. menchies," and plan to release them day by day, starting December 26th. It's a chance for lesser-known or perhaps underrated games to get a moment in the wintery spotlight.
The reflective mood of the year's end is captured in RPS's Year In Review roundups. These posts serve to anchor gamers in the current year's gaming landscape, highlighting the highs and memorable moments. They recap the games that earned the coveted "Bestest Best" titles and the stories that captivated their audience, while also providing a perspective from the viewpoint of game guide creators, giving insights into what defined the gaming industry over the past year.
RPS extends a warm holiday gesture as well, with Supporter-funded posts becoming available to all readers. These posts, along with others under the "From The Archive" tag, are unlocked during the holiday period, offering a delve into content that is otherwise reserved for their supporters—a present for their wider audience, and a taste of what being a dedicated RPS supporter can be like.
And, maintaining a light-hearted tradition, the annual Christmas Crackers are set to roll out. These are jokes—dreadfully punny or hilariously terrible gags—that the team sheepishly admits might just be the worst they've concocted yet. The promise of a new joke every day during the break is the team's way of sharing laughter and joy, even if it's at the expense of their comedic pride.
As the team prepares to sign off and enjoy their holiday break, there's a lingering sense of camaraderie. Through a written farewell from the past, likely pre-scheduled amidst a flurry of tweets and last-minute holiday preparations, they invite their readers to share their own game-related resolutions for the upcoming year. It's a call to set intentions, whether to explore more unusual games, master a new strategy, or finally conquer that daunting backlog.
The message is clear: while the RPS team revels in the yuletide relaxation and the togetherness of the season, they also eagerly await the dawn of 2024. They express gratitude towards their community, bidding them a heartwarming farewell, and with a friendly reminder not to overindulge, they set the date—January 2nd, 2024—for when the digital treehouse reopens its doors to the gaming world's latest adventures.
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