For this first post of 2026 (not counting the poll) I decided to write about what’s going on in my life lately. I realized I never wrote a personal post like this here but it’s the kind of content I really like reading (and writing) and it felt like the perfect time to do it.
Cover image credit: Game is Unpacking by Witch Beam.
I’m moving in with my partner, and it’s a whole process.
Starting with the biggest life update that took over my life in the last few months: my boyfriend and I bought a house together! We got the keys mid-December. When we first saw the house, we agreed that it needed a bathroom renovation so we hired contractors that were available in December, for our luck. We also made plans to paint the walls, remove some carpet and install new floors while the bathroom renovation happens so we can move in when everything’s ready. The house is almost 100 years old and it needed some TLC, even it is well-maintained.
The renovation is going well and we haven’t had any big nasty surprises, even though the timing has been so tricky with all the holidays and the atypical snow that happened recently and disrupted the Netherlands. We have been juggling going to bathroom supply stores to pick out everything with the odd jobs we are doing ourselves (with the immense help of friends and family).
Last weekend I started packing up my things for the move. We already emptied out the boyfriend’s house so at least we are going through this process in multiple steps. If things keep going to plan, we think we’ll be able to move to the new house in a few weeks.
Honestly, I can’t wait for the part where I start browsing for new furniture – I don’t know about you but I just have a lot of fun decorating.
It turns out it’s hard to play games when I’m dealing with two house moves and a bathroom renovation all while still working my regular job…
Gaming is one of my favourite hobbies (kind of obvious considering the nature of this blog) but it’s still difficult for me to game when my mind is busy with all that has been going on. While it can be the perfect distraction, I just don’t have the brain power for the immersion it requires.
As a neurodivergent person, it’s weird to think that while I can be extra sensitive to stress, I also have this ability to hyper focus that helps me get shit done. This combination usually results in me being totally depleted at the end of a day.
So in a nutshell, I have been throwing a blank when looking at my games library in the last month. Everything with a story just feels like too much. I finished Ni no Kuni recently (I had started it back in November) and I got a bit sad because it became such a comfort game for me during this period. I have been playing a lot of Pancito Merge, since the merge mechanics are sort of mindless and perfect to play in short bursts. I hope I can post my review of it here soon as I slowly go back to writing.
Still, I got 5 new games during the Winter Sale. I remember looking at my wishlist and I swear that all released games except for 2 were discounted. The games I got where: Sheepherds!, UMAMI, ILA: A Frosty Glide, Kabuto Park and Pipistrello and the Cursed Yoyo.
I briefly talked about Sheepherds! and UMAMI on this post about demos I played in October. UMAMI quickly became my go-to after I’d played Pancito Merge way too much, as it’s another really chill puzzle game.
I also purchased Cast n Chill and Camper Van: Make it Home but after trying them out, I refunded both. I thought Camper Van would be more optimised for the Steam Deck, but it uses a virtual mouse so it was a poor experience to play it handheld. As for Cast n Chill, I realised the idle part isn’t for me, and the game felt repetitive just playing it without alternating with the idle mode.
I’m skipping resolutions this year, but I do have some ambitions.
This January feels so different than usual for me. January and February are usually a pretty bad month for me – as a Brazilian, I struggle so much with ‘real’ winters – but this year winter is juxtaposed with the fact that I just got my dream house with my favorite person. I feel lucky every day, even when I take my bike to go to the new house at -5ºC. Even if things are tough right now, I have that feeling that I’ll never forget this period in my life. You know?
I’ve seen people write about their resolutions for 2026 and I decided I’m not coming up with any for myself. I am already facing all these changes after all. I’ll try to just go with the flow this year.
Last year I made a goal to myself to not buy any products from Amazon for the whole year, and I managed to achieve that. A lot of small (and often old) shops closed in my city in the last couple of years and that inspired me to buy more local whenever I can. I’m also trying to buy fewer things, but if I need to do it, I try to buy at a local shop or alternatively a local (Dutch) website. For this year, I want to keep that up. I wouldn’t call it a resolution, but more of a habit reinforcement.
I also have some ambitions for the blog. I’m really happy with the writing cadence I set up, so I’ll keep publishing posts every Tuesday – with an extra post here and there. There are some ideas that I have been cooking for a while but I’m a bit afraid of doing for a lack of skill from my side – for example, I want to start doing interviews but that’s so scary for me! If you have any tips on that, please send them my way. I also would like to start a series where I deep dive on some indie developers and studios I like. And so much more!
Writing is something I’m loving more with each post I put out into the world, so I am hoping for all sorts of little creative moments here at Luna’s Gaming Log this year. <3
Thanks for reading and I wish you all an amazing 2026!
-Luna
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