Most evenings one would presume that I would likely be online playing video games, but this is only true half of the time, the other half of the time I enjoy watching something called the Yogscast, a team of gamers based in Bristol, England. Unless you are a fellow Yognaut (a fan of the Yogscast) you might not understand the appeal. So I will try to give the guys from the Yogtowers as good a sell as I can in such a small space.
In short, the Yogscast are a group of friends that enjoy playing video games so much they share that enjoyment with fellow gamers through YouTube and Twitch. Whether live or prerecorded and/or edited their videos are usually filled with hilarious quips, japes, pranks, and banter, which together with the sometimes questionable gameplay skills on display proves to be very entertaining. However, be warned; the salt can get very real and the language can be as shocking as the alleged skills on display.
There are many faces that make up the Yogscast and there is no way I can cover them all here, but I will try and introduce you to some of them. The first two that deserve mention are Lewis Brindley (above right) and Simon Lane (above left). These two actually founded the Yogscast back in 2008 (along with Hannah Rutherford) through a series of podcasts and a Minecraft survival lets play. Lewis can be best described as a try hard, who usually ventures off on his own, typically with disastrous results and usually gets very salty when things don't go his way. Simon, on the other hand, has a much more laid back playing style, though he too will often go off to do his own thing when he gets bored. Simons collection of voices and impressions are reason enough to watch the Yogscast.
Another long time Yogscaster is Duncan Jones (above right). Similar to Lewis he will try his hardest in most games, getting salty when things go wrong - even more so if Lewis or Sjin is involved, but Duncan is at his most entertaining when he is either winning or losing. Sjin, real name Paul Sykes (above left), is best described as a balding troll who can, but never wants to. He is usually found winding up or vexing another member of the Yogscast in a playful manner that hides the fact that he is actually one of the more skilled games players of the team.
Sips, real name Chris Lovasz, is best described as being more laid back than Simon, yet a worse troll than Sjin. If Sips doesn't want to play a game he simply won't play it - but he's not being disrespectful, he's just unfiltered. Additional members of the Yogscast family include the CEO Mark Turpin, Rythian, Nilesy, Zylus, Zoey & Fiona, Kim, Pyrion Flax, Caff, Martyn and many, many more. The whole list is actually much more extensive and is always constantly changing.
Finally, for this article, we will mention Hat Films, who are (above left to right), Alex Smith, Chris Trott and Ross Hornby. Although this foul mouthed trio is part of the Yogscast they are also independent of them and are known for editing official trailers for video games such as Minecraft. They have also released song albums with somewhat explicit lyrics (you have been warned).
An element that makes the Yogscast fresh is that, unless sponsored to do so, they usually play the games they like to play, not the games that are guaranteed to get them the most views. Because they are enjoying playing the games they enjoy to play their content is much more entertaining and genuine. Games the Yogscast frequently play include Minecraft (modded, rarely vanilla), Grand Theft Auto Online, Player Unknown's Battlegrounds, Overwatch, Hearthstone, Factorio, X-Com, Cities Skylines, and Civilization.
In addition to playing video games and board games and D&D, the Yogscast have also released a series of podcasts, music videos, and song parodies, the latter of which is usually released around Christmas time and sometimes for charity. In regards to charity, each Christmas since 2011 the Yogscast has streamed live for the whole month of December, usually in partnership with Humble Bundle, with all donations received going to Charitable causes. In 2016 they raised over $2.5 million.
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