Looking for an official channel of TotalBiscuit/CynicalBrit? Try the links below:
TotalBiscuit – YouTube Channel
CynicalBrit Gaming – Steam Curator
Gaming Archive #6 – The Cynical Brit (TotalBiscuit)
Games Finder is continuing it’s gaming archive collection with the sixth instalment dedicated to The Cynical Brit / Total Biscuit / John Peter Bain. If you’re interested in learning more about this series and why we do it please refer to our first gaming archive article.
Rather than using this page to repeat information available elsewhere on the web this gaming archive will talk about my own experience and adoration for TotalBiscuit which was a regular gaming YouTube channel I followed during my peak gaming years after quickly acquiring an interest in the Cynical Brit’s video formula and watching hundreds of hours of TotalBiscuit content over the years.
Around the same time I was creating my own League of Legends based YouTube channel (since retired) and launching Games Finder I discovered the “WTF Is…” series from TotalBiscuit which was invaluable in providing motivation for both video game projects and definitely had some influence on them both. Most importantly the success of his series reassured me there was a place on the web for early gameplay impression content which Games Finder produces a lot of given the focus on discovery of similar games rather than a full video game review. While this content is currently exceeding popular on YouTube it was not as prevalent during the early days of the series and something TotalBiscuit was truly a pioneer for.
Without the influence from the Cynical Brit providing motivation and inspiration I’m not sure I would have stuck with either project for a reasonable length and time and given Games Finder is such an important piece of my identity as a gamer now I owe a lot to TotalBiscuit and his YouTube channel. I also respect him greatly for being one of the earlier personalities to speak out against lootboxes and other undesirable things creeping into the gaming industry at a key tipping point. He was never afraid of being honest and speaking his mind which shows in his popular YouTube uploads where he discusses copyright content strikes (Day One Garry’s Incident), SOPA, Survivor Stories name changes, video game pre-orders, No Man’s Sky hype and many other similar themes.
Outside of the business environment some of the best games I’ve ever played were discovered through the “WTF Is…” series and adventures I would not have found or played otherwise and really opened up my mind to a wide variety of games. This includes Battle Chef Brigade, Frozen Synapse, Renowned Explorers: International Society, Party Hard, Rogue Legacy, 10,000,000 and Papers Please all of which I’ve played multiple times over the years (often after re-watching the TotalBiscuit video for the game). There was also something enjoyable about watching TotalBiscuit continually throw himself at puzzle games like Portal despite being a self claimed puzzle inept which is a gaming weakness that we share. Of course he also produced countless other pieces of content be it interviews for popular games (Torchlight 2, Witcher 2 and many more), podcast appearances (Blue Plz! and Co-optional Lounge), vlogs, StarCraft 2 shoutcasting, exclusive League of Legends Dominion gameplay, and everything in between.
By far though my favourite CynicalBrit video of all time discusses our shared disappointment with the Dungeon Keeper Mobile release where TotalBiscuit discusses his experience with Dungeon Keeper 2 which is strangely similar to my own. This includes playing the game well before the appropriate age for the game and having it on the regular sick from school game rotation. To this day it remains my favourite game of all time with a quest to try find and play all the Dungeon Keeper alternatives possible an ongoing project of mine. It was also through the video below that I discovered War For The Overworld which is the closest Dungeon Keeper recreation to date that I’ve experienced.
These are just some of the memories I have of TotalBiscuit with hundreds of laughs, game discoveries and hours of enjoyment able to be traced back to my all time favourite gaming critic and personality. All that’s left to say is thank you to the legend, TotalBiscuit.
Why Was I Redirected Here?
If you followed a link to CynicalBrit.com you would have been redirected here instead and its important to explain why.
In late 2019 I discovered the expiry of the domain was imminent while searching video game related domains for inspiration for a new Games Finder project. Recognising the domain instantly as related to TotalBiscuit and only having a few hours left on the auction I opted to bid for the domain. By saving the domain I intend to protect the domain from having something undesirable hosted on it and intend to hold the domain for as long as Games Finder can fund the associated hosting and domain renewal fees. For now it will serve as a place to redirect followers to all TotalBiscuit official channels, share my own story of remembrance and hopefully encourage others to do the same.
If you have any suggestions for other links please post a comment below (comment approval is on) or alternatively share your own memories of The Cynical Brit that was TotalBiscuit.
Last Updated on by Samuel Franklin
NostraDavid
> I intend to protect the domain from having something undesirable hosted on it
Good lad!
REGIS
Excellent! Mind you im more than a little disturbed that genna does not seem to have tryied to protect the brand herself, if anything she seems to have totaly abandanded it.
Im pleased that both jessy and crendor still metion him now and then, not sure about dooger
Michael Blair
Thank you so very much! I was browsing steam, saw Cynical Brit recommendation against GTA5; This meanwhile I was becoming ridiculously pissed off about the game in general due to several issues while playing through the game mode and then trying to get access to certain parts of the game. UGh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
He was one of the very, very, select group of people I trusted and respected greatly. There is no transparency and i crave that. I was out of commission for 4 years through school and university not having much time to play games so i plan on going through all his old recommendations as a curator on steam – That’s when I came across this!
You are a good person. He has a left a great portfolio and legacy behind as a gold standard future critics and overall, youtubers should shrive to follow. If anyone sees this, reads to this point, and agrees, could you recommend me any reviewers!? I would love to support with their promo codes or whatever affiliate links if they are respectable and honorable.
Nicodemous52
I’m sure someone brought it up, or you may have already looked into it and it was gone or not offical, but I remember there being a dedicated web page to the Co-Optional Pod Cast that would steam it live when they were on twitch and had a lot of the animations on it and and just stuff related to the show, something akin to a fan wiki but that’s not what it was. I just tried to find it, but did not.
Mackenzie
I used to listen to his videos, podcasts, and whatever else I could, constantly. I would normally listen to around 5-9 hours of his content each day when I was going through hard times in my life. Whenever I listened, I felt like I could trust him. I remember him mentioning that him and his fans aren’t friends, and I shouldn’t feel like he is a friend of mine. But that just made him seem more real, more of a person who actually cares about me. Not me individually for obvious reasons. But he knew his reach and he tried to wield his power cautiously, and for good. Recently I’ve been going through a rough patch so I ended up taking a look back, and TB really made an impact on my life. I wish I had a chance to actually meet him. He seemed like a swell man.
Sorry to whoever reads this; I just needed a spot to vent.
i88y
Completely agree with you. He’s had a huge impact in my life and my thoughts about gaming. His enthusiasm was uncontainable.
Anonymous
Totalbuscuit is the reason I play multiplayer games at all. He showed a video for the game MWO (Mech Warrior online)) on his podcast I think it was the game station podcast back then. I was a fan of a few of those games from that series so I thought why not give it a try. Through it I made many friends have traveled to meet some of them and plan to meet more of them in the future if it wasnt for TB none of this would have happened.
i88y
Great site and fantastic job in keeping Cynicalbrit and the memories of John alive and well. I too am eternally thankful for John’s contribution and I wish he was here today giving us his opinion about gaming today and the world we live in. I regularly re-watch his warcraft beta series which still stands up to this day, many versions in the past but he did such a great job of that content. He was sooo enthusiastic about it but always maintained impartiallity. I love the fact that he took everything seriously. It mattered to him, because he knew , it mattered to us.
Thanks again for keeping his memory alive, he remains irrpelaceable.
i88y