Yes, you read that right; my ‘Game of Thrones’ 14 Most Brutal Deaths as 8-Bit GIFs’ has had over 257,000 views, leading to this little honour of being one of BuzzFeed’s Top 10 Users:

60% of those views are the result of over 30,000 people sharing it via Facebook, Twitter and Reddit. Speaking of Reddit, I also found out that my GIFs are the number one post for the official Game of Thrones Subreddit:

Not only that, I have had several articles written about them from all over the interweb:

io9

“If the entire run of Game of Thrones were remade as a retro video game, we would play it just for the death scenes. Fortunately, someone has taken the time to create pixelated animations of the most grisly moments from the show. Buzzfeed has 14 of these animated death scenes, and it’s hard to pick a favorite.” – Link

HitFix

“BuzzFeed contributor Antonia Heslop tried to take the sting out some of these unflinching deaths by turning them into adorable 8-bit GIFS. The results are still traumatic. Cute. But traumatic.” – Link

Unreality Magazine

“Buzzfeed may be a mixed bag of cats and craziness most of the time, but they’ve really hit it out of the park with this one. One of their animators/authors assembled this fantastic collection of 8-bit GIFs that span the most iconic deaths in Game of Thrones (the show) so far.” – Link

Nerdist

“How adorable would an ’80s Game of Thrones Nintendo video game have been? Outside of being way fun, that is. And the bonus levels alone would’ve made it worth it (so much warging). Those longing for a visualization of such a throwback/mash-up need look no further than this very post, as the George R.R. Martin series-turned-HBO-series has gotten the pixelated 8-bit treatment thanks to the inventive minds over at BuzzFeed.” – Link

Blastr

“SPOILERS – ADORABLE, ADORABLE SPOILERS – AHEAD.” – Link

Fansided

“…we are seeing some great Game of Thrones material pop up all over the internet from fan trailers, to amazing homemade posters and more, but nothing can top this hilarious set of adorable 8-bit GIFs that make the deaths we’ve seen on Game of Thrones a lot less heavy… and they are hard to not chuckle at, even if we were all horrified when we saw them go down on the show.” – Link

Thirteen1

“With Game of Thrones ramping up the promotion for its fourth season, everybody is understandably getting excited for its return (dragons! winter!) and all of the series’ best deaths are being celebrated again. To help, Buzzfeed’s Antonia Heslop has put together 14 brilliant 8-bit style GIFS of the most gruesome and shocking murders the series has produced.” – Link

Other mentions that are a little less quote-y come from Design Taxi, Gizmodo and Joe.IE.

Lastly – and probably something that I am most proud and overwhelmed about – I have been told with good authority that HBO (the network responsible for Game of Thrones) loved my GIFs. How’s that for a seal of approval? And the icing on the cake:

One word: YAY! 😀