With the Christmas lull behind us, our community members racked up some spectacular numbers...maybe getting the site working again helped, too. Either way, this month's Big 10 is filled with some great articles by some very good writers. Congrats to my homeboy Chase for getting two articles in the top 10...and almost snuck in a couple more to boot.

10. Why game music matters by Chase Koeneke

9. Females of retail: Tales from video-game saleswomen by Mark Daigle

8. Pokémon trainers are disturbed and depraved: Part 1 by Matthew Polen    

7. Running a better indie game store: Brian Hughes of Gamedeals by Michael Rousseau

6. Roll credits: When is a game beaten? by Chase Koeneke

Hit the jump for the rest of January's list.

5. Making money in Xbox 360 indie game development: Is it possible? by Louis Garcia

4. Forgotten ruins: The roots of computer role-playing games: Interplay by Reggie Carolipio

3. Chew your food: Reviewing role-playing games by Dennis Scimeca

2. My wife shoots people in the head, then presses reset by David Banahan

1. The bad sequel: How the Civilization series and I grew apart by Michael Soracoe

Do you want to be on next month's list? Here are some tips:

Catchy headlines: A great one goes a long way --  you'd be amazed at how much this matters. If it doesn't draw people's attention, it doesn't matter how good your article is. You can easily double or triple your hits with a catchy and interesting title.

Format your articles: Short, concise paragraphs and pictures go a long way. Why don't you follow our writing tips column?

Encourage comments: Ask your readers to share their opinions.

Promote your work: Share your links via Twitter, Facebook, message boards, N4G, Reddit, and StumbleUpon.