Welcome to GamerDad: Gaming with Children. My name is Andrew S. Bub - the GamerDad - and I've been writing about videogames, movies, and children for over 15 years now. After working as a magazine journalist, I switched gears to write about how media violence affects children, educating parents about them, and working closely with magazines, newspapers, major retailers and even politicians. GamerDad is an internationally recognized expert in this field. Games, movies and media are fun, kids and families love them, they aren't going away. So join me in cutting through the hype and lets have a real conversation about the things that matter: Video Games, Violent Media, and their supposed effect on children and families.
Welcome to GamerDad: Gaming with Children. My name is Andrew S. Bub - the GamerDad - and I've been writing about videogames, movies, and children for over 15 years now. After working as a magazine journalist, I switched gears to write about how media violence affects children, educating parents about them, and working closely with magazines, newspapers, major retailers and even politicians. GamerDad is an internationally recognized expert in this field. Games, movies and media are fun, kids and families love them, they aren't going away. So join me in cutting through the hype and lets have a real conversation about the things that matter: Video Games, Violent Media, and their supposed effect on children and families.
Pretty Girls 2048 Strike (PS4, PS5, Switch, PC)
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Posted on June 5th, 2023 by
Pick a pretty anime lady in a uniform to fight other pretty anime ladies in monster costumes and battle by playing a number sliding game in Pretty Girls 2048 Strike. It’s available on PlayStation consoles, Switch, and PC, but reviewed on PS4 here.
Zool Redimensioned (PS4, Xbox One, PC)
Posted on June 2nd, 2023 by
Back in the 90s, 2-D mascot platformers were all the rage, thanks to Sonic. There were so many that I got downright tired of them and skipped out on quite a few. Also this was about the time I was really big into 16-bit RPGs like Final Fantasy and Chrono Trigger, so yeah. Anyway, one of these mascot platformers I missed out on was Zool. He was a ninja gremlin guy who tromped around 2-D levels based on themes like candy, tools, toys, music, and more. Zool was on pretty much all the consoles at the time, but hasn’t been heard from since. There’s a rumor that the infamously bad Wii game Ninjabread Man was originally going to be a 3-D Zool title, but I’m not 100 percent sure on that. Anyway, now Zool is back on some modern consoles and PC (reviewed on PS4 here) with all sorts of new modes and features.
nPaint (Switch)
Posted on May 31st, 2023 by
With the Switch’s portability and touch screen features, I’m surprised they haven’t made an Art Academy game for it yet. But until that happens, here’s another basic paint program you can doodle with.
Dogfight: A Sausage Bomber Story (PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, X/S, PC)
Posted on May 29th, 2023 by
Sausage Bomber originally started out as a 2-D horizontally scrolling mobile game shooter. And now a sequel of sorts is available for all current consoles and PC, but reviewed on PS4 here. It’s a cartoony shooter with all sorts of hot dog puns and up to four can play at the same time!
Puzzle Bobble Everybubble (Switch)
Posted on May 26th, 2023 by
I freaking love Puzzle Bobble. It’s one of my top three favorite puzzle games, right on up there with Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo and plain ol’ Tetris. It’s actually a spin-off of the arcade classic Bubble Bobble, but this is one case where the spin-off ended up being more popular than the original game it was based on! The series was originally called Bust-A-Move in the US, but I’m so glad they changed it back recently because I hated that name. Puzzle Bobble just makes more sense. Also, this is one type of game that gets heavily imitated on cell phone devices. I bet Taito wished they would’ve gotten some kind of stricter patent or something (not sure how that works), but their game isn’t entirely original itself either. Anyway, the newest game in the series: Puzzle Bobble Everybubble is now available on Switch!
Ayre and the Crystal Comet (PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, X/S, PC)
Posted on May 24th, 2023 by
You are Ayre, a dragon rider and the last of your kind. One day you find a glowing gem that communicates to you. The gem says they are part of a massive crystal comet that fell and crumbled into hundreds of pieces. It’s up to you to explore the land riding your flying dragon to find all the crystal pieces and uncover the mystery. Along the way you might discover other secrets in this no-combat, stress-free low polygonal 3D flying exploration adventure. It’s available on all current consoles and PC, but reviewed on PS4 here.
Unplugged: GoDice
Posted on May 23rd, 2023 by
Straying as close as possible to a videogame without going over, GoDice is a set of dice that can be digitally linked to one’s phone or (better still) tablet. The dice then serve as a physical component for one of many games available on the system. Together, the dice and device form a “phygital” (their word) game system where players roll physical dice that use Bluetooth to interact with digital games in their app. The app currently comes with a wide range of (extremely) simple to moderately involved games and more have been added over time.
GoDice
Publisher: Particula Ltd.
Ages: varies (probably 7+)
Players: 1-4+
Time: varies (30 min or less)
(Review copy provided by publisher)
Gematombe (PS4, Switch, Xbox One, PC)
Posted on May 22nd, 2023 by
Back in the 90s, there was a popular sub-genre of puzzle games which were usually competitive and had colorful, sometimes anime-like characters. Some of these types of games included Tetris Attack, Super Puzzle Fighter 2 Turbo, Puzzle Bobble, Magical Drop, Puchi Carat, and others. Gematombe seeks to replicate those kind of games and ends up being most like Puchi Carat. The characters featured here are based on the Greek myth about Pandora’s Box, and gameplay is a mix of Breakout and Puzzle Bobble. It’s available on most current consoles and PC, but reviewed on PS4 here.
Super Nintendo World Part 4: Bowser Jr.’s Secret Lair
Posted on May 21st, 2023 by
Any good video game has lots of secrets and hidden areas, and Super Nintendo World was no exception. When we got to the Mushroom Kingdom, we learned that Bowser Jr. had stolen the Golden Mushroom and Princess Peach needed ME to get it back! But in order to do so, we needed to use our Power Up Bands to play some mini-games to collect three keys so we could open up Bowser Jr.’s Secret Lair for one final showdown!
Super Nintendo World Part 3: Bowser’s Fireball Challenge
Posted on May 20th, 2023 by
My next Bowser confrontation was a different kind of challenge. A food related one! I really wanted to go to the Toadstool Café restaurant at Super Nintendo World, and luckily we got in! I think this was one of the things I was looking forward to at the park the most! In Japan they have a couple of Kirby cafes with Kirby related food and gifts. I’d really like to go to those, but I don’t think I’ll be going to Japan anytime soon, if ever. So I think this Mario themed restaurant is about as close as I’ll get!
