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.
GRIS (Switch, PC)
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Posted on February 22nd, 2019 by
You know, I’m not sure I’ll be able to describe the story of GRIS very well. Heck, I don’t even know why it has that title. GRIS is a very artistic game and probably has lots of deeper meanings, but I guess I don’t catch onto those very well. I mean, when I played Journey, I just thought it was a game about a ketchup bottle walking in the desert. GRIS is a bit like Journey except that it’s a LOT better, as it has more actual gameplay behind it. Anyway, in the game you are a young woman who wakes up on a broken statue of a hand, and apparently you have lost your voice. So now you must explore beautiful hand drawn ruins, deep forests, and underwater caves because…well it beats just standing there. GRIS is a 2-D platformer with light puzzle elements and is available to download on Switch and PC, but reviewed on Switch here.
Bombfest (PS4, Switch, Xbox One, PC)
Posted on February 20th, 2019 by
Bombfest is a couch multiplayer game for up to four players. You play as little Fisher-Price looking block figures and throw bombs at each other to try and knock them off the arena. But since you are little block people, the 3-D isometric arenas are locations around a house. So you’ll fight on a dinner table, tree stump, kitchen sink, bedroom nightstand, and more! It’s available to download on nearly all current game consoles and PC, but reviewed on PS4 here.
Coffee Crisis (Switch, PS4, Xbox One, PC)
Posted on February 18th, 2019 by
Aliens are invading Earth and stealing heavy metal music, coffee, and WiFi! It’s up to two coffee baristas, Nick and Ashley, to stop them in this 2-D classic styled side-scrolling beat ‘em up. It’s available to download on nearly all current game consoles, but reviewed on Switch here.
YIIK: A Postmodern RPG (Switch, PS4, Vita, PC)
Posted on February 15th, 2019 by
The late 90’s was a pretty memorable time for me. I had just graduated college and was at the peak of my game writing for The Dallas Morning News. So playing YIIK: A Postmodern RPG really hit home for me. It’s an RPG set in the late 90’s, and the main character even just finished graduating college, too! Heck, even the title feels like the 90’s, as ‘postmodernism’ was a big buzz word when I was in college. This game always caught my eye at trade shows I’ve been to in the past, mainly because of its bright and color N64/PSOne era graphics, and the return to classic style RPG battles. So I’m glad I got to review it on the Switch!
The Aquatic Adventure of the Last Human (Switch, PS4, Xbox One, PC)
Posted on February 13th, 2019 by
In the WAY distant future, a spaceship leaves Earth and enters a wormhole, only to return centuries upon centuries later. Your spaceship crashes on Earth, which is now an ice and water covered planet. There are no humans around anymore, just water everywhere. Luckily your spaceship can double as a submarine, so it’s up to you to explore this watery landscape, figure out what happened to all the humans, and just try to survive amongst the hostile sea creatures. This game with the ridiculously long title is a 2-D action adventure game with exploration elements similar to Metroid. It’s available to download on most current game consoles and PC, but reviewed on Switch here.
Mario Valentines
Posted on February 11th, 2019 by
Remember when you were in elementary school (or maybe you have kids in elementary school now), and on Valentine’s Day you’d buy those cheap paper valentines with popular cartoon characters on them and give them out to your classmates? Well they still make those, and now they have Mario ones! It’s about time, right? So let’s take a look at them. more…
Pang Adventures (Switch, PS4, Xbox One, PC, Mobile)
Posted on February 8th, 2019 by
So you may be thinking to yourself, “What the heck is Pang?” Well if you lived in the US in the 80’s, you may know the Pang series better as Buster Bros. It was originally an arcade game where you play as two boys who use harpoons to pop bubbles bouncing around. It wasn’t quite as popular as others, but I still remember it as a kid at the local Mr. Gatti’s Pizza, and I also have fond memories playing it with my brothers when Capcom published the Buster Bros. Collection on PSOne. So I was excited to find out about a new game in the series. It’s available to download on most current game consoles, PC, and mobile devices, but reviewed on Switch here.
Melbits World (PS4)
Posted on February 6th, 2019 by
Help cute little critters traverse safely across colorful lands in Melbits World for PS4. The Melbits kind of remind me of Teletubbies, except much cuter and less annoying. Gameplay is a mix of Lemmings and Captain Toad. The Melbits will follow a path blindly, and you must manipulate objects in a 3-D isometric area to make sure they arrive from point A to point B without harm. But the most unique thing about the game is how you control it. You don’t use a PS4 controller, but your cell phone instead!
Chicken Pox (iOS, Android)
Posted on February 4th, 2019 by
In Chicken Pox, you control an adorable little chicken as he drives his riding lawn mower around collecting eggs scattered about the farm (and other locations later). You control the game by drawing a line connecting eggs, and your chicken will drive there. But you have to collect the red egg last to move onto the next set of eggs. Do this under a set time limit and when you reach the finish line, the game will reveal a picture. So it’s basically a fast-paced version of connect the dots. It’s available as a free-to-play download on mobile devices, but reviewed on iPad here.
Clock Simulator (Switch, PC)
Posted on February 1st, 2019 by
So in Clock Simulator, you are the clock. You must press a button to count down seconds, but make sure they’re right on the dot. And that’s it. I wouldn’t even call it a music/rhythm game, because there is no music. It’s just a rhythm game. This minimalist title is available to download on Switch and PC, but reviewed on Switch here. The saving grace of this game is the variety of modes it has (over a dozen), which we’ll go over below. more…
