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.
Bombslinger (Switch, Xbox One, PC)
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Posted on April 16th, 2018 by
A Wild West bank robber has a posse after him, but when they go too far and torch his ranch home and kill his wife, he sets out for revenge by bombing everything in sight. Run around mazes, placing bombs that explode in four directions to blow up obstacles and defeat enemies. If this sounds like Bomberman, that’s because it’s nearly EXACTLY like Bomberman, just with a western theme. It’s available to download on Switch, Xbox One, and PC, but reviewed on Switch here.
Detective Pikachu amiibo
Posted on April 13th, 2018 by
Detective Pikachu is on the case on the 3DS, and there is an amiibo figure to go with the game, too (sold separately). I managed to get both the game and the amiibo figure, though, so let’s take a look at them.
NMBR 9 (Boardgame)
Posted on April 12th, 2018 by
With the blocky-ness of Minecraft and Roblox, why not a boardgame with blocky numbers from 0 to 9? NMBR 9 has players stacking up number tiles on top of each other to reach a high score. Tiles are worth more the higher they are in the stack, but numbers can only be stacked if they are completely supported by tiles underneath. NMBR 9 is a great little relaxing game with simple rules and since players are always building on their own number stack there is no antagonistic play.
Octahedron (PS4, Xbox One, PC)
Posted on April 11th, 2018 by
Late one night, a man ventures from his log cabin into the woods. In the middle of the forest he finds a giant glowing floating Octahedron. An Octahedron is a 3-D 8-sided shape. I didn’t know that until I played this game. And who says video games aren’t educational? Anyway, instead of running away from it like a sane person would do, this man does something stupid and actually touches it. Then he starts glowing and his head turns into an Octahedron, and he falls through an abyss in the ground. Honestly I don’t think this kind of game needs a background story, but there you go. In the game, you are a glowing stick man and must jump through 2-D vertically scrolling platform levels. But you have a unique skill that can help you out. You can create platforms under your feet so you can jump higher and bypass obstacles. Octahedron is available to download on PS4, Xbox One, and PC, but reviewed on PS4 here.
My Arcade BurgerTime Micro Player
Posted on April 10th, 2018 by
The nostalgia factor is strong over here at GamerDad. It is hard to get more nostalgic than an upright coin-operated arcade machine. While the dream of owning your own arcade may be hard to achieve, you can create a little mini-arcade on your desk using the line of arcade Micro Players by Data East. While the current crop of available titles is pretty slim (BurgerTime reviewed here) they make an excellent desk toy that is attractive, working arcade cabinet.
Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse (Switch, Wii U, PS4, Xbox One, 3DS, PC)
Posted on April 9th, 2018 by
Ever since the very first game on Game Boy Color (which I still have), I’ve always been a fan of the Shantae game series. And now my second favorite game in the series is now on Nintendo Switch! (my first favorite is still the original game). So here’s a quick review of Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse. In the game, you play as Shantae, a half-human, half-genie who uses her powers to protect her home of Scuttle Town. But in the previous game, she was stripped of her genie powers by her arch rival, female pirate Risky Boots. But now Risky has come back with a proposition for Shantae: help her dispel the pirate’s curse that has taken Risky’s crew, and Shantae may get her powers back. So now Shantae and Risky must work together in this 2-D platform game adventure.
Cary’s Favorite King of Fighters Characters
Posted on April 6th, 2018 by
Recently I got The King of Fighters XIV for PS4. A lot of times when I get a fighting game, I like to talk about the characters in it. But there are SO many characters in this one that there’s NO WAY I’m going to do that! So we’ll just look at my favorites, OK? And none of these are in any particular order.
Codenames: Marvel and Disney Family Edition (Boardgame)
Posted on April 5th, 2018 by
The party deduction game, Codenames, continues to be wildly popular: spinning off a Pictures version, a two-player Duet version, and now USAopoly has licensed to to create a Marvel and a Disney Family edition. Rather than giving clues and guessing words, the new editions come with cards containing full color art of the two different themes. While Marvel serves as a fun version for fans of the comics and movies, the Disney Family Edition makes the game even more accessible to the younger set and is worth a look for families of even younger grade school children.
G.P. the GamerPuppet Unboxes the “King of Fighters XIV Burn to Fight Premium Edition” (PS4)
Posted on April 4th, 2018 by
Hey folks, G.P. the GamerPuppet here. A while back Cary got the special edition of King of Fighters XIV for a good price new, and it came with a lot of stuff! And he had me unbox it. So let’s see what’s inside!
Mercenary Kings Reloaded (Switch, XBox 1, PS Vita, PS4, PC)
Posted on April 3rd, 2018 by
Mercenary Kings Reloaded is a challenging (but fun) retro side scrolling shooter where players shoot first, ask questions later, oh and pick up any loot that was dropped. Four player local multiplayer is supported via splitscreen, making this a great fast-playing multiplayer game (particularly on Switch, reviewed here.) Players team up to accomplish timed missions (rescue, elimination, collection) which reward characters with cash money and materials to collect. Players can use materials (and cash) at the home base to improve their weapons, armor, and even personal upgrades. The game doesn’t roam far from its roots of dodge bullets and shoot everything that moves, but that’s a good thing.
