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.
Eraser (iOS, Android)
A man who was toiling hard on a blueprint drawing has fallen asleep on his work, and now he dreams that he’s in the blueprint, running away from a giant red marker out to get him! Help him get to the end of each page by tapping on the screen to erase objects on the blueprint to clear a safe path in this physics-based puzzler. It’s available to download for free on iOS and Android devices, but reviewed on iPad here.
PAX West 2016: Part 3
PAX West 2016: Part 2
In Part Two of my PAX West 2016 coverage, we’ll take a look at games I checked out from smaller developers. But just because they’re smaller, it doesn’t mean that they’re any less important! I even got to play a brand new Toe Jam & Earl game! Also, I was able to try VR gaming for the very first time, so you can read my initial impressions here, too!
PAX West 2016: Part 1
The Penny Arcade Expo, or PAX for short, is one of the largest video game conventions open to the public. I’ve been going to it annually for nearly ten years now. PAX West in Seattle was last weekend, so here are my impressions of the show! The convention is so big that I had to split my articles into three parts. Before I get started, I wanted to let you all know that I couldn’t cover EVERYTHING at the show. I’m just one person and just tried to focus on games that interest me and what would fit the theme of this site. Anyway, in this first part, we’ll go over games featured by major publishers, like Nintendo, Bandai Namco, Capcom, SEGA, and Square-Enix!
Flying Slime (iOS)
Rooms of Doom (iOS, Google Play)
Rooms of Doom is a new free-to-play mobile game from the makers of Crossy Road and Pac-Man 256 (reviewed on iPad here). In the game, a mad scientist creates mutant minion creatures and tests them to see if they are worthy of being his minions by making them run through obstacle-filled rooms. These rooms resemble 2-D challenges from other platformers and mobile games. Survive as long as you can to boost your score and collect coins so you can make new minions and build new rooms for them to ‘play’ in!
Gotta Protectors (3DS)
One of the cool things about the Xbox 360 was that amateur game makers could create games for it that you could download later on under their ‘indie games’ section. Many of these games were quite amateurish, but there were some standout gems. One was a Japanese game called Protect Me Knight. It was an 8-bit styled, action oriented tower-defense game. It was made by famed video game composer Yuzo Koshiro and his team at Ancient, so you know the tunes were good. Actually the whole game was fantastic, and it was one of my favorite multiplayer Xbox LIVE titles on the 360. And now, about five years later, we finally get a sequel in Gotta Protectors, a downloadable title on the Nintendo 3DS!
Dots & Co. (iOS, Google Play)
It may look like your typical free-to-play match-three mobile puzzler, but Dots & Co. has a few gameplay elements that separate it from the rest of the bunch. Clear out same-colored adjacent dots by connecting them to one another on the touch screen, and they’ll disappear. There’s actually been two “Dots” games before this one, but I’ve never played them so I don’t know what’s new or added to this one. It’s available free to download on iOS and Google Play, but reviewed on iPad here.
Tadpole Treble (Wii U)
What is it with tadpoles and music in video games? First it was Super Mario RPG, and now this! OK, maybe that was too obscure of a reference for an introduction. Anyway, in this game, you play as a young tadpole named Baton. She swims too far away from her frog family and gets snatched up by a pelican. She escapes, but now must swim downstream back to her pond in this downloadable music/rhythm action game for Wii U.
Cary’s Spring and Summer 2016 Movie Roundup!
Well, summer’s almost over, so you know what that means. It’s time for me to talk about the movies I saw this summer (and some in the spring, too), as well as movies I wanted to see but didn’t get a chance to. I’ll try to keep things spoiler-free, but there may be a few that slip out, so just be warned. So let’s do this thing!



