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.
Amiibo Gifts
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Posted on February 12th, 2016 by
Here’s another batch of new Nintendo Amiibo figures I got that I’ll share pictures of with you folks. These are actually figures that I got as Christmas presents a month or so ago!
Unplugged: Pathfinder Miniatures – Rusty Dragon Inn (RPG)
Posted on February 11th, 2016 by
Traditional RPGs are games of the mind, but it doesn’t hurt to have spiffy little plastic figures on hand to help set the tone and sort through the complexities of battle. Figures can be bought unpainted or, for a bit more cash, they come prepainted. As a busy parent, I easily fall into the latter category. While any figurines aren’t cheap, they can add a bit of fun as players can see the unruly monsters gather around their poor characters, eager for a kill.
Pathfinder Miniatures
Publisher: Wizkids
(Review samples provided by Wizkids)
Call of Duty Pizza Rolls
Posted on February 10th, 2016 by
Hey everybody! Just wanted to share with you something I found at the grocery store a while back! These are pizza rolls with Call of Duty on them. I found that pretty funny. Just goes to show you how popular that series is! They’re pretty much like any other pizza roll except they have extra flavor powder on the outside breading. It gets on your fingers so I don’t see how anyone would want to play a game while eating these, but they still taste pretty good I guess. On the back of the box is a code for a “Digital Specialist Card.” I don’t know what that is because I don’t play Call of Duty, but since the code is printed on the back of the box, I don’t know what keeps people from snagging the code without buying the box. I also think it’s funny that the box has a big M for Mature rating on it? Does that mean the pizza rolls are rated Mature? Ha ha! Just joking. Anyway, click here to see a bigger picture of the front of the box below.
Super Bowl 50 Ads: Cary’s Best That Ever Was
Posted on February 9th, 2016 by
Well, Super Bowl 50 has come and gone, and like most years, I didn’t really care about either team. But I’ve always liked Super Bowl commercials, and I just like commercials in general. Sometimes they’re even better than the show they’re advertising. I know, I’m weird like that. And it’s always been a tradition of mine to write a blog about my favorites, so here is this year’s.
Dash Quest (iOS, Android)
Posted on February 8th, 2016 by
Dash Quest is a continuous runner with a 16-bit RPG theme to it. It’s available free-to-play to download on iOS and Android devices, but reviewed on iPad here. In the game, you view your hero from a top-down perspective as he runs straight forward, battling enemies and using magic spells along the way.
PAX South 2016: Costumed Crazies!
Posted on February 5th, 2016 by
At video game and comic book conventions (and even amusement parks nowadays), some people like to dress up as their favorite characters! And PAX South was no exception. So here are a collection of cosplayers that I took pictures of last weekend.
PAX South 2016
Posted on February 4th, 2016 by
The Penny Arcade Expo, or PAX for short, is one of the biggest gaming conventions open to the public. It’s been around for a good while, but at first it was only limited to being in Seattle (I’ve been to quite a few of the Seattle ones). Over the past few years, that’s changed as there have been PAX conventions in Boston and even Australia! And now, for the second year in a row, they had a PAX South convention located in San Antonio, TX last weekend! I live near Dallas, TX, so I attended this one as well as last year’s.
Pac-Man 256 (iOS, Amazon, Google Play)
Posted on February 3rd, 2016 by
Pac-Man 256 is another new free-to-play Pac-Man game, but this one’s actually really good. It’s available for download on iOS, Amazon, and Google Play, but reviewed on iPad here. I believe it was also made by the same folks who did the popular Crossy Road mobile title. So what is the significance of the number 256 and Pac-Man? Well, in the original arcade game, there was a glitch where if you got to maze 256, half of the screen would mess up and make the game unplayable. I guess the makers of Pac-Man didn’t think anyone would get that far! But what if you could try and outrun the glitch before it engulfed the whole maze! Well that’s what Pac-Man 256 is all about!
Unplugged: Runebound, 3rd Edition (Boardgame)
Posted on February 2nd, 2016 by
Boardgames like Runebound pack the positive feedback loop gaining power in MMORPGs into a few short hours of a boardgame. This new (3rd) edition of Runebound provides a new-player friendly boardgame where everyone can choose their own character’s path to power. Players can gain in power by questing to explore locations, interact with the denizens of the land, or simply fight monsters. The first player to become powerful enough to defeat the final villain wins the game. With its open-ended options, playing a game of Runebound gives the enjoyment of adventuring in a MMORPG packed into a single evening of face-to-face game play.
Runebound, 3rd Edtion
Publisher: Fantasy Flight Games
Ages: 14+
Players: 2-4
Time: 2-3 hrs
(Review copy provided by Fantasy Flight Games)
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Pac-Man Bounce (iOS, Android)
Posted on February 1st, 2016 by
Pac-Man Bounce is a free-to-play puzzler for iOS and Android (reviewed on iPad here), and it stars the most famous video game character of all time: Pac-Man! In each single screen level, you must get Pac-Man to eat a key, but you don’t control Pac-Man directly. You must manipulate arrows and walls so that Pac-Man will follow and bounce off of them. When you are ready, just tap on Pac-Man and he’ll start moving and hopefully make it to the key so you can progress.
