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.
Pictonico (Mobile)
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Posted on June 19th, 2026 by
The weirdest thing about this game is not that it’s a WarioWare styled title where they take your photos and make mini-games out of them. No the weird thing is that this is a new mobile game developed and published by Nintendo! I thought they were done with mobile, but I guess not! Anyway, Pictonico is available on mobile devices, but reviewed on iPad here.
Do U Even Forklift? (Switch, PS5, X/S, PC)
Posted on June 17th, 2026 by
A few years ago I reviewed a realistic forklift simulation game and didn’t like it. But what if you took that concept and simplified the controls and made the objectives less realistic? Would it be better? Well that’s what we are here to find out with Do U Even Forklift?, a top down viewed game where you control a forklift lifting stuff and moving it around. It’s available on all current consoles and PC, but reviewed on Switch here.
Nitro City Racing (PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, X/S, PC)
Posted on June 15th, 2026 by
You know those old arcade games and handhelds where you steer a car on a straight road in top down 2D fashion, switching lanes in order to avoid cars? Well, Nitro City Racing is just that in 3D. It’s available on all current consoles and PC, but reviewed on PS4 here.
Cozy Stickerville, the most chillax of boardgames?
Posted on June 13th, 2026 by
Some boardgames are tense affairs where victory or defeat rests on the knife edge of a card draw or roll of the dice. Cozy Stickerville is not that game. As the name implies, Cozy Stickerville has players cooperating to create a story about starting up a little town. Cards are flipped up and players make choices on how to respond or what to do, and then look up the results in a book of stories. The most common result has the player(s) take a sticker from the sticker book (with over 800 stickers in it) and add it to the main game board, representing something new added to their town. It could be as simple as a bird nest or tree, or perhaps its a new building like a barn or house. There are no truly epic decisions to be had. Do you go fishing today? Perhaps read up more about the mysterious town founder? Or maybe you’ll build a house for that new couple who came to the country to get out of the city. You can’t really win or lose, but there are choices to be made and stickers put on the town will eventually reflect those choices. There’s just something visceral about peeling a sticker out of a book and then slapping it down on your own little town – I just made this! After ten 30-minute or so sessions, each representing a year of game time, the game is complete and players will be able read up on one of five final endings based on their choices within the game. Cozy Stickerville is like going through a choose-your-own adventure game with friends but when you’re done, you’ve stickered yourself a cute little town to show for it.
Cozy Stickerville
Designer: Corey Konieczka
Publisher: Unexpected Games
Players: 1-6 (best with just a few)
Ages: 8+
Time: 30 min (at a time)
(review copy furnished by publisher)
Unplugged: In a World
Posted on June 12th, 2026 by
In a World is a card game with gameplay similar to something like Apples to Apples or Cards Against Humanity. The theme of this one is you have cards that present you with wacky worlds, and you must pick cards with things you would want in that world.
Psyvariar 3 (Switch 1 & 2, PS5, X/S, PC)
Posted on June 10th, 2026 by
Psyvariar was a vertically scrolling bullet hell shooter series in the arcades around the late 90s/early 2000s. It had a sequel soon after, but I’ve never heard of these games, or don’t remember them. But then, shooters like these were a dime a dozen back then. And now, more than two decades later, here’s a third game in the series. Psyvariar 3 is available on current consoles and PC, but reviewed on Switch 2 here.
Unbox the Room (Switch, PC)
Posted on June 8th, 2026 by
Last year I reviewed a game about packing things in boxes in a house. It wasn’t very much fun, just like in real life. But what about unpacking things from boxes once you move into a new home? Would that make a better game? (turns out, yes it does) Unbox the Room lets you unpack boxes and arrange the items in little rooms. It’s available on Switch and PC, but reviewed on Switch here.
LEGO Animal Crossing: Tom Nook With Balloon Present
Posted on June 5th, 2026 by
Animal Crossing is one of my favorite video game series of all time (second only to Pac-Man), so I love the LEGO sets they have for it. We’ve talked about them here at GamerDad.com in the past, with a few of the smaller sets and mini-packs. They’re the only ones I can afford as LEGO sets are very expensive. Plus with my vision disability, it’s hard for me to put them together myself. Luckily there’s another mini pack that just came out that I’ll show you all today: Tom Nook with a balloon present!
Nero & Sci: Integral Edition (Switch, PC)
Posted on June 3rd, 2026 by
Here’s a fact about me. I’ve never liked math. If I ever became a super villain, there are two ways you could defeat me. My only two weaknesses are country music and math. So when I get a press release claiming a game will make me like math, I’m like, “OK, challenge accepted.” So here’s Nero & Sci. Nero is a shy lonely little alien who works at a library, and one day while dusting off some old books in the basement, Nero knocks off one of the books and it opens up and all heck breaks loose. Then Nero meets a little flying jellyfish thing named Sci. Together they must save the day in this 2D puzzle platformer. It’s available on Switch and PC but reviewed on Switch here.
Atomic Owl (PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, X/S, PC)
Posted on June 1st, 2026 by
In the mythical land of Judanest inhabited by bird people, an owl prince and his band of warriors protect the kingdom. One day an evil crow named Omega Wing releases all the Tengu and uses a Dark Feather to hypnotize the prince’s troops. Now it’s up to the owl prince to stop him in this 2D hack and slash platformer. Atomic Owl is available on all current consoles and PC, but reviewed on PS4 here.
