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.
The Shops at Tamagotchi Plaza
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Posted on September 19th, 2025 by
Remember those Tamagotchi virtual pet keychains that were super popular in the late 90s? Well they’ve never really gone away. In fact, back on the Nintendo DS, they had a series of games called Tamagotchi Corner Shop, and there were three of them! You ran little shops and would play touch screen mini-games to serve and help out other Tamagotchi customers. My brother Jeff and I were weirdly obsessed with those games back in the day, probably because we did like those virtual pets (Jeff was even a Tamagotchi for Halloween one year when he was little). Well, Tamagotchi Plaza is the sequel to those games, so of course I had to get it. There are a dozen shops for you to run, and two more if you have the Switch 2 version. I thought it might be fun to run through the shops in this game, so let’s go!
Fruitbus (Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, X/S, PC)
Posted on September 17th, 2025 by
In a world full of talking, anthropomorphic animals, your grandma owns a food truck that serves fruit salads. When she retires, she wants to have a party and invite all her friends. So you must use the Fruitbus to drive all over the island and serve fruit salads to customers and convince her friends and family to come to her retirement party in this food truck simulation game. Fruitbus is available on all current consoles and PC, but reviewed on Switch here.
Hop N Marty (Switch, PC)
Posted on September 15th, 2025 by
A while ago I reviewed a game called Regina & Mac. It was a 3D platformer trying to imitate Banjo-Kazooie, but it was really awful. And now we have another one with Hop N Marty. In this one, Marty is a marmoset and Hop is his poison dart frog friend. When an evil pirate kidnaps their pygmy marmoset friends, the two hop into action to save them in this Banjo-Kazooie imitator. But is it any better than Regina & Mac? You’ll just have to read on to find out! It’s available on Switch and PC, but reviewed on Switch here.
Shantae Advance: Risky Revolution (Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, X/S, PC)
Posted on September 12th, 2025 by
I’ve always been a big fan of the Shantae series, ever since it started on the Game Boy Color. When its successor, the Game Boy Advance came out, the makers of Shantae (WayForward) made a Shantae GBA sequel but they couldn’t find a publisher so it never came out on that platform. I’ve always thought that the DSiWare Shantae game WAS that reworked GBA title but I guess I was wrong because here comes Shantae Advance: Risky Revolution! WayForward finished the GBA game and even released it on a GBA cartridge a few months ago through Limited Run. And now you can download it on all current consoles and PC, too! (reviewed on Switch here)
Maki’s Adventure (PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, X/S, PC)
Posted on September 10th, 2025 by
A group of islands in a small sea are protected by a trio of shark demons. But when they pass on, the evil octopus demon Octavio decides to take over the seas. So now it’s up to a young shark demon named Maki to stop him in this 2D platforming adventure game. Maki’s Adventure is available on all current consoles and PC, but reviewed on PS4 here.
CORE.SYS (PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, X/S)
Posted on September 8th, 2025 by
Follow patterns and avoid red squares on a 5×5 grid in CORE.SYS, an action puzzle game with a hacker motif. It’s available on all current consoles but reviewed on PS4 here.
Boulder Dash 40th Anniversary (PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, X/S, PC)
Posted on September 5th, 2025 by
I’m such a staunch console gamer now that you might be surprised to learn that when I was a kid, I started out playing home games on computer. Our first PC was an Apple ][+, and outside of arcades, that’s where I played most of my games until I got an Atari 5200. One of the games I remember playing on that old computer was Boulder Dash. It was an action puzzle game that was kind of like Dig Dug in that you dug through the earth, collecting gems while trying not to get squished by falling boulders. I can’t believe it’s been 40 years, but here’s Boulder Dash 40th Anniversary. It’s available on all current consoles and PC, but reviewed on PS4 here.
UFO 50 (Switch, PC)
Posted on September 3rd, 2025 by
I’m about to show just how old I am. I remember when my dad got our first computer. I was around kindergarten age, and the computer was an Apple ][+. We had it through most of my Elementary School years I think. Anyway, after we got it, sometimes my dad would bring home a case of floppy disks home from work. I would put each one in, not knowing what I’d get. Sometimes it would be a boring application. And sometimes it wouldn’t work at all. But sometimes it would have games that I’d like. That’s how I discovered titles like Snack Attack, Lode Runner, Drol, Hard Hat Mack, Spare Change, Choplifter, Aquatron, and more! Now granted, looking back on it now, I think most of those games were pirated, but I don’t think either me or my dad knew what that was at the time. Anyway, that grab bag of gaming fun is the feeling I get when playing UFO 50, a collection of 50 8-bit styled games. It’s available on Switch and PC, but reviewed on Switch here.
Kimono Cats (Switch, PC)
Posted on September 1st, 2025 by
Join a pair of cats as they walk through a traditional summer Japanese festival. Play mini-games, earn prizes, and collect furniture and items you can use to decorate your own village. Kimono Cats is available on Switch and PC, but reviewed on Switch here.
Mario Kart World Road Trip
Posted on August 29th, 2025 by
Mario Kart World was recently released as a Nintendo Switch 2 launch title. I was lucky enough to get a Switch 2, thanks to help from my family. So let’s take a road trip tour at all the tracks you can race on in the game. So grab your road trip snacks and let’s roll!
