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.
Puzzle Bobble 3D: Vacation Odyssey (PS4, PS5, PSVR, Oculus)
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Posted on October 29th, 2021 by
I freaking love Bubble Bobble. And its spinoff puzzle games, Puzzle Bobble, is one of my top three favorite puzzle game series of all time alongside Super Puzzle Fighter 2 Turbo and just plain ol’ Tetris. Puzzle Bobble is also sometimes called Bust-A-Move, by the way. Anyway, I was really curious when I found out there was a 3-D version of Puzzle Bobble coming out, and even more excited that I got to review it! Puzzle Bobble 3D: Vacation Odyssey has a VR component, too, so you can play it on PSVR or Oculus. But you don’t HAVE to have VR to enjoy it either, so it’s also playable on regular current PlayStation consoles (reviewed on PS4 here).
The Lazy Dungeon Master (Tabletop RPG Book)
Posted on October 28th, 2021 by
As a big fan of the 80/20 method (80% of the results come from 20% of the effort) although I am want to abuse it and try to just do that 20% of the work and get 80% of the results. On a good day, I like to think I can even pull off a 10/90.. Well, running a role-playing campaign, especially one that isn’t just straight out of a book, is a daunting challenge. There are so many pitfalls and rabbit-holes to fall down that preparing for a session can suck up whatever time you have to spend. For several years, Michael Shea has run a blog giving advice on running an RPG campaign. Favoring the less if more approach, he’s covered topics like The Minimum Viable D&D Game or Running Combat in the Theater of the Mind. After a few years he put together a book called The Lazy Dungeon Master to package all of his advice into one book. Recently, he kickstarted a revised edition of the book as well as a companion workbook entitled Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master and The Lazy DM’s Workbook. He’s back again with a Kickstarter ending very soon, with The Lazy DM’s Companion. The new book is a mix of advice for specific types of situations (one on one games, zone based combat, creating secrets and clues, etc…) as well as a bunch of tables to help trigger new ideas and tools to help make a game more interesting while keeping things running smoothly. I thought I’d take a moment to give my thoughts on the first two books in the series.
Love Colors (Switch, PC, Mobile)
Posted on October 27th, 2021 by
Love Colors is a pixel art paint by numbers game. Choose from several categories of pictures, including food and animals, and paint them square by square. There are tons of pictures to paint, and even more you can buy through DLC. It’s available on Switch, PC, and mobile devices, but reviewed on Switch here.
Boulder Dash Deluxe (Switch, Xbox, Atari VCS, PC, Mobile)
Posted on October 25th, 2021 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. And now you can revisit that classic with Boulder Dash Deluxe. It’s really just more of the same from Boulder Dash 30th Anniversary that I reviewed last year. It almost seems like an expansion pack in a way. But you get new levels, settings, and even stages taken directly from the classic game! It’s available for many of today’s current consoles, PC, and mobile devices, but reviewed on Switch here.
Knockout Home Fitness (Switch)
Posted on October 22nd, 2021 by
With candy and food holidays coming up like Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas, it may be a good time to beef up your fitness routine. Maybe with a video game? This exercise game takes many cues from Nintendo’s own Fitness Boxing series and adds martial arts moves, kicks, and stances into the mix. Choose a virtual trainer and do daily routines once per day, or try exercises that are around 3 minutes in length anytime you want. You can also track your progress on the calendar.
Gloomhaven (PC, MacOS, Boardgame)
Posted on October 21st, 2021 by
Several years ago, Glooomhaven burst onto the boardgame scene to wide acclaim. Quickly selling out and then reprinted, this boardgame currently sits at number 1 on the Boardgame Geek list of all-time best boardgames. It is a beast of a game, weighing in at about 20 pounds of cardboard, cards, and plastic miniatures. While the heart of the game comes in tactical battle scenarios, playable in an hour or two, the overarching story includes role-playing aspects like character growth and branching storylines to provide gamers with upwards of 150 hours of game time. As a “legacy game” the game includes envelopes and boxes that are sealed at first and are opened up as the game is played. While it has won the hearts of many gamers, a common complaint is simply how much time it takes to set up a new scenario. Cue… a digital version. Gloomhaven is now available in digital form on Steam and GoG.
Gleylancer (PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, X/S, PC)
Posted on October 21st, 2021 by
There were many 2-D shooter games on the SEGA Genesis, but some of them didn’t even leave Japan. One of those was Gleylancer, but now you can play it as a downloadable re-release on nearly every current console and PC, but reviewed on PS4 here.
World Flipper (Mobile)
Posted on October 20th, 2021 by
I’ve always liked video pinball games, even when I was a kid. One of the video pinball games I remember on the NES was Pinball Quest. It stood out because it combined elements of pinball with an RPG fantasy quest game. Granted the game was super frustrating but the idea was neat and I’m surprised game makers haven’t revisited that concept more. But now they have with World Flipper, a free-to-play mobile game that combines both pinball and RPG elements (reviewed on iPad here).
Italy: Land of Wonders (Mobile)
Posted on October 18th, 2021 by
You have just taken a job as a lighthouse keeper in Italy, but it turns out to be more than that. You learn that you must collect sparks that keep Italy beautiful every night, with the help from some spirits of course. Gather these sparks by playing a puzzle maze game while you learn facts about Italy’s geography, architecture, food, culture, and landmarks. Not surprisingly, this game was actually published by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, maybe to promote tourism or something? At any rate, this game is free on mobile devices, but reviewed on iPad here.
Let’s Have a WarioWare Get Together!
Posted on October 15th, 2021 by
WarioWare: Get it Together was recently released on Switch, so in honor of that, I wanted to write a blog about it! At first I thought about talking about all the games in the WarioWare series, but I did that last time a new WarioWare game came out, so you can just read that blog here if you want. Not much would’ve changed anyway if I did it again. But WarioWare: Get it Together has a focus on characters, so I figured I’d go over all the crazy characters in the series and how they play in this game! So let’s get started!
