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.
Unplugged: Tales from the Loop (RPG)
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Posted on July 28th, 2020 by
Imagine a game set in the 80s where kids on bikes explore their local town. While dealing with every-day problems of parents, bullying, and homework they simultaneously need to sort out strange, otherworldly happenings that somehow just don’t seem to grasp the attention of the adults. One’s first thought may be to think of the Netflix series, Stranger Things but I’m actually referring to the role playing game, Tales from the Loop. The Tales from the Loop role playing game (tagline: Roleplaying in the ‘80s That Never Was) was actually conceived as a stretch goal of a Kickstarter project over a year before the Netflix series ever aired. The Kickstarter project actually set out to compile the hauntingly nostalgic art of Simon Stålenhag of Sweden. His images contrast the everyday life of living in a small town in the 80s, juxtapositioned with what-if images of robots and alien technology. The two art books were easily funded, and a stretch goal was set out (and met) to create a role-playing game based on the art. In a serendipitous moment, the role playing book was released just a few short months after the Stranger Things series and the hype from the Netflix series helped to push the role playing game into the limelight. Jump forward a few years, and publishers have now released a Starter Edition of the game, containing premade characters, the basic rules, dice, and a short playable scenario. Combined with Simon Stålenhag’s surreal art, the box serves as an excellent introduction to the core mechanics and standard backstory for the game. (One final aside, we’ve now come full circle for both Tales from the Loop and Stranger Things. You can watch Tales from the Loop on Amazon Prime and there’s a version of the D&D RPG based on the Stranger Things series on Netflix.)
Tales from the Loop (Roleplaying in the ‘80s That Never Was)
Publisher: Free League Publishing
(Review copy provided by Free League Publishing)
Sisters Royale (Switch, PS4, Xbox One)
Posted on July 27th, 2020 by
Five sisters with magical powers are prophesied to work together to defeat an evil being. Only problem is, the sisters hate one another. And instead of working together, they’re fighting each other over the love of a man! Sounds like a pretty crazy story for a ‘bullet hell’ 2-D shooter, but that’s what this is! It was available earlier this year on Switch and PS4, but is now on Xbox One as well. But I’m reviewing it on Switch.
Cary’s Best Games of 2020 SO FAR Awards Show!
Posted on July 24th, 2020 by
WORST. YEAR. EVER. I think we can all agree that 2020 has been one of the worst years in our lifetime, what with the Coronavirus, quarantines, riots and looting, and much more. Some days I wonder if we’ll EVER get through this. But there is one good thing about this year so far. We’ve had quite a lot of really good games come out the first half of this year! Normally I like to write a blog this time of year with my favorite games of the year so far, because the holiday titles and E3 announcements usually take precedence by the end of the year. Of course, because of the Coronavirus there was no E3 this year, and as of this writing we still don’t know what big games will be out for Christmas. Just another reason why this year sucks. So I don’t know how much different my list will be by the end of the year. But keep in mind that this is my list and my picks only, no outside opinions and whatnot. And if a game isn’t on my list, it either just didn’t appeal to me or I haven’t played it yet. Can’t play ‘em all, you know! But with that out of the way, let’s take a look at my picks.
Unplugged: A Trio of Cat Boardgames
Posted on July 23rd, 2020 by
In the past few decades we’ve seen the power of cats. Take a popular item and stick a cat on it, and its popularity grows. Examples include Garfield (whose creator took a look and decided a cat-comic would sell well) and an extremely popular cat-based card game. (A cat game who must not be named – I fail to see the attraction of its randomness.) Today I want to take a look at a few cat-themed games that I’ve encountered in the past year or so. Cat Lady has players drafting cards off of a 3×3 grid to score points at the end of the game. Kibble Scuffle has players playing cats around feeding bowls in order to trigger a feeding phase. The Lady and the Tiger is a slight outlier, as only half of its richly illustrated cards show a tiger. It is also more than one game in a box as it contains five different games that can be played using the cards and glass tokens in the box. The three games span a wide variety of play styles, so there is sure to be one (or more) fit for your gaming needs.
Welcome to Drill Land!
Posted on July 22nd, 2020 by
Hurry, hurry, hurry! Step right up for the latest theme park attraction! It’s a theme park based around Mr. Driller, and it’s all underground! Sounds safe enough, right? Anyway, Mr. Driller Drill Land was an awesome GameCube title, but it only stayed in Japan. But now you can download it on Nintendo Switch in the US! Finally! Each attraction represents a game mode in this theme park, and I’m going to take you on a tour of all of them! So let’s begin!
Unplugged: The Castles of Burgundy (Boardgame)
Posted on July 21st, 2020 by
As with all entertainment, some things just seem to settle into the role of a classic. The Castles of Burgundy, a boardgame released in 2011, is one such game. Released in 2011, it remains high on many boardgame favorite lists and is currently ranked 14th overall at the popular web site, Boardgamegeek.com. The game centers around a set of dice and each player’s personal game board, displaying a hexagonal grid. Players roll dice and then use them to place tiles on their board. Each type of tile grants special abilities and players must make the best use of these special abilities to score points over the course of the game. Turns are quick and, once grasped, the rules are straightforward making this a richly rewarding game to play. The game has also spawned other versions, such as a simpler, fully dice based roll & write style game called The Castles of Burgundy: The Dice Game.
The Castles of Burgundy (& The Castles of Burgundy: The Dice Game)
Publisher: Alea
Ages: 12+ (10+)
Players: 2-4 (1-5)
Time: 30-90 mins (15-30 min)
(Review copy provided by Alea)
The Games of the Namco Museum Archives Vols. 1 & 2
Posted on July 20th, 2020 by
Namco has just opened up a new wing in their museum, with two volumes of archives including a bunch of 8-bit NES and Famicom games! These two new downloadable collections contain almost a dozen games each. I’ll be your tour guide as we go through the games on these collections. So let’s go!
Pokémon Café Mix (Switch, Mobile)
Posted on July 17th, 2020 by
You’re about to open up a café that serves food especially for Pokémon! And the waiters and cooks are Pokémon as well! Help prepare delicious dishes for your Poke-pals in this free-to-start puzzle game for Switch and mobile devices (reviewed on Switch here). Stir around Pokémon head icons to match them and make them disappear. It kind of reminds me of other action puzzle games on mobile like Yo-Kai Watch Wibble Wobble or the Disney Tsum Tsum game.
Pokémon Smile (Mobile)
Posted on July 15th, 2020 by
Pokémon has delighted and entertained kids for generations, and now the little pocket monsters are helping make brushing teeth a little more fun. Pokémon Smile is a brushing app for mobile devices (reviewed on iPhone here) geared towards very young children. Best of all, it’s completely free with no in-game ads or purchases. Not sure how it makes money, but good for them! But will it make kids excited to brush their teeth? You’ll just have to read on to find out!
Jump Rope Challenge (Switch)
Posted on July 13th, 2020 by
It’s Free-To-Play week here at GamerDad.com, with three free-to-play, or at least free-to-start, games you can download. Oddly enough, all of these free-to-play games are published by Nintendo! Or at least related to Nintendo in some way, which is unusual. The first one we’ll look at is Jump Rope Challenge. It’s a little fitness style game that simulates jumping rope, and you can download it on Nintendo Switch.
