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.
Cary’s Best Games of 2024 Awards Show!
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Posted on January 17th, 2025 by
It’s time for my “Best Video Games of 2024 Awards Show!” Keep in mind that this is my list only and no other outside opinions contributed. And if a game isn’t on this list, it either just didn’t appeal to me as much or I haven’t had a chance to play it yet. Ok with that out of the way, let’s begin!
Farmagia (Switch, PS5, PC)
Posted on January 15th, 2025 by
What happens when you mix farming sims like Story of Seasons, Stardew Valley, or Harvest Moon, and Pikmin style gameplay? And maybe add a bit of Pokémon and Monster Rancher for good measure. You get Farmagia of course! In a fantasy land, Farmagia are people who farm monsters and train them. Yes, monsters here grow from seeds, and you must plant them and water them until they ripen into monsters. Then you can train monsters and go out on action filled battle adventures with them. An evil dictator wants to rule the land, and it’s up to you to grow your monsters and build up an army to stop them. Farmagia is available on Switch, PS5, and PC, but reviewed on Switch here.
Ninja 1987 (PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, X/S, PC)
Posted on January 13th, 2025 by
In the 80s, ninjas were everywhere! Ninja movies, Ninja video games, even Ninja Turtles! And now you can play a new ninja game modeled in that 80s 8-bit style. In the far future of 1987, an evil ninja has taken over the world, and now a ninja from a rival clan must stop him! Don’t you just love video game stories? Ninja 1987 is a 2D side scrolling platformer hack and slash, and it’s available on all current consoles and PC, but reviewed on PS4 here.
The Games of the Marvel Vs. Capcom Fighting Collection
Posted on January 10th, 2025 by
Earlier last year, Capcom released a collection of their Marvel licensed arcade games. It was pretty surprising that they did this, seeing how Marvel is owned by Disney now and all. But they made it happen! I got the physical release of this recently, so I thought I’d ‘take you for a ride’ and check out all the games on this collection.
Super Spy Raccoon (Switch, PC)
Posted on January 8th, 2025 by
Have you ever wondered what Sly Cooper might’ve been like as an early 80s arcade game? Yeah me neither. But now that question has been answered with Super Spy Raccoon. It’s a stealth action 2D platformer game designed like classics such as Donkey Kong. Play as a spy raccoon as you collect all the secret documents in each stage while avoiding detection. If this had come out before Metal Gear, it probably would’ve been considered really innovative. It’s available on Switch and PC but reviewed on Switch here.
Rescue: The Beagles (Switch, PS5, Xbox X/S, PC)
Posted on January 6th, 2025 by
Beagles have escaped from a makeup testing lab and it’s up to two kids to rescue them in the wild. Rescue: The Beagles is a classic arcade-like, continuous runner kind of game where you must avoid enemies, collect power ups, and save the beagles before they go off screen. It’s available for most current consoles and PC, but reviewed on Switch here.
Sonic the Hedgehog at TopGolf
Posted on January 3rd, 2025 by
TopGolf is a chain of high tech golf driving ranges. You reserve a spot and can use these clubs (or bring your own), and you can scan your club to eject golf balls from a machine. Then you swing and hit the ball and try to get it to go into big holes on the playfield for points. I’m not totally sure how it works, but there are trackers in the ball so you can see the ball’s trajectory on a TV screen after you hit it. A dumb way to describe it is that it’s kind of like bowling, but it’s golf. A few years ago, they teamed up with Angry Birds for a special game option you could pick from. I even wrote about it here. And now they’re doing the same thing with another video game franchise, Sonic the Hedgehog. They have a TopGolf in the same city where I live, so I had to try that out, and here’s how it went.
Rage of the Dragons NEO (Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, X/S, PC)
Posted on January 1st, 2025 by
I’ve seen many a NEO GEO arcade cabinet in my time, but I don’t ever remember seeing this game in any one of them. Supposedly, Rage of the Dragons was going to be a sequel to another NEO GEO Double Dragon one-on-one fighter that I reviewed about ten years ago. But they didn’t have the rights to Double Dragon but they made it anyway. I mean, it does have two red and blue characters that look the same named Billy and Jimmy. And another character is a big fat guy who looks similar to Abobo and his name is almost the same too. Not sure how they got away with that, but now you can play this one-on-one fighter on all current consoles and PC (reviewed on Switch here).
Zero to Dance Hero (Switch)
Posted on December 30th, 2024 by
Learn Hip Hop style dance moves step by step in Zero to Dance Hero. It’s a motion controlled dance game on Switch, and you can even pick instructors from the Fitness Boxing games (I think they’re made by the same folks).
Let’s Rate the Mario & Luigi Games!
Posted on December 27th, 2024 by
Mario & Luigi: Brothership was just released, so I thought it would be fun to rate all the Mario & Luigi games that have come out so far. There might be some slight spoiler warnings here and there, but I’ll keep you posted on those. We’ll start from the worst in the series to the best. OK, let’s begin!
