Unplugged: The Dragonlance Novels – on sale!
Add Comment
Posted on March 18th, 2025 by
Before Harry Potter made middle-grade fantasy books “a thing”, there was a rich history of young adult fantasy books that were very middle-grade-adjacent. One of the standout series for me was the Dungeons and Dragons branded line of books in the Dragonlance setting. The initial trilogy follows a stereotypical fantasy gang of fighters, a thief, a healer, and a wizard as they go off to save the world from the machinations of the ultimate evil dragon god. Starting off as an inexperienced, eclectic group of semi-strangers, they bond together through six connected adventures becoming formidable heroes on their way to stopping the BBEG (big bad evil guy.) The first trilogy sold well and spawned many more novels in the same setting. Why am I mentioning it now? Well, the site Humble Bundle has a sale, The World of Dragonlance, featuring many of the books in the Dragonlance setting. For a low price ($1 for just a few books, $18 for 25 books) one can check out a seminal series in the history of Dungeons and Dragons. Folks who have recently jumped on the Dungeons and Dragons bandwagon should enjoy a look back at some of its early beginnings. As will all things on the Humble Bundle site, it is linked in with a charity fundraising event, this time for Room to Read – a charity trying to improve literacy among primary and secondary students.
Unplugged: GamerDad Holiday Guide 2024
Posted on December 7th, 2024 by
Happy Holidays! Boardgaming continues to make inroads to wider audiences, and there’s no better time to get (or get your friends and family) into the hobby than an extended holiday break. There are boardgames out there to meet up with almost any taste.Boardgames are timeless, just as good today as they will be years in the future, so a purchase today will still be serving you well after the lockdowns go away. As we at GamerDad have done for the past 20-odd years, it’s time for an annual rundown of recent boardgames well worth your time. Feel free to delve into some past year’s guides for 2023, 2022, or older as they’re still great candidates for your consideration. You might not find all these titles at your local mega-mart but many can be found online or in a friendly local game store. Some may argue $60+ boardgames (or more) are expensive, but compare that to video gaming (and where multiple copies are required for multiplayer play) and the economics of boardgaming shows their true value. For each game, I’ve provided the publisher (to help you find it), an approximate MSRP (you can probably find it lower), the number of players, the expected time for one game, and the manufacturer’s recommended ages. These age listings are often set for legal reasons and I would say most could easily be skewed lower for experienced younger gamers. (Buy through this link and GamerDad gets a small kickback…)
On with the show!
{Star || Hero} Realms Digital Sale!
Posted on March 27th, 2024 by
One of the earliest deckbuilding card games, Star Realms has players attacking with space ships in a head to head battle to defeat their opponent. Designed by professional Magic:the Gathering player, Robert Dougherty, the game maintains a large following and has also made the jump into digital space. Not only can one play against the AI or an online opponent, there is an excellent series of solo challenges linked together to form a bit of a story-based campaign. By now, there are oodles of expansions available and each expansion has additional campaigns to play. Expansion cards are usable in regular games too, of course. The app has been out for a long time but I wanted to mention it today as, for the next few days, almost all the content is at a 50% discount. They have also managed to set things up so that any expansion purchase on one platform (iOS, Android, Steam) unlocks the same expansion everywhere else. Something I’d love to see happen in other digital games. Wise Wizard Games also has a spin-off game called Hero Realms that uses very similar mechanics but spins it into a full on RPG-style campaign game where one’s deck and abilities change and improve from game to game. It can be played head to head or cooperatively against set encounter challenges. Most of the Hero Realms expansions are also on sale. Be sure to check them out. More details on both games below (along with a note on the deckbuilder boardgame – Robot Quest Arena…)
Nacon Colorlight Wired Gamepad
Posted on December 16th, 2023 by
I was recently offered a Nacon Colorlight gamepad to try out, and so I did. It is a somewhat high-end wired controller for use with an Xbox or PC. It’s most noticeable feature is its clear shell containing six programmable LED lights. As a wired controller, it is also catering to the hard-core gamer in order to minimize lag found in wireless controllers. I found the controller comfortable, easy to set up and more than enough for my casual gaming needs.
Star Wars, Marvel, Star Trek, and More: – Boardgames for the Franchise Superfan
Posted on December 1st, 2022 by
With the explosion of media from big-name franchises like Star Wars, Marvel, and Lord of the Rings there is almost too much for one person to consume. However, some will say there is never enough of their favorite setting. For those folks, or friends of those folks who need gift ideas, I present the following list of thematic boardgames. Each captures the flavor of the settings, supported by a quality, enjoyable boardgame underneath. They’re not just a copy of Monopoly with scenes from a movie slapped on top.
Holidays with D&D 2021 – School, Dragons, and a Carnival
Posted on December 16th, 2021 by
Wizards of the Coast, makers of the Dungeons and Dragons role playing game, had its sights set for the holiday season releasing three new big books in only four months. There’s a little something for everyone. Strixhaven provides a setting for gamers to play the role of students progressing through four years of a magic school. Fizban’s Treasury is all about dragons – including the return of gem dragons. Finally, Wild Beyond the Witchlight is a low level adventure leading into the fairy-land of the Feywild. Despite the bevy of titles on offer, they each bring something unique to the table and odds are high that at least one would be a great fit for a player or perhaps a GM on your list.
D&D Plushies: Cuddly & Deadly
Posted on December 4th, 2021 by
I recently received a box of miniature figurines from Wizkids, and hiding among the packing material was a surprise bonus of four little Dungeons and Dragons plushies. The line of stuffed “animals’ ‘ is officially called Dungeons & Dragons: Phunny Plush by Kid Robot. They are cute and are an excellent representation of some of the most unique, entertaining, and possibly deadly inhabitants of the D&D universe. The four of them are currently guarding my desk for me at school. With the holiday season approaching, I thought I’d pass on a brief rundown on them in case there’s someone in your life who needs something soft to protect their stocking or bed.
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.
Unplugged: Spintronics – Electrical Circuits via Belts and Gears
Posted on June 18th, 2021 by
Spintronics is a mechanical model of electrical circuits using gears and belts to simulate the flow of electricity. As the final hours of the Spintronics kickstarter winds down (act fast), I thought I’d take a moment to comment on the possibilities of the nifty system. I’m fairly enthusiastic about its possibilities. At a later date I’ll provide my thoughts on its older brother, Turing Tumble, which simulates computer logic circuits using small metal balls falling through see-saws.
Spiel.Digital 2020 in Essen
Posted on October 22nd, 2020 by
The largest gaming convention in the world is not GenCon or PAX. It is Spiel (literally “Game” in German) an annual gathering in Essen Germany. Typically it is housed in six huge halls in the Essen convention center. Publishers from all over the world attend, many of them using the convention to make their holiday season releases. While there is obviously a very strong German presence (boardgaming has been a popular family activity for many years,) gamers from all over Europe and the rest of the world flock to Essen to get a chance to be the first to see (and buy) these new games. Obviously, a huge in-person convention is just not going to happen this year, so the organizers have created a virtual convention Spiel.Digital that is absolutely free and runs 24 hrs a day from Thursday, October 22nd through Sunday, October 25th.
