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.
Colors Live (Switch)
Add Comment
Posted on October 1st, 2021 by
I always thought Nintendo’s Art Academy games were neat ideas. Even though they were not completely realistic and couldn’t replicate the feel of actually drawing on paper, they taught a lot of art techniques and some of the games even showed you how to draw Pokémon and Disney characters! With the touch screen usable in handheld mode, I’m kind of surprised Nintendo hasn’t made an Art Academy on the Switch yet. So that’s why I was interested in reviewing Colors Live. It’s a paint and art program on the Switch with a unique twist: the physical version of this game comes with a special stylus that hooks into the headphone jack and uses sound to detect pressure sensitive hard and soft brush strokes!
OBAKEIDORO! (Switch)
Posted on September 29th, 2021 by
With all the Pac-Man playing I’ve done in my life, I know that Obake means ‘ghost’ in Japanese, more or less. I’m not sure what the ‘doro’ part at the end means though. Anyway, in this game, two siblings are about to go to sleep under a red moon, but then a ghost comes out of their closet to snatch them away to play a spooky yet silly game of tag meets hide and seek. In this multiplayer game, choose to side with the humans or the ghosts as you either hide from the specters or try to catch all the humans.
Pretty Girls Panic! (PS4, PS5, Switch, PC)
Posted on September 27th, 2021 by
Play a classic styled arcade game to reveal pictures of anime ladies in Pretty Gals Panic. It’s available on PlayStation consoles, Switch, and PC, but reviewed on PS4 here.
Pizza Pixel Podcast Episode 4: Top Five Favorite Video Game Music Composers
Posted on September 24th, 2021 by
When I do one of my podcasts with my brothers, I try to think of a topic that we can both talk about enthusiastically. My brother Ben, who is the oldest of my younger brothers on my dad’s side, he’s really into music. I’m into music more than what you might think I am, too, I just don’t talk about it as much. So I thought a topic we could both talk about together is our favorite video game music composers. I hope you all get to listen to this one and maybe even learn a thing or two!
WitchSpring3 (Re:Fine): The Story of Eirudy (Switch, Mobile)
Posted on September 22nd, 2021 by
WitchSpring is a series of mobile phone RPGs from Korea. And now one of the entries is on Nintendo Switch, which is why we’re starting with WitchSpring3. But you really don’t need knowledge of the previous games to enjoy this one, unless you just want to know more about the lore of everything in it. Anyway, in this game you play as Eirudy, a witch girl who lives in a monster-filled misty forest excluded from humans (but her grandmother lives nearby). One day while running an errand to collect materials for her magic, Eirudy bumps into a human fugitive who is trying to avoid soldiers like she does. Together they have lots of adventures, and you can use your witch magic for good or evil in this highly customizable turn-based RPG. It kind of reminds me of a cross between Secret of Mana and those Atelier so-and-so RPGs.
Cotton Reboot! (PS4, Switch)
Posted on September 20th, 2021 by
“Cotton” is a series of 2-D horizontally scrolling shooters that were very popular in the 90’s during the 16- and 32-bit eras. They star a candy-obsessed witch girl named Cotton who flies on her broom as she shoots down foes in spooky yet silly settings. It’s an example of the “Cute ‘Em Up” subgenre of shooters similar to titles like Twinbee, Parodius, Fantasy Zone, or Ordyne. And now the series is coming back with Cotton Reboot!, based on the original game. Darkness has fallen over a fairy kingdom, and a fairy named Silk enlists witch girl Cotton’s help to save the day (with a bribe of candy, of course). This game is available on PS4 and Switch, but reviewed on PS4 here.
Monster Hunter Stories 2 amiibo
Posted on September 17th, 2021 by
Monster Hunter Stories 2 is a 3-D Switch adventure game set in the popular Monster Hunter world. And like any popular game, there are amiibo figures for it, too. I FINALLY got them all, so let’s take a look at them!
Spelunker HD Deluxe (Switch, PS4)
Posted on September 15th, 2021 by
Spelunker was an 8-bit 2-D platformer game where you explored caves, avoided obstacles, and gathered treasures. It came out in the US, but gained more popularity in Japan, probably because it was one of those easy to play yet hard to master games, and it came out when the Famicom (Japanese NES) was big. About ten years ago I reviewed an HD remake of Spelunker on PS3, and now you can play a Deluxe version of that on Switch and PS4 (reviewed on Switch here).
Space Invaders Invincible Collection (Switch, PS4)
Posted on September 13th, 2021 by
Space Invaders is just as iconic of a classic video game as Pac-Man or Tetris. We probably wouldn’t be where we are today without it. And now you can play nearly a dozen games in the series with Space Invaders Invincible Collection. It’s available on Switch and PS4, but reviewed on Switch here. Let’s take a look at all the games on this collection!
Pokémon Unite (Switch, Mobile)
Posted on September 10th, 2021 by
I don’t really play a whole lot of PC games, so I’m not familiar with MOBA titles. MOBA stands for Multiplayer Online Battle Arena, by the way. But when a free-to-play Pokémon themed MOBA came out a while back, I knew I had to try it and review it! In the game you control your Pokémon directly as you work in teams of five to score goals on your opponent’s side. If you wanted me to describe it in my own inexperienced words, I’d say it’s like Pokémon mixed with basketball. I know people would disagree with that description, but that’s how I saw it. Anyway, Pokémon Unite is available for Switch and mobile devices, but reviewed on Switch here.
