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: The Elder Scrolls: Betrayal of the Second Era (Boardgame)
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Posted on October 28th, 2025 by
Many of you may be familiar with the Elder Scrolls line of role-playing videogames. The series sports games consistently found in lists of the best videogames of all time. Elder Scrolls: Arena appeared in 1994, Morrowind in 2002, Oblivion in 2006, and finally Skyrim in 2011. From Morrowind onward the games have been showered with mods, re-released and redeveloped, and it has almost become a meme to see if a particular platform can run Skyrim. With such a strong role-playing pedigree, creating a boardgame that might stand up to the series is no small task. Chip Theory Games, a company known for developing deep games using premium components have taken on the challenge and succeeded wildly. Granted, the game is not cheap (it retails over $200!) but what you get is a game that captures much of the feeling of building and growing a character in the videogame but now you get to do it together with friends while sitting around a table together! Like the videogames, Elder Scrolls: Betrayal of the Second Era can be played again and again, adventuring through multiple different provinces, pursue dozens of main quest stories, and (perhaps most importantly) construct and nurture player characters of almost innumerable variety. When one realizes the game can provide a group of 4 players with hundreds of hours of unique gameplay, one might claim the price averages out to be a bargain.
Asfalia: The Cranky Volcano (Switch, PC)
Posted on October 27th, 2025 by
Charlie is a young boy who wants to play with his dog after he gets home from school. But when she doesn’t want to play with him, he gets mad and storms off to his room. Once there, Charlie is transported to a fantasy world where he must calm a grumpy volcano and help out other crazy creatures along the way. Asfalia: The Cranky Volcano is a simple point and click adventure that kind of reminds me of those Humongous ones back in the 90s (Putt-Putt, Pajama Sam, etc.). It’s available on Switch and PC, but reviewed on Switch here.
Sonic Wings Reunion (Switch, PS4, PS5, PC)
Posted on October 24th, 2025 by
Back in the 90s, there was a series of popular 2D vertically scrolling shooters called Sonic Wings in Japan. When they were brought to the US, they were renamed Aero Fighters, so since that’s what I know them as, that’s what I’m going to be calling them from here on out. Anyway, Aero Fighters had three main arcade games, two of which were on the NEO GEO. They had some home ports on the SNES and PlayStation, and finally a 3D game called Aero Fighters Assault on the N64, which was more like Ace Combat. And now, nearly 30 years later, there’s a brand new game in the series with Sonic Wings Reunion. It returns to its 2D roots, and just like the others, I really like this one, too. It may seem fairly normal, as you pilot real life fighter jets over real world locations. But it has hidden aspects of goofiness, too. For instance, the pilots in these games include characters like a Japanese idol pop singer, a baby, and even a dolphin! Anyway, Sonic Wings Reunion is available on Switch, PlayStation consoles, and PC, but reviewed on Switch here.
Söldner-X: Himmelsstürmer (Switch)
Posted on October 22nd, 2025 by
Söldner-X: Himmelsstürmer is a 2D horizontally scrolling shooter. It’s been previously available on other systems in the past, but now you can play it on Switch.
Criss Cross Castle (Mobile)
Posted on October 20th, 2025 by
What happens when you mix Scrabble with an RPG? You get Criss Cross Castle, that’s what. Help a wizard cast spells to defeat monsters by spelling words in turn-based battles. It’s available on mobile devices, but reviewed on iPad here.
Pokémon Pirate Puffs
Posted on October 17th, 2025 by
There’s a snack brand called Pirate’s Booty that I think mostly does popcorn kind of snacks. I don’t really see them much in stores that I visit frequently, though. I think the last time I saw them was at World Market and I haven’t been there in years. But recently a close relative bought me these packs of Pirate’s Booty snacks featuring Pokémon. And you know me, I’ll write about anything video game related, no matter what it is. So let’s take a look at them!
Acecraft (Mobile)
Posted on October 15th, 2025 by
Cuphead was a run and gun action platformer with unique visuals in that everything looked like a cartoon from the 1930s. It was actually pretty amazing looking, and the only reason why I didn’t play it was it was too darn hard! But it was pretty popular and even got an animated series on Netflix. And a few imitators, too. Here’s one of those. Acecraft is a top down 2D vertically scrolling shooter where you play as cute animals in airplanes shooting down all sorts of cartoony baddies. It’s available on mobile devices but reviewed on iPad here.
King of Ping Pong MEGAMIX (PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, X/S, PC)
Posted on October 13th, 2025 by
I’ve never been a big fan of tennis or ping pong video games, because they just seem like glorified Pong games to me. But this one has arcade style gameplay and wacky characters, so let’s see how this one fares for me. King of Ping Pong MEGAMIX is available on all current consoles and PC, but reviewed on PS4 here.
Hallmark Halloween Pikachu Ornament
Posted on October 10th, 2025 by
Every year I always get some video game themed Christmas ornaments from Hallmark and write about them here. I plan to do that this year, too. But in this year’s batch, there was a video game themed ornament that doesn’t belong with the Christmas stuff. You see, Hallmark has gotten into making Halloween ornaments as well. While I think having a Halloween tree is a bit much, some people do like their spooky stuff! Usually they have things I’m not much interested in, like Harry Potter ornaments. And even the ones I think are kind of cool I wouldn’t get, like Peanuts and Disney’s Haunted Mansion ornaments. But when they released a Pikachu Halloween ornament this year, I just had to get it. So let’s take a look at it.
40 Sports Games in 1 (Switch, PS5)
Posted on October 8th, 2025 by
Don’t be fooled by the title of this game. There aren’t really 40 full sports games on here. Just multiplayer mini-games based on things you do in sports. It feels like a title from a bygone era from the Wii days. 40 Sports Games in 1 is available on Switch and PS5, but reviewed on Switch here.
