Minecraft Bridges Generational Gap

Sep 21st, 2016 Games, Kid Stuff

Back in my day, The Sims was a phenomenon. Everyone was playing the game, from Granny down the street to the teenage basement-dwelling punk. Finally, a game where you could make your avatar do exciting things like. . .go to work, and exercise, and cook dinner, and use the bathroom. Why would you want to run around like some super hero saving the world when you…

Warcraft Adventures Less Than Kid Friendly

Sep 16th, 2016 Games

One of my favorite games growing up was the original Zork on the Atari 8-bit. I sucked at it, for sure, but I remember spending countless hours mapping out the the huge cavern and the dam lobby, not exactly knowing the point of the game but sensing something great from that Grue-begotten adventure. For years after that, I couldn’t get enough of adventure games, something that…

What Xbox Teaches My Kids – King’s Quest

Jun 9th, 2016 Games

I loved adventure games as a kid. Probably because I hated my life and wanted to grow more frustrated with every click of the mouse. Most of those 90’s adventure games had terrible play filled with puzzles that made sense only to a sadistic programmer hunched in his cubical so long that any exposure to sun would melt him the moment he stepped out of…

What Xbox games Teach My Kids – Valiant Hearts

Apr 29th, 2016 Games

I’m a terrible dad. That’s what rolled through my head as Valiant Hearts’ tragic final ending faded into credits. Over the past couple months, Kella has been on a huge video game kick, and I’ve tried my best to steer her towards the few and far between E rated games on the Xbox. She found Valiant Hearts on her own, a World War I themed game that…

Beyond Eyes – What Video Games Teach My Kids

Apr 15th, 2016 Games

In my constant search for Xbox games that don’t encourage my children to take chainsaws to aliens’ faces, I have occasionally bought the random E rated game just because it’s on sale. Beyond Eyes is one of those games. Beyond Eyes is brought to you by the publisher of Worms, the adorably cute game where cartoon worms try to murder each other with bazookas, hand…

What Video Games Teach My Kids – Unravel

Apr 6th, 2016 Games

Long ago, while Finley and Oliver were still cooking, I had dreams of zoning out on the couch with my children and destroying an entire new generation in Bomberman. Things haven’t worked out so far with Finley, who has shown minimal interest, zero aptitude, and even less patience when it comes to traditional controller-in-hand video games. Since I had no desire to test how many…

That Dragon, Cancer – A Touching Memorial

Jan 25th, 2016 Games, Kid Stuff, Memoir

Ever since I contributed to the Kickstarter campaign for That Dragon, Cancer, I’ve been excited to play it. Yet on the game’s big release on January 12th, I couldn’t bring myself to turn it on. Heck, I couldn’t even bring myself to install it. Like a politician sensing the breaking of an impending scandal, I delayed the inevitable. Yes, inevitable. I knew I had to…

River Raid – Retro Games With Kids

Apr 20th, 2015 Games

After reading Ready Player One and watching the E.T. documentary on Netflix, I began thinking that maybe it was time to get back to my gaming roots. At the same time, my kids have been begging Amy and I to let them do a Let’s Play video. So why not combine the two together? The video below is the result.

I Played E.T. on Atari And Liked It!

Apr 12th, 2015 Games

My dad was an Atari fanboy. Even before I was old enough to know I was only supposed to like one system, he was already attempting to train me up by defending the Atari brand nearly as viciously as any Xbox or Playstation troll today. Later, when I was much older, he admitted that buying us a Nintendo was almost a betrayal, especially with a perfectly good…

Disney Infinity With Toddlers – A Mini Review

Dec 29th, 2014 Games, Kid Stuff

Image a world where Thor met Rapunzel. What would they do together? If you guessed that Thor would lift Rapunzel up over his head with beefy Chris Hemsworth arms and fly her around while she threw an infinite supply of frying pans at Frost Giants, you’d be right. And likely smoking some pretty strong stuff. That, in a nutshell, is my experience with Disney Infinity,…