rodneylives (John Harris): I’ve been playing a lot of Once Upon A Katamari, a new release as of this moment. Last night I played a bit of Shovel Knight for the first time, yes the very first. (I can’t play everything! And a bundle of the first game and all its DLC is currently on sale on the Switch shop.)

There’s also been some Final Fantasy VI and I, UFO 50 (Party House, Rakshasa, Mini & Max and Valbrace) and Power Wash Simulator (2nd playthrough). On Nintendo Switch Online, I’ve been playing Mr. Driller 2 for the GBA. Oh, and training amiibo players in Smash Bros. Ultimate. I also picked up a “Game Dad,” as Dan Fixes Coin-Ops calls them, at VCFMW 2025, specifically a R36S, and on it I’ve been playing a few favored things, particularly arcade games like Robotron 2084 and Cadash. What I’m really looking forward to, as you might guess from recent posts, is Kirby Air Riders on Switch 2, which isn’t here yet but is rapidly approaching.

Keith Burgun: He recently ordered a much more capable device than mine, an AYN Thor, powerful enough, so he tells me, to run Switch games. It’s still on its way, so he’s been playing the PSP version of Final Fantasy Tactics on his Retroid Pocket 5. He’s enjoyed it, but deep into the game thinks he may be getting a bit bored with it.

GWBycer (Josh “Game Wisdom” Bycer) plays lots of indie games for his Game Wisdom Youtube channel, and as contributor many of his videos end up linked from here, so you’ll see those roughly as they happen. He does mention that, for his own enjoyment, he’s been playing Silent Hill f. Apparently, the ‘f’ is officially lowercase.

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A Game Dad is a frankly awesome idea! It’s any portable, pocket-sized game-playing device that has a focus on emulation. I myself would say it needs physical controls, not a touchscreen, to control well, but that’s not part of the “official” spec given by Dan over at gamedad.club. It looks like site owner Dan agrees with me to an extent.

Game Dad is not a brand name. No company yet calls their device a Game Dad, it’s more an adjective that you can apply to things. Two special cases: A Steam Deck is not a Game Dad because it’s not pocket-sized. A smartphone is not a Game Dad because it’s not dedicated to playing games. Game Dads shouldn’t be something you do work on, or will pester you while you play. Game Dads don’t host apps. Game Dads don’t try to feel you algorithmic bullshit. Most Game Dads, when you turn them off, they don’t go to sleep. They turn off.

The picture here, from the site’s header, might help to fix the idea in your head. Notice that unlike a Gameboy it has four buttons and dual analog sticks, but it otherwise looks a lot like a Gameboy.

Lots of companies make Game Dads, or Game Dad-adjacent devices, and you should be able to get a pretty good one for around $70. That will typically get you something capable of playing up to PS1-era games. N64 games are a little more challenging since its processor was weirder. But as the site says, the best Game Dad is the one that plays the games you want to play. Dan’s site is full of advice and opinions, and all of them are good. The one he has personally is an Anbernic RG353V/RG353VS. Both run Linux, but the V version also has an Android partition and a touchscreen, two features that Dan considers inessential to Gamular Dadiness, and lowers the price by $20 to about $78, but the more expensive one also has more RAM and built-in storage, if those things matter.

At this moment a lot of the interest in retro gaming circles is in FPGA devices like the Analogue Pocket, which will be more expensive than this. This isn’t a device for complete cycle-accurate recreations, it’s for inexpensive, pretty-nice emulation for good-enough gaming fun.

By the way, Dan is on Mastodon as @ifixcoinops@retro.social. Yes, I’m still using Mastodon. You should too! I’m on Bluesky because I feel like I have to be, but I’m on Mastodon because I want to be.

gamedad.club

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