TOP 22 BLOG POSTS OF 2022

Before 2022 fades into 2023, we're taking a look back at the most popular posts on ageekdaddy.com based upon our blog stats during this year. Entertainment, lifestyle and travels were favorite topics that this Geek Daddy will look to continue delving into for 2023. Drum roll please! The top 22 blog posts of 2022:

22) TAD THE LOST EXPLORER & THE EMERALD TABLET

This comedic spoof of the Indiana Jones / Alan Quartermain style adventure movies of the 1980s, is a popular franchise in Spain but the family-friendly animated films are not widely known in the United States. We shared a movie night experience watching the digital release of the newest film in the TAD THE LOST EXPLORER franchise. Following publishing this post, I received a lot of tweets on our @Geekdad248 Twitter account thanking me for introducing this movie to our audience. Many had never heard of this franchise before and were thrilled to discover it. Are you following us on Twitter? A lot of people are geeked when they see through their Twitter feed we've added a new post to the blog.

21) UNCHARTED FAMILY MOVIE NIGHT

My family had to solve a treasure hunt to unlock the digital code for an UNCHARTED movie night. Another treasure hunter movie post that was popular on the blog in 2022. There are a lot of people who grew up dreaming of being adventurous explorers after watching the 1980s flicks Raiders of the Lost Ark and King Solomon's Mines. UNCHARTED also generated a lot of interest from it being a movie adaption of a popular video game series. And then there were some like my daughter who wanted to see Tom Holland and my wife wanting to see Mark Wahlberg star in the film. There was a lot of interest in this film; do you think it lived up to expectations?

20) TRICK OR TREAT SCOOBY DOO

Posts about family movie nights and home video releases of motion pictures are always hot topics when it comes to a Geek Daddy's blog posts. Scooby Dooby Doo! There are a lot of people who love Scooby Doo and were geeked about this announcement that a new animated movie featuring the scaredy cat dog and his mystery solving teenager friends was being released for Halloween.

19) METAL & MONSTERS

Our announcement that Gibson Guitars YouTube channel was producing a series focused on heavy metal music and horror movies struck a lot of cords. This free to view video series highlights artists that have made a lot of people scream. The first episode featured actor Robert Englund, who played Freddy Krueger, and the band Dokken that performed songs for the Nightmare on Elm Street movies. I've really enjoyed the METAL & MONSTERS shows on Gibson TV!

18) NEW WAVE TOYS 1943 REPLICADE

The popularity of this post shows there is a lot of nostalgia for classic arcade-style video games. I bought a playable sixth scale reproduction of one of my favorite games to play at the arcade by my house as a middle school tween. Here is my review of New Wave Toys 1943 Replicade. 

17) STAR WARS SMUGGLERS RUN

What sci-fi geek hasn't dreamed of flying the Millenium Falcon on a space adventure? We made that dream come true for this Geek Daddy with a visit to Walt Disney World to ride the Star Wars Smugglers Run attraction and share the experience in this post. Hit it Chewie! 

16) MY DAY AS A FIREFIGHTER 

In the last year I've transitioned from maintaining my own law practice to becoming a city attorney. One of the most interesting things I did on the job this year was had an opportunity to spend a day training with the fire department to get a better understanding of their operations. 

15) ADVENTURES ON THE GORGE

I've always wanted to go whitewater rafting and finally checked that off my travel bucket list by going on a Father's Day road trip with my son to West Virginia's New River Gorge. It was a wet, wild adventure on the gorge! 

14) LESSONS LEARNED BY A BEGINNER MINIATURE PAINTER

2022 was a year when I jumped into the tabletop gaming hobby and with that came learning how to start painting the game pieces to enhance the playing experiences. I shared some tips learned from trial and error from someone who lacks good hand-eye coordination and artistic abilities yet still finds painting miniatures a fun and relaxing activity.

13) DOCTOR STRANGE ADVANCE SCREENING

Marvel Studios invited me to attend an advance screening of DOCTOR STRANGE AND THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS and bring some ageekdaddy.com fans along with me. Free movie tickets have a way of increasing traffic to a blog!

12) MARVEL UNITED MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS

Marvel United a tabletop game, which is a co-production of CMON and Spinmaster Games, is a family favorite for game nights in our household. In anticipation of the theatrical release of DOCTOR STRANGE AND THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS we played a game of Marvel United themed around what we thought at the time the movie might be about. We were wrong about the movie plot; but it was still a fantastic game night! We also played a Marvel United game themed around the Ms. Marvel and She-Hulk Disney+ shows that was a popular post but just narrowly missed out on making the Top 22 list.

11) ALBUS DUMBLEDORE PROP REPLICA WAND

We must have a lot of Harry Potter fans reading the blog because this review of the Noble Collection's prop replica of the wand utilized by Jude Law in filming Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore generated lots of attention. While the movie may have been a flop plenty of people were interested in getting their hands on Albus Dumbledore's wand.

10) MAGICAL MOTHERS DAY GIFT IDEAS

Appreciate so many people were interested in my advice on gifts that special women in their lives would be geeked to get for Mothers Day. This collection of replica jewelry featured in Harry Potter movies featured some magical pieces that would be sure to delight fans of the books and films.

9) WHAT IS ROLE OF KIT HARINGTON IN ETERNALS

A discussion about Kit Harington's role in Eternals and future Marvel Cinematic Universe movies generated a lot of buzz. Always enjoy chatting about comic books and superhero themed movies on the blog, Instagram and Twitter. 

8) JURASSIC WORLD FAMILY MOVIE NIGHT

What is better than a movie studio hosting a movie night for my family to enjoy by providing us a free copy of a new home video release to watch? When they give us free movies to give away to our ageekdaddy.com audience as well. We had a lot of interest in the free digital movie codes this Geek Daddy had to give out!

7) BABY YODA GOLDFISH SNACKS

My kids love Pepperidge Farms Goldfish Snacks and the Disney+ Mandalorian television show. So, they were geeked when we discovered Star Wars: Mandalorian Goldfish Snacks! The Force was with this blog post!

6) DR SQUATCH STAR WARS SOAPS

DR SQUATCH produces soaps made with natural ingredients and excludes harsh chemicals and artificial ingredients in making its products. To help market their products they often partner with popular entertainment brands to create cool custom soaps. My review of their Star Wars themed soaps must have created a disturbance in the Force because it was in the Top 10 of most viewed ageekdaddy.com posts in 2022.

5) THE CHILD HOT TOYS LIFE SIZED FIGURE

Baby Yoda was HOT when it comes to our ageekdaddy.com audience! Grogu cracked the Top 10 of most popular blog posts in 2022 three times! Hot Toys is known for creating awesome replica creations of Star Wars characters and this review of their life-sized figure of this hit character from the Mandalorian tv show was a standout post.

4) JADA TOYS BATMOBILE

I was so geeked to review this diecast replica of the Batmobile from THE BATMAN movie! Jada Toys did an outstanding job producing this 1:18 scale replica of the car from the film. It was like there was a Bat Signal directing Caped Crusader fans to the blog to read this post.

3) MUPPETS MAYHEM

There must be a lot of pent-up demand for more Muppets shows because my announcement that Dr Teeth and the Electric Mayhem Band were getting their own Disney+ show was one of the blog's most viewed posts of the year. Rock on Electric Mayhem!

2) LOADED BOARDS 2022 SKATEBOARD LINEUP

I have to admit this was a surprise when viewing the annual stats; but our overview of the new skateboards released by LOADED BOARDS in 2022 had double the unique visitors and reader views of almost any other blog post we published this year. Wow! I really wasn't expecting that. 

Wish they had provided some product for my kids to show off for them and they would have really rocked it this year! They earned their free media on this post though because there obviously was an interest in their products! Yes, we do writeups on products that I buy with my own money or we are just sent press releases on; not everything is provided free to us or has a sponsorship fee connected to it that is published on ageekdaddy.com. This blog is all about sharing experiences and interesting news with our readers that I am geeked about and believe you will be too. 

1) DODOS RIDING DINOS

Our top blog post of 2022 is my review of DODOS RIDING DINOS. A game that I spent my own money on to buy through a Kickstarter campaign. This is a family favorite for playing on game nights! Who doesn't love board games and dinosaurs?! This is a product we promoted just from the pure joy I had from playing it with my kids and the honest review obviously captured attention. Congrats Draco Studios and Detestable Games for having our most viewed blog post of 2022!

I just bought an expansion pack that should be arriving in 2023. Do you think they may be able to repeat this feat again next year? Good luck!

THANK YOU!

Thank you to everyone who has visited ageekdaddy.com this year. I appreciate you and hope you enjoy the content we share. We'll be back in 2023 with more content focused on entertainment news, family experiences, travel features, men's lifestyle and more. Happy New Year!

DODOS RIDING DINOS

Dodino Island needs a new ruler! In order to be crowned a perch on the Dodosaurus Egg-throne your Dodo Bird must team up with a dinosaur and win a grueling race around the island. Compete with your choice of twelve Dodo/Dino teams for the chance to be the next ruler of Dodino Island in this board game from Detestable Games and Draco Studios.

Race through exotic locations in this tabletop game with either meeples or minis while throwing bananas, rolling logs, flicking eggs and hurling meteors at your rivals. Dodos Riding Dinos combines strategic card play and the luck of rolling dice for an entertaining game experience. Plus, the physical interactions of having a meteorite crash into the racecourse, a dino tripping over a banana peel, getting your face full of splattered egg or the tickle of a feather causing one of these mighty dinosaur steads to crash are fun elements to the game that add extra excitement and heckling into the fray.

There are twelve plastic minis of the dinosaur and dodo bird teams that come with the game. Each mini comes in a different color or you can paint them to customize the look of each. If you don't want to have a painted mini damaged by being battered by the wood-based bananas, eggs, feathers, logs and meteorites tossed by players on the game board, then there are also wooden meeples of each dino that can be placed upon the race track instead. 

There are four tracks to choose from each on a sturdy cardboard base:

DODINO ISLAND

The place where Dodos and Dinos live in peace ... but when the island's leader is crushed by a meteor it is now a race to claim the throne of leadership.

BOREAL SKY

Dodinos Island has curious magnetic effects due to its proximity with Polaria. This causes the appearance of large Auroras Borealis that almost touch the ground in clear night skies. Dinos have discovered they can jump in and run across these light bridges in the night sky.

IGNIS VOLCANO

Your Dodo has fallen into Dodino Island's volcano and you must jump into the crater to rescue them. Keep running and avoid burning your legs with the hot volcanic terrain. 

POLARIA ICEBERG

During the winter, it is common to see icebergs near Dodino Island. The strong icy winds make bridges that Dinos sometimes cross to explore these cold lands.

Play each board separately or combine them to make one large competition for the Dodosaurus Egg-throne. Beware that some boards have special hexes to add challenging aspects to the game. For example, beware dangerous shortcuts and deep snow on the Polaria Iceberg! Flame hexes in the Ignis Volcano are difficult to enter but provide some opportunities to burn other players you are racing against.

DINOSAURS OF DODOS RIDING DINOS

The dinosaurs you can race as are:

1) Triceratops - Othniel Charles Marsh

2) Stegosaurus - Othniel Charles Marsh 

3) Tyrannosaurus Rex - Henny Fairfield Osborn

4) Spinosaurus - Ernest Freiherr Stromer Von Reichenbach

5) Compsognathus - Joseph Oberndorfer 

6) Liopleurodon - Harry Govier Seeley

7) Pachycephalosaurus - Barnum Brown

8) Parasauporolophus - William Arthur Parks

9) Velociraptor - Pascal Godefroit

10) Sauropod - Elmer Samuel Riggs

11) Ankylosaurus - Peter Kaisen

12) Pterodactylus - Georges Cuvier

Each dinosaur comes with a Racer Card that has a cartoonish illustration of the dino. Each card includes a Dodo Bird name based upon a paleontologist and a Dino nick name based upon a dinosaur's name or trivia. It also includes special attributes for each dino. For example, Lio the Liopleurodon can take one card from the deck of an opposing player whenever you are passed plus advance one space. There are also Speed Value Modifiers to provide an artificial intelligence factor when some racers become NPC during Solo or 2-player games.

My family loves dinosaurs so Dodos Riding Dinos was a game night hit in our house. It has rules that are easy to grasp, incorporated dexterity and player interaction into the play, and just provided an overall fun time. It incorporates strategy in the use of card decks but also the luck of the roll of the die or the toss of one of the hazard items also adds some entertaining randomness to a game's outcome. Dodos Riding Dinos absolutely earns a Geek Daddy nod of approval for being a great selection for a family game night.

I purchased Dodos Riding Dinos through investing in a Kickstarter campaign using commissions earned from affiliate links in posts on this blog. Opinions expressed are honest and my own. This post has affiliate links, which means this blog could earn advertising money if you buy something. This doesn't cost you anything extra, ageekdaddy.com just has to give you the heads up for legal reasons. Click away knowing any revenue raised is reinvested into new content like this post to review and share with you.