Showing posts with label tabletop games. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tabletop games. Show all posts

Thursday, July 11, 2024

DC SUPER HEROES UNITED

My family has had a lot of fun playing the tabletop role playing game collaboration from CMON and Spinmaster Games called MARVEL UNITED. There are a variety of box sets for this game system ranging from an Avengers themed core box to expansion sets focused on Spider-Man, Black Panther, Deadpool, Guardians of the Galaxy and the X-Men. We've had family game nights recreating battles from television shows like Netflix's "Defenders", Disney+ "She-Hulk", Disney+ "Ms. Marvel" and Marvel Cinematic Universe movies including Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania with the Marvel United gaming system. Now CMON and Spinmaster Games are expanding on the format by launching a DC SUPER HEROES UNITED variation of the game.

From now through July 31, 2024 they are crowdfunding the publishing of the game via Gamefound. Those who purchase the game through the crowdfunding campaign will have access to obtaining exclusive characters and game play accessories that won't be available when DC SUPER HEROES UNITED eventually becomes available from retail stores. Purchasing the game from retail will be slightly less expensive than the crowdsourcing route but doesn't include the extras, like a bonus box full of playable heroes and villains, that are going to be only available through investing in the Gamefound campaign. Most of the customized game scenarios I've played have involved characters obtained as rewards in crowdfunding campaigns; so I'll probably be making a pledge to get DC SUPER HEROES UNITED during this current Gamefound campaign. 

In DC SUPER HEROES UNITED, one to five players team up to take on the roles of Aquaman, Batman, Cyborg, The Flash, Wonder Woman and Superman to tackle the master plan of a villain. Villains included with these heroes in the core set that can be the super heroes adversaries include Lex Luther, the Joker, Darkseid and Cheetah. A comic book story is played out by utilizing decks of cards to complete goals and engage in combat.

dc super heroes unite

Villains and heroes alternate adding their cards to the storyline. Heroes work together to coordinate strategies and attacks while villains are managed by an AI system of rules to compete with players. In the spirit of cooperation and teamwork that is necessary for players to win the game, a player not only can use the designated action moves on a card they played but also those posted on the card a teammate used just before them. 

The game isn't just a fight with the big bad guy though. Your team must overcome challenges before you can confront the primary villain of a game head on. Rescue civilians, defeat thugs, and eliminate threats. Then the battle really heats up! Fighting the boss villain is no push over but if it was the game wouldn't be that fun to play would it.

dc super heroes unite

The game is recommended for ages 14+ but I've played it with my kids when they were twelve. It is a nice family game because parents and kids can equally enjoy the game and have fun playing together. An average game doesn't take all night either but can be played in around a half hour with minimal setup time. From my experiences with the Marvel United games, I absolutely recommend you check out DC SUPER HEROES UNITED either via the Gamefound campaign or when the game hits retail store shelves.

If you haven't participated in a tabletop gaming crowdfunding campaign, heed this word of warning. They will be heavily marketing the campaign using awesome looking images of the game pieces painted by very talented professional artists. The game pieces come unpainted. While there are numerous disclaimers about the game pieces not being painted it is impossible not to become captivated by their marketing images. In reality you will either be playing the game with unpainted pieces or paint them yourself with results that will be nowhere as nice as what you see promoted in the campaign. Be careful not to get hooked in to making purchases based upon awesome imagery that you most likely won't be able to replicate. Just saying!

cmon painted figures
unpainted cmon figures

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Saturday, April 1, 2023

CASTLE PANIC TABLETOP GAME


Fans of the tower defense video games will be geeked about CASTLE PANIC from Fireside Games. It brings the popular genre to the realm of board games. A hoard of monsters is attacking your castle in this cooperative tabletop game. Work together to prevent your Keep from being overrun for a fun game night involving two to six players. 

I took on the role of King Arthur and my son joined me as Prince Valiant as we defended Castle Bravehold versus an army of goblins, orcs and trolls. Monsters range in how menacing they are with goblins taking one hit of damage to kill, orcs two hits, and trolls require three hits of damage. They are marching on a game board divided up into grids labeled Forest, Archer, Knight, Swordsman, Castle with our castle located at the center of it all. Monsters don't attack players directly but rather destroy castle walls and towers by entering the spaces the structures occupy. If all your castle towers come crashing down, the day is lost! 

Players pull from an action card deck each turn. Cards allow for players to utilize archers, knights, and swordsman to attack monsters when the monsters are in designated zones related a defender type. So, an archer can only attack a monster when it is in the archer arc, a knight in the knight arc, and swordsman in the swordsman arc. Also, the board is divided into colored zones and only your warriors that match a zone's color can attack monsters within it.


Cards can also be pulled that allow players to utilize a tar cauldron to slow down the approaching army as well as fortify or rebuild walls. Players can trade cards and strategize how to cooperatively attack monsters and utilize special actions to be victorious against the hoard. All the monster tokens must be exhausted and at least one castle tower still standing for the players to prevail.


The game begins with a number of designated monster tokens prepositioned on the playing board as instructed in the rulebook. Each player has their own turn to draw cards and engage in actions. Following each player's turn their is a blind draw to add two more random monsters into game play. A dice roll determines where each of the monsters is placed on the board. All monsters start in the forest arc where they can't be hit or damaged by castle defenders. The monster then moves one arc closer to the castle each player turn unless they are stopped by the players.

Each monster is a triangle shaped cardboard token with artwork depicting it. The number of hit points of the character is printed on the tips of the triangle and the highest number should be pointed towards the castle. As the monster takes damage the triangle is spun around to show the existing amount pointing in the direction it is marching. So, if a troll with three hit points takes a point of damage by an archer and another point of damage by a knight, it will show 1 point as it enters the swordsman arc. If players knock a monster's hit points to zero, the token is removed from the board and can't be replayed.


In addition to the general warrior goblins, orcs and trolls there are also Boss Monsters that can randomly appear during the token blind draws. Each has a special effect that goes into effect when they are first drawn. After that, these monsters behave like regular warriors. The Boss Monsters in the CASTLE PANIC base game are:

GOBLIN KING


The Goblin King never arrives alone. When his token is pulled, draw three more monster tokens to go along with his. All four tokens are placed immediately within the forest arc. 

ORC WARLORD


Place this fierce military commander in the forest. Then immediately move all the monsters on the board, including the Orc Warlord, one arc forward. 

TROLL MAGE


The Troll Mage emboldens all monsters to press the attack. Just like the Orc Warlord every monster on the board moves forward one arc in the same turn the Troll Mage is placed on the board.

GOBLIN HEALER


When this healer is placed on the board, all monsters immediately regain one point lost to damage. Fortunately, this is a one-time effect, yet it can still have a major impact in pushing forward or extinguishing a wave of the monsters' assault.  

The difficulty level of a game of CASTLE PANIC can be impacted by adding or reducing types of tokens. For example, not including trolls in the game essentially creates an easy mode. For our first game, to moderate the difficulty a bit, we included all the goblin, orc and troll warriors, but only utilized the Goblin King and Healer tokens out of the Monster Bosses. There were a few waves of monsters where we may have been overwhelmed if the Orc Warlord and Troll Mage appeared and instituted their special effects. So, the Monster Bosses absolutely impact how challenging of a game you play. 

Passing cards back and forth while talking through our actions was working out well; but then we had some bad card draws and suddenly our castle walls were breached. I had two mortar cards in my hand but couldn't use them without combining them with brick cards to rebuild the walls. Prince Valiant though pulled two brick cards in his draw! 


We were able to repair the breach just before the monsters were able to surge in. Then in our next few turns cut down the attackers fending off this wave of their assault. This gave us a chance to catch our breath and stock up on our arsenal of action cards. 

We weren't guaranteed victory yet though. We had a succession of monster draws that brought out a challenging group of reinforcements made up mostly of trolls and orcs which are no pushover to defeat. Then things got worse as the Goblin King and Healer arrived on the battlefield to reinforce the monster army assault on Castle Bravehold.


It appeared as all might be lost as the trolls began to overwhelm us. But then there was a glimmer of hope. The last of the monster tokens was drawn! We just had to outlast those that were on the game board before they tore down the towers within our keep. Could we hold out?

We had some luck come our way! The Prince pulled during one of his turns a "Draw 2 Cards" action card to let us add extra attacks to our defense. He was determined to valiantly fight the enemy!


While he was fighting off the hoard, I took charge of fortify a wall and pour down some tar to slow down the attackers buying us some extra time. 


Yet the monster army didn't cease their push to destroy the castle! They began tearing down the castle's walls and towers. Two towers fell! If all the towers fell, we lose the game. Damage done to the monsters as they tore down the castle and the aid of a Barbarian helped us clear out the intruders from within it.


Then suddenly victory was in our grasp! There was only one monster left on the board. A hero dispatched it and then there were no combatants left to assault us. We had outlasted the monster army. We were victorious! 


The game lasted about an hour and we had a really fun time playing it. It is recommended for ages 8 & up making it a nice selection for a family game night. It has rules that are easy for kids to grasp but yet the game play is challenging enough to keep adults like this Geek Daddy entertained. Based upon the good time my son and I had playing CASTLE PANIC it absolutely earns a Geek Daddy nod of approval.

The game utilized cardboard game pieces instead of plastic miniatures which also contributes to it having a younger player skew then tabletop games tend to be averaging these days. I've been getting a little tired of painting gaming miniatures lately and liked the mechanics of using CASTLE PANIC'S cardboard tokens so that didn't interfere with our enjoyment of playing it. For those who really want to play CASTLE PANIC with miniature figures there is a Deluxe version coming out that features those style of game pieces. 

Additionally, for the basic edition of CASTLE PANIC there are expansion boxes to add variety to the game. The Wizard's Tower provides magic spells that you can use to fend off the monster army; as well as adds new combatants to battle such as imps, centaurs and ogres; and new bosses to challenge you including a basilisk, chimera, and dragon to fight. Crowns and Quests provides an element of role playing presenting players with twelve characters that have unique abilities who are charged with going on up to 18 different side quests that compliment the overall game play. Once you've played a few games of CASTLE PANIC add some expansion packs to keep it exciting.


For more information about CASTLE PANIC head over to firesidegames.com

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Sunday, January 22, 2023

DOCTOR STRANGE VS SCARLET WITCH DICE THRONE BATTLE

Dice Throne Marvel Edition

It is chaos magic versus the mystic arts when the Scarlet Witch duels against Doctor Strange in the Marvel edition of the tabletop game Dice Throne from The Op Games. Role play as a character striving the be a gladiatorial champion in a competition that pits warriors from various times and dimensions against one another. Strategically utilize abilities and action cards combined with manipulating the roll of dice to defeat opponents. From a cursed pirate to a vampire lord, Dice Throne provides energetic gameplay in one on one battles ... and now competitors from the Marvel universe have entered the fray! 

Scarlet Witch comes in a 4-Hero Box that also includes Thor, Loki and Miles Morales Spider-Man. You can pick-up Doctor Strange in an expansion pack that also includes Black Widow. Time for a Multiverse of Madness showdown Dice Throne style between Doctor Strange and Scarlet Witch!

After an accident removed Doctor Stephen Strange's fine motor skills from his hands, the renowned surgeon looked beyond traditional medicine for healing and found the mystic arts. What he was not expecting was to become the Sorcerer Supreme, Earth's preeminent defender against international threats. In Dice Throne, Doctor Strange has the ability to prepare and cast spells through utilizing a deck of spell cards that are separate from action cards which he also maintains a deck of. He also can inflict magical attacks and defenses through rolling dice combinations. Additionally, through casting spells and die rolls, Doctor Strange can summon status effects to inflict on his opponent or empower himself.

Doctor Strange

DOCTOR STRANGE DICE COMBINATIONS

When it is Doctor Strange's turn to attack, he can roll his dice three times. After the first roll, he can utilize a dice combo attack from what is showing or re-roll all or any number of dice he chooses. After the second roll he can reroll all or any number of dice he chooses if he doesn't initiate a dice combo attack. A third roll is allowed if a player desires but that is the final outcome for being able to activate an attack using a dice combination.

Here are some of the attack combinations for Doctor Strange:

Doctor Strange Dice Throne

Augury -- Dice rolls result in two tome symbols and two amulet symbols. He inflicts 8 points of damage on his opponent and gains one Deja Vu status effect token.

Universal Awareness -- Four tome symbols are showing. Draws one action card to add to his deck. Gains two Deja Vu and two Premonition status effect tokens. If he has already cast and spell and placed it in a discard pile, it can be pulled out and prepared to be reused. 

Astral Incursion -- Rolling a combination of one mandala, one tome, one mantle, and on amulet triggers this attack. Inflict 6 points of damage then roll two dice. If you roll a mandala add 3 points of damage; roll a tome gain a Premonition token; roll a mantle inflict a Crimson Bands status effect on your opponent; on an amulet cast a spell.

doctor strange

Mystic Bolts -- If you roll a small straight (four dice with numbers in a row) deal 6 points of damage and cast a spell. If you roll a large straight (five numbers in a row) deal 9 points of damage and cast a spell.

Binding -- Roll two mandals and two mantles. Inflict Crimson Bands on your opponent plus hurt them with 9 points of damage.

Wand of Watoomb -- Roll four amulets. Inflict Crimson Bands; Deal 5 undefendable points of damage; Prepare a Spell from your discard pile and cast up to two Spells.

doctor strange

ALL-SEEING EYE! -- This is the most powerful of Doctor Strange's dice combo attacks. Roll five amulets. Look at the top five cards in the spell deck. Pick two of these cards to prepare to use. Put the other three cards back in any order you may later want to pull them. Then deal 10 points of damage and cast up to two Spells.

As mentioned, Doctor Strange can cast spells in addition to his dice combo attacks through his Book of Vishanti passive ability. He begins the game with the Flames of Faltine Spell placed on his game board. Once per turn, he may prepare this Spell or another from the Spell cards in your hand. Casting Spells are triggered by action cards and dice combos.

dice throne doctor strange

Doctor Strange also has a defense dice combo. During an opponent's attack against him, Doctor Strange can utilize his Cloak of Levitation. He rolls two dice. For a mandala, he inflicts back 1 point of damage. On a tome, he gains a Premonition token. On a mantle, he is protected from 2 points of damage. On a amulet he inflicts 3 points of damage back to his opponent.

DOCTOR STRANGE STATUS EFFECTS

Doctor Strange's status effects are Crimson Bands, Premonition and Deja Vu. Crimson Bands are a negative effect inflicted on the other player preventing him or her from utilizing action cards during rolling dice during their next turn.

dice throne marvel edition

Premonition and Deja Vu are positive status effects benefiting Doctor Strange. If you have one Premonition token you can draw two action cards instead of one during the start of a turn. If you have three Premonition tokens you can draw three action cards instead of one at the start of a turn. With Deju Vu, Doctor Strange can turn in the status effect token to start an offensive roll phase from the beginning. Roll three times and don't like where you are at with the dice? Use a Deju Vu status effect to start over with three new rolls!

I'm going to leave some mystery and not spoil what the spell cards can do. You'll have to play a game of Dice Throne with Doctor Strange to see what you can do with these. These add a lot of extra energy to the game though making the Sorcerer Supreme a force to be reckoned with in any Dice Throne encounter. 

scarlet witch dice throne

With powers that can manipulate reality itself and the meddling of unseen forces, Wanda Maximoff's real origin is a mystery. Blessed with the ability to manipulate chaos magic, she doesn't know her place in the world ... is she a hero or a villain?!

SCARLET WITCH DICE COMBINATIONS

Here are some of the attack combinations for Scarlet Witch:

dice throne scarlet witch

Hex Bolts -- Roll three warp symbols deal 4 points of damage; Roll four deal 6 points of damage; Roll five deal 8 points of damage. 

Darkhold -- Roll two spell symbols to draw one action card, gain one combat point (used to cash in some action cards), and get a Crackle and Probability Manipulation status effect token.

scarlet witch

Spellcraft -- Roll four dice numerically in a row deals 7 points of damage and gains her a Probability Manipulation status effect token. Roll five dice in a row deals 9 points of damage and lets her inflict a Reality Warp status effect on the opponent.


Mind Blast -- Roll one of each symbol. Gain a Crackle status effect token; Deal 5 points of pure damage and roll a die. If the die value is even gain a Probability Manipulation token. If the die value is odd deal 8 points of pure damage instead of five.

Bewitch -- Roll one warp symbol and three crowns. Gain a Conjure status effect. Deal 9 points of damage.

Pure Chaos -- Roll four crown symbols. Gain a Conjure status effect. Inflict a Reality Warp status effect. Deal 6 points of undefendable damage. 

dice throne

SEALED YOUR FATE
-- the Scarlet Witch's most powerful dice combo! Roll five crown symbols. Gain Conjure status effect and a Probability Manipulation too. Inflict Reality Warp status effect. Deal 12 points of damage.

The Scarlet Witch also has a formidable defense to opponent's attacks. She can roll FIVE dice. If she gets two warp symbols she gains a Crackle; Two chaos gains her a Probability Manipulation; Two Spells gains a Conjure and two Crowns deals 4 points of damage back at her attacker.

SCARLET WITCH STATUS EFFECTS

While Doctor Strange has Spell cards to enhance his offensive capabilities, the Scarlet Witch relies instead on status effects to give her an edge. She has three positive status effects to empower herself: Probability Manipulation, Conjure and Crackle. Plus, can hinder others with her Reality Warp negative status effect.

dice throne marvel edition

Reality Warp forces an opponent to remove one of their die during attack rolls and instead use one of the Scarlet Witch's dice. Thus they are in essence actually only rolling four instead of five dice during their turn.

Probability Manipulation allows the Scarlet Witch to change the value on a die after a roll up or down one value when an even number is showing. So, if a 4 is rolled, cashing in one of these status effect tokens allows that die to be adjusted to a 3 or 5. This could impact a dice combo by allowing a straight to be created or changing symbols by altering a chaos to become a warp or spell.

Conjure allows the Scarlet Witch to either steal a positive status effect token from another player or inflict a Reality Warp on an opponent.

Crackle allows Scarlet Witch to inflict 1 point of damage per each positive or negative status effect token on an opponent's game board including the Crackle token used to initiate this impact. So, if Doctor Strange was to have a Deju Vu and Premonition positive status effect tokens and a Reality Warp negative effect on his game board those along with the Crackle would cause him to have 4 points of damage. This is a nice way to finish off an opponent who is on the ropes if a dice roll combo narrowly misses accomplishing a knock out.

dice throne scarlet witch

Which of these two magic wielders do you think is the more powerful foe in a Dice Throne bout? Would you go with the Sorcerer Supreme or the Scarlet Witch? 

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Saturday, January 14, 2023

ZOMBICIDE UNDEAD OR ALIVE UNBOXING

zombicide undead or alive kickstarter

Giddy-up! My crate of goodies from participating in the CMON Games Zombicide: Undead or Alive Kickstarter campaign has arrived. A zombie apocalypse has infested within the Wild West and it is up to you to help a group of survivors get out of Dodge in this new variation of the Zombicide tabletop game. By purchasing Zombicide: Undead or Alive through Kickstarter rather than retail not only did I lasso the core game, but I also wrangled an exclusive Dead West expansion kit that includes 79 extra character pieces to enhance game play. Plus, I unboxed a few extra goodies to add to the Wild West theme of the Undead or Alive Zombicide adventures.


In this standalone game, instead of trying to survive a zombie infestation of a modern day city, players are transported back to the American West of the 1800s as they attempt to survive swarms of the undead. Carried by infected travelers aboard trains, the plague quickly spread across the Wild West. Horses became meals to the zombie hoard causing the surviving people to be isolated in overwhelmed frontier towns.

Zombicide: Undead or Alive is a cooperative game where players work together to face scenarios involving them confronting and escaping a zombie menace. Players make their own decisions to utilize weapons and abilities while the zombies are controlled by the game itself using simple rules and a deck of cards. This tabletop game can be played for 1 - 6 players and is recommended for those aged 14+. 

The Undead or Alive core box includes 14 characters that players can choose to play as divided up as four different classes: Brawler, Faithful, Gunslinger and Townsfolk. 

Brawlers are hand-to-hand specialists who use melee weapons to bring down zombies. Being tough as nails, they can also endure more wounds than other survivors.

Faithfuls use their faith and conviction to paralyze zombies and destroy zombie spawning points.

Gunslingers are able to unload a heap of lead in a split second by fanning a hoard with pistol fire. This ability can devastate large bands of zombies at short range.

Townsfolk know where to search for supplies and find everything needed for killing zombies.

zombicide undead or alive

Also included in the core box are 64 zombie game pieces to utilize in the game. There are four types of zombies players will encounter in Undead or Alive: Walkers, Brutes, Runners and Abominations.

Walkers slowly trudge towards you in a deadly mob. Beware that though they aren't speedy, walkers can quickly overwhelm you.

Brutes are hard to kill making them nasty menaces. Watch out because they are often shielding other zombies hiding behind them!

Runners often catch survivors by surprise. You don't think of zombies as fast but this type is quick. They move twice as fast as other zombies!

Abominations can be the worst nightmare of survivors, plus they aren't always zombies! Sometimes abominations are mutated monsters or worse. These are the toughest, ugliest adversaries your posse will come across. They can only be hurt by dynamite. Moreover, their mere presence stirs the dead to come to an abomination's aid. As soon as one enters the game board, special places called Abomination Spawn Zones become active causing even more zombies come after players.

zombicide undead or alive

There are ten missions included with the core box that can be played with included character pieces and twelve double-sided game board tiles. Players can also just create their own random scenarios as well utilizing the Zombicide A.I. system and their own tile layouts. Click here to check out the rule book for yourself. 

zombicide undead or alive

By participating in the Kickstarter campaign, I also received an exclusive Dead West expansion kit that includes 79 more character pieces adding more survivors and zombies with their own unique quirks and qualities to enhance gameplay. This is particularly nice for adding new challenges to the game with its inclusion of some impressive abominations that range from a cactus monster to a wendigo. The expansion kit also includes some outlaws that can provide some extra firepower to your team of survivors including Butch Cassidy, Billy the Kid and Jesse James. For those who missed the Kickstarter campaign it is possible to find Dead West in the secondary market for an elevated price to what it was originally sold for.

zombicide dead west
zombicide dead west

In addition to the Dead West expansion pack, I also picked up a few other exclusive content goodies in the Kickstarter campaign. I harnessed a Deadstock Pack that includes mutated abominations of a buffalo, grizzly bear and longhorn cow for survivors to battle. I also dug up a Long Dead Walkers Pack that has skeleton versions of the zombies from the core box. This game can be more than just a zombie encounter with a variety of different monsters led by the Great Trickster Spirit available through Kickstarter exclusives to fight against players. The quality of exclusives are one of the main hooks for me when it comes to joining a Kickstarter campaign and these had me biting at the Zombicide: Undead or Alive one.

zombicide undead or alive

Keep an eye out for more updates as I delve into the contents of Zombicide: Undead or Alive and begin playing the game. The core box is available now at retail. For more information about this and other games in the franchise, head over to zombicide.com

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zombicide undead or alive kickstarter unboxing

Saturday, December 31, 2022

TOP 22 BLOG POSTS OF 2022

top 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

tad the lost explorer

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

uncharted movie

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

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

gibson tv metal and 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

tabletop gaming

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

doctor strange

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 doctor strange

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

harry potter replica wands

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

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

Geek Daddy

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

jurassic world

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

baby yoda

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 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

hot toys baby yoda

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!

muppets 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. 

loaded boards

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!