James Floyd Kelly is a full-time writer. His latest three books are Digital Engineering with Minecraft, Tinkercad for Beginners and The Ultimate iPad. Learn more by visiting his website http://jamesfloydkelly.com
A month or so back, I stumbled upon a post from John Suski on DM Scotty’s Facebook group page–John created some custom paint bottle holders for his desk, complete with color samples and labels. Read More
Fans of Mr. Murray know that he is as unpredictable as they come, and we live for those moments when he catches an individual or group off guard. Read More
I think any of us who play an RPG or two (or ten) will agree that it is a GREAT time to be a role-playing gamer. Between Kickstarter and Twitch.tv and the explosion of gaming cons, there is no shortage of places to play, new RPGs to explore, adventures to watch or join, and new products to try out. Read More
Michael J. Martinez won me over with his ‘Daedalus Trilogy’ that features sailing ships moving between the planets in an alternate universe that has collided with a slightly more familiar universe (where we’ve reached Mars) and the heroes who have discovered something evil that threatens both realities. Now, Martinez has a begun a new trilogy… Read More
Titan Books is one of my favorite publishers; they put out many outstanding series of books as well as one-offs, and I’m always impressed with the quality of the writing and the printing. Recently, I had three different oversized hardbacks arrive on my doorstep, each of them celebrating a milestone of sorts. Read More
While I’m happy to create my own from paper, the Flat Plastic Miniatures Core Set is exactly what I’ve been looking for–much higher quality color and also more durable than the little cardstock ones I print out. Read More
I’ve got a large post coming up in mid-September featuring a number of fantasy RPG gaming aids, and I’ll be covering Fat Dragon Games’ new Kickstarter in a bit more detail in that post. The Kickstarter, however, has already started and there are a number of stretch goals and surprises in store for backers. Read More
Eliot Peper’s Cumulus is a novel that takes place in Oakland, California and centers on a tech giant corporation, its social media and surveillance advances that are not too hard to believe, and the haves and have-nots who must live day-to-day with the ramifications of a society that must either accept certain things as normal or resist. Read More
It’s been three weeks since I departed Indianapolis and left Gen Con 2016 for Atlanta; before memory fades too much, I wanted to sit down and write down as much as possible about my experiences this year at Gen Con. Read More
I enjoyed Chuck Wendig’s ‘Zeroes,’ a rush of a novel involving fringe hackers, an AI danger, and a wake up call about our dependence on technology. I was quite happy to hear that Wendig would be revisiting the world he created for ‘Zeroes’ in the recently released ‘Invasive.’ Read More
While wandering the Exhibit Hall at Gen Con a few weeks ago, I picked up a card game called ‘Star Realms’ (not quite new, but new to me) that I thought my oldest would enjoy. I wasn’t wrong. Read More
Two weeks ago at Gen Con 2016, five of my fellow GeekDads (including a spouse) and I were doing our best fast-walk through the corridors of the convention center as we rushed to make our 8:15 appointment with… ‘Escape Room.’ Read More
If you’re interested in creating some 2.5D tiles but maybe lack the time or paint, check this out. Read More
On the morning of August 3rd, I was doing my last bit of packing and preparing to head to the airport for Gen Con 2016. My plan for the long line was to watch a movie on my iPad with headphones. Read More
If you’re looking for a tool to develop hex-based terrain maps, you’ll want to check out Worldographer from Inkwell Ideas. I got to check out the software at Gen Con 2016 along with some of Inkwell’s other products, and I loved what I saw. Read More
Right now, there’s an excellent science fiction story bundle called the Starward Bound StoryBundle going on. At the time I write this, there’s about two weeks left on the timer. Read More
How is it possible for Gen Con to both feel too short and too long? Read More
I’ve been looking for a book to use for a Beginner Electronics summer camp… and ‘Electronics for Kids’ is the one. There’s just the right mix of reading and hands-on projects that I’m confident the kids won’t get bored. Read More
Act fast, as there are two sales on some great papercraft for your fantasy gaming table. Buy, print, cut, and glue… then play! Read More
Last year was my first time attending Gen Con. I was the Geekdad rookie, mouth wide open in awe as I first entered the Exhibit Hall. This year I’m excited to use the Gen Con Gamer’s Yearbook to help organize my visit to this year’s events! Read More
We here at GeekDad love a good Kickstarter. We’ve backed hundreds and probably written about even more to alert our readers to projects of interest. We’ve all backed some incredibly successful projects and lost money to some failed ones. Suffice to say, every Geekdad writer probably has an interesting story to tell about Kickstarter. Here’s mine. Read More
Whether you’ve got a budding director under your roof or maybe just want to give your child some hands-on time with iMovie or similar app, you’ll want to head over to Kids Film It Festival, an incredible idea created by Ryan Levine, a middle school student from Ohio. Read More
Back in 1982, a fellow gamer introduced me to TSR’s ‘Gamma World.’ The game took place in an apocalyptic future where radiation had mutated plant and animal life and survivors scraped by using old technology and weapons. I really enjoyed the game and its setting, but it was always difficult to find a group to play with since I didn’t own a copy. Time marched on, and ‘Gamma World’ simply became a good memory. Read More
If you’re a DM/GM, you might be happy to know about five recent terrain-related products that could be useful to your game. Read More
I grew up in the ’80s when computers were just finding their way into homes and schools, and I have fond memories of playing all sorts of computer games. This includes interactive fiction, especially Infocom games. Read More
For the previous two years, the Southern Fried Gameroom Expo has been an outstanding two days of classic pinball and arcade games side-by-side with modern versions of the same style games. This year, however, SFGE also introduced tabletop games to the mix, offering up 14,000 square feet of gaming tables and inviting companies such as Asmodee and Renegade Game Studios to demo their games. Read More
Dogs and cats are usually portrayed as enemies, but sometimes in the comic book world they can do interesting things together… Read More
This last weekend, I attended the Free RPG Day event at my local gaming store. Sitting on the table among the other free giveaways was a small booklet from GamingPaper.com. It was a sample booklet of 8.5″ x 11″ terrain sheets that also provided a link to a new Kickstarter called Gaming Paper Megadungeon 4 – Rooftops and Alleyways. Read More
There are less than 6 days left to back the amazing space-themed Xia: Embers of a Forsaken Star expansion for the Xia: Legends of a Drift System game. The game is incredible and not to be missed. Read More
Normally $7.75 (which isn’t a crazy amount to begin with), the Ultimate Dice Tower from Fat Dragon Games is 70% off for two days. Buy it, print it out on card stock, cut out the parts, and assemble. It’s a very cool dice tower. Read More
I’m always on the lookout for gaming aids, and recently Bill Buchalter and Michael Pearman contacted me to share some news about their new Kickstarter — the Mystix Mapping System. In a nutshell, they are providing a number of sets of pre-printed scenery, objects, walls, and other items on reusable peel-and-stick vinyl sheets. Read More
Being a Dungeon Master can be tough–between telling a story, roleplaying NPCs, tracking combat, and (quickly) improvising all three when your players throw you curve balls that almost cross the line called Alignment Violation, DMs have a lot going on at the table. Read More
