My love for dad games

It is an unfortunate fact of life that I am getting older. As I age my tastes in gaming seem to have changed. While I still enjoy games like Doom Eternal, I am far more frequently playing much slower more thoughtful games such as civilization 6. I’m not sure if Yahtzee Croshaw initially coined the term ‘dad game‘ but he’s certainly been a proponent of it.

Looking for the leather arm chair of video games.

As I’ve looked back on the games that I have played this year a distinct genre seems to have entered into my gaming habits which is the dad game. This genre of games is exemplified by working simulators or management simulator. They are games that do not require quick reflexes or long periods between being able to save. In these games thought and attention are rewarded by providing people with more points or just the general satisfaction of efficiency.

In fact the goal of the game can actually be very open ended, games such as Rimworld or Oxygen Not Included technically have an end goal but so many of the players that I have spoken to who enjoy these kinds of games completely ignore it.

Some of the dad games I have enjoyed include:

• Subnatica
• Elite Dangerous
• Satisfactory and Factorio
• Hardspace Shipbreaker
• Rimworld
• Dyson Sphere Programme

I would also add the genre of survival crafting games (for example Raft) into this whole mix. The only problem I have with that particular group of games is that so many of them are in early access constantly and what you can get when you buy the game can vary wildly.

Buyer Beware

I have a tendency to avoid early access as I have seen the whole concept abused too many times. Barely functional games have been launched into early access that have no business being in front of any kind of paying customer and that’s not even to talk about some of the asset flips or just broken pieces of software that I’ve also been launched under this protective banner. Annoyingly however a lot of games that I am interested in are in early access currently so it is with a level of reluctance that I have to engage with this whole business model to find the games that I enjoy.

I do however want to call out some games that have done early access very well

• Satisfactory
• Factorio
• V rising
• Raft
• Subnautica

These games provided regular updates, community engagement and a product that needed work was presentable. Special mention here goes to Satisfactory whose community management team did a great job about keeping people informed and engaged during the long stints between updates.

Playing on my terms

I think one of the greatest features of the dad game is that I can play them for as long or as little as I want. I’m not pressured to play the game much like say Destiny 2 pressures you to play on a regular basis to keep up with battle passes and various bits of seasonal content. With these games I can save whenever, so if I ever need to walk away from the computer I can do so without a moments hesitation because I know that I can press quick save or the game is constantly saving.

I’d like to think that I’m growing older gracefully as a gamer and I’m embracing these games wholeheartedly. I look forward to more of them coming out and my reservations about early access aside frankly I’ve been spoilt for choice.