315 – The Video Game Holiday Gift Guide with Stephen Duetzmann

It’s that time of year again. We are joined by the “unmitigated hype monster”, Stephen Duetzmann from Engaged Family Gaming, to learn about recommendations for (mostly) family-friendly video games this holiday season.

315 fact(s)

Andrew shares facts with the co-hosts this week:

Anitra: The record for the most instruments (unique) used in a piece of music is… 315 unique instruments. See a video of clips of the music!

Stephen: SNL has been nominated for 315 prime time Emmy awards!

Andrew: A man named Muhammad Rashid crushed 315 walnuts in a minute – with his elbow!

Don’t forget to check out our sponsor, First Move Financial. Visit FirstMoveFinancial.com/familygamers and set up a time to talk for free.

What We’ve Been Playing

Flamecraft
Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands (Borderlands game that is set in a tabletop RPG setting. T-rated shooter video game.)
Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope
Halo 2 (co-op w/8year old)
Horizon Forbidden West
Spiderman: Miles Morales
Return to Monkey Island
UNO Ultimate (Marvel themed)
The Great Split
Letters from Whitechapel
Turtle Splash!

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Games that we played but didn’t make it to the podcast this week:

Studies in Sorcery (our review)
Similo (our review)
Drop It (our review)
Three Sisters
Laniakea
Papageno
Sprawlopolis

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SNAP review – Green Team Wins

Answer questions and try to think like a winner in this fun party game. We were surprised at just how well this works across multiple ages!

Watch the video (with our green and orange shirts) and read the transcript: https://thefamilygamers.com/green-team-wins/

Video Game Gift Guide with Engaged Family Gaming

See the full guide: https://engagedfamilygaming.com/parent-resources/holiday-gifts/the-official-engaged-family-gaming-holiday-gift-guide-video-games/

For Nintendo Switch:

Kirby & the Forgotten Land – 3D Kirby game

Splatoon 3 (possible Game of the Year) – now with queuing! You can group up with your friends and let the system fill the rest of your team.

Pokemon Scarlet / Pokemon Violet – open world Pokemon game

Nintendo Switch Sports

Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope (another possible Game of the Year)

Pokemon Legends: Arceus

For Playstation:

If you want a Playstation 5, check the Sony website. Even if a plain console is not available, you should be able to buy a console bundled with a game.

Horizon Forbidden West

Gran Turismo 7

LEGO Star Wars: A Skywalker Saga

WWE 2K22

Marvel’s Midnight Suns

Advice on Playstation Plus. It comes in 3 levels, which one to get? https://engagedfamilygaming.com/videogames/a-parents-guide-to-playstation-plus/

For XBox:

Number one recommendation: buy a few months of Game Pass!

LEGO Star Wars: A Skywalker Saga

Marvel’s Midnight Suns

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection – ELEVEN older TMNT games

Sonic Frontiers

For Adults: God of War: Ragnarok, Elden Ring

If you’re buying a console for the holiday:

Don’t forget to set it up before Christmas! (Plug in, connect to the internet, download updates, install a game.) It’s a much more effective surprise if it’s ready to play on Christmas morning.

Find out more about parental controls for every system: https://www.esrb.org/tools-for-parents/parental-controls/

Find Engaged Family Gaming online:

EngagedFamilyGaming.com
Facebook: @EngagedFamilyGaming
or the Engaged Family Gaming Community

(You can find Stephen in The Family Gamers community as well.)

Find Us Online:

Facebook: @familygamersaa and thefamilygamers.com/community
Twitter (X): @familygamersaa
Instagram: @familygamersaa
TikTok: @familygamersaa
Youtube: TheFamilyGamers

or join the Family Tabletop Community on Discord! thefamilygamers.com/discord

Or, for the most direct method, email us! andrew@thefamilygamers.com and anitra@thefamilygamers.com.

Check out our new Family Gamers and Play Games with Your Kids merchandise – T-shirts, hoodies, and mugs – at thefamilygamers.com/merch.

PLEASE don’t forget to subscribe to the show, tell your friends about the show, and leave us a review at Apple Podcast or whatever your podcast subscription source is. We’re also on Amazon Music, TuneIn, and Spotify.

You can also now find us on YouTube Music! So pull it up and give us a listen while you’re toiling away at work :)

The Family Gamers is sponsored by First Move Financial. Go to FirstMoveFinancial.com/familygamers to learn how the team at First Move Financial can help you pile up the victory points.

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