Well, I certainly didn’t think I’d ever make it here. When I started Dad with a Deck, I fully expected it to go the way of any other website I had grand plans for. For the record, that’s crash and burn before even shelling out for a domain. This was meant to be purely a creative outlet, somewhere to put the random thoughts rattling around in my head about video games, handhelds and what it actually means to find time for this hobby when life happens around you. I started writing about the Steam Deck because it genuinely got me back into gaming and I figured if even a handful of people found something useful in what I was putting out there, that would be more than enough. It’s also a lot cheaper than stockpiling LEGO sets and overall way easier to justify. I didn’t expect it to resonate with anyone. But here you are, reading post number one hundred. Somewhere, somehow, something clicked.
The Steam Deck was clearly the spark that got me going, but this whole thing sort of took on a life of its own. I generally frame things through a ‘dad with limited time‘ lens and that was never really meant as a marketing decision, it’s just reality. I don’t game when I’m with my daughter and I enjoy being present for my family. But nap time, after bed time and a solid chunk of my break time at work, I manage to squeeze gaming into narrow windows and the Steam Deck was practically made for exactly that. The retro handheld stuff crept in too, mostly because I’ve been following enough of the community on YouTube that it was basically inevitable. One RG CubeXX and Ayn Thor Pro later, here we are. The content evolved in ways I never planned. I’ve covered games I wasn’t sure anyone would care about, developed strong opinions on hardware, accessories and published guides that nobody knew they needed. I guess that’s what a creative outlet looks like when you just let it roll. So, I’ll be looking back at the journey to one hundred, picking out some highlights and a few blunders along the way. Stick around, there might even be a giveaway at the end.
The Highlights
One hundred posts means there’s a fair bit to look back on. These are my personal top five posts, at least for now. Honestly, they might just be the ones I enjoyed writing the most.
1. Super Mario Galaxy – Wii’re Going Back Review
I had an absolute blast with this one. I went in completely blind with no nostalgia and no expectations. I came out the other side ridiculously impressed and handed it a 10/10 without batting an eye. I’m no expert reviewer, but I think I managed to hit all the right points for this one.
2. TMNT: Splintered Fate Made Me Realise I Hate Roguelites
I think this post does a great job of summing up what Dad with a Deck actually is. I’m a time-limited dad with very little patience for a genre which totally wastes that time. The title alone gets the point across and centering it around a game like Splintered Fate, which draws you in with its style and presentation, felt pretty fitting.
3. Top 10 Classic Point and Click Adventure Games
This is actually one of my earliest posts and still one of my favourites. It’s pure passion project kinda stuff. Some of my earliest gaming memories come from point-and-click adventures and I’ve been returning to them my entire life. If you want to understand where my taste in video games comes from, this is a great place to start.
4. Anbernic RG CubeXX: A Retro Handheld Review
I like this review for a few reasons, but more than anything it kinda marks the point where I started branching out. It was one of the first signs that Dad with a Deck was becoming something a little broader than just a Steam Deck website.
5. How to Install Fallout Nevada on Steam Deck
I’m really proud of this guide. It’s fairly niche and hasn’t been covered particularly well elsewhere, but it gets asked about often enough that it felt worth putting out there. I fucking love Fallout, especially the classic games and Fallout: Nevada is simply a well-made extension of that. This didn’t feel like a dry tutorial and that’s the sweet spot I try to aim for with every guide.
Honourable Mentions:
Baldur’s Gate 3 Steam Deck Build: How to Enable It for the Best Performance probably remains one of my most practical guides on the website. Ayn Thor Pro First Impressions, this is a bit of a developing story. I’m excited to see where it takes me. Wii Sports Retrospective – Wii’re Going Back, this was simply a lot of fun to write. Probably because I was pseudo-exercising through that whole month.
The Blunder Posts
Not everything lands, especially early on. Here are three of my finest swings and misses and they all came pretty early in the piece.
1. Did I Consider the Competition?
This was my second ever post and it shows. Looking back, it’s essentially just a purchase justification post masquerading as an opinion. I was still finding my feet and it’s eerily similar to Why I Chose the Steam Deck Over Other Handheld Consoles which I published that same week. Did I write the same thing twice? Probably.
2. The Timeless Appeal of Older Games
I think my premise was solid and it’s a topic I actually care about, but I played this one a little too safe. It reads like something you could see anywhere, rather than Dad with a Deck specifically. There’s a real argument buried in there somewhere and I don’t think I did it justice.
3. Steam Deck OLED and a PlayStation 5: The Best Low-Cost All-Purpose Gaming Solution?
The title does a lot of work, but the content doesn’t quite back it up. Calling a Steam Deck OLED and a PlayStation 5 a ‘low cost solution‘ also might have been a stretch. It’s true when compared to a high-end gaming PC, or at least it was, but the execution wasn’t my finest work.
One hundred posts in and I’ve had a genuinely great time. Writing has been more rewarding than I expected and engaging with the community across comments, social media and even my inbox has been one of the better surprises of this whole thing. I assumed I would just be shouting into the void for a little while, and I was, but that’s simply part of of the process. Somewhere along the way, people actually started showing up and that changed things. The conversations, recommendations and even the people who have quietly just read through posts without ever saying a word, all of it has made this a genuinely worthwhile thing to do in my limited spare time. I still love the Steam Deck as much as I did when I farted out that first post and I don’t see that changing anytime soon. Hopefully I’ve got another hundred posts in me, because I’m definitely not done yet. To everyone who has read a post, left a comment, tossed a like, shared something or just lurked here: thank you. It means a lot more than you’d expect.
Alright, I promised a giveaway and to wrap things up: I’m giving away a Steam key for Dishonored. I reviewed it recently and was totally blown away, so it felt like the right pick for such an occasion. If you’d like to enter for a chance to win, all I ask is that you subscribe to email updates below (if you’re already subscribed, you’ll automatically be entered). I’ll keep the giveaway open for a week and the winner will be picked out of the list at random. Stay subscribed, unsubscribe after, whatever. Although if you stick around, you might just enjoy yourself.
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