About | Shade Tree Gamer

Hey, I'm glad you're here.

I'm a 40-something dad of three, a .NET developer by day, and a gamer by... well, by whatever hour I can squeeze in after the kids are finally asleep and the dishes are done. Usually that's about 9:30 PM, which means I've got maybe an hour or two before my own bedtime if I want to be functional at work tomorrow.

Sound familiar?

That's why I started Shade Tree Gamer. I was tired of reading reviews that don't tell me the things I actually need to know:

Can I play this in 45 minutes and feel like I accomplished something?
If I put it down for a week because life happened, will I remember what I was doing?
Is there an actual ending, or is this designed to extract money from me forever?
Does the save system respect my time, or will I lose progress when my toddler wakes up screaming?

Most gaming sites are written by people who play games for a living. That's great for them, but their perspective is fundamentally different from mine. They can sink 40 hours into something before it "gets good." I don't have 40 hours. I have maybe 10 hours a week if I'm lucky, and I want those hours to count.

The "Shade Tree" Philosophy

The name comes from "shade tree mechanic"—someone who works on cars as a hobby in their driveway, not a professional but genuinely skilled through years of hands-on experience. That's me with games. I'm not a professional critic. I'm just a guy who's been gaming since the NES days and has opinions about what works for people like us.

I cover:

PC & Steam Deck – My main platforms. The Deck changed my life.
PlayStation – PS5 when the kids aren't using the TV.
Xbox & Game Pass – Game Pass is incredible value for busy parents.
Switch – Perfect for couch co-op with the kids and portable play.
Mobile – Yes, there are good mobile games. No gatekeeping here.

The Dad-Friendly Scorecard

Every review includes my Dad-Friendly Scorecard—a rating system designed specifically for time-limited gamers. Forget 1-10 scores that don't tell you anything. I rate games on:

Session Length – Can you have a satisfying session in 30-60 minutes?
Pick-Up-Ability – How easy is it to remember what you were doing after a week away?
Save System – Can you save anywhere? Quick resume? Punishing checkpoints?
Value – Worth the price for the time you'll actually put into it?
Grind Factor – Does progress feel earned or artificially padded?

Then I give an overall verdict: Dad's Choice, Recommended, With Caveats, Time Sink Warning, or Skip It.

My Backlog Confession

I have approximately 847 games in my Steam library. I've beaten maybe 50 of them. My PlayStation Plus catalog grows faster than I can play it. I have multiple Game Pass games I've "been meaning to try" for months.

I am not here to judge your backlog. I am here to help you pick the next game that's actually worth starting.

What This Site Is Not

I'm not trying to be IGN or Kotaku. I can't cover every release, and I won't pretend to. I write about games I've actually played, often ones I specifically picked up because I thought they'd work for busy parents.

I don't do scores out of 10. I don't care about graphics comparisons. I don't review games before I've put significant time into them (and for a dad, "significant time" might take a month).

Get In Touch

Got a game you think I should check out? A question? Just want to commiserate about your own backlog? I'd love to hear from you. Drop me a line—but please be patient on responses. You know how it is.

Thanks for reading. Now go enjoy your precious gaming time.

— The Shade Tree Gamer