“Children are drawn to danger and darkness and boundaries. They just naturally do that. Why are you walking into traffic? Why are you going into the closet? Why are you picking up that knife? I think that’s how they find themselves.” https://www.crossplay.news/p/why-do-kids-love-poppys-playtime

Not long ago, “learn to code” was a phrase that was used online as an insult and was pretty decent advice. So after she asked a bunch of times, I finally sent my oldest daughter to coding school (aka Code Ninjas) for a few days for @crossplayblog https://www.crossplay.news/p/code-ninjas-review

Roblox should allow parents to block AI-centric experiences from populating their children's Roblox accounts. It shouldn't come down to whether Roblox considers the chatbot interaction "extended" or "brief." I don't want either. https://www.crossplay.news/p/new-ai-updates-in-roblox

"I always wanted to play games with my son. But recently, I’ve started to wonder if I’m doing more harm than good." A really great essay from Ravi Hiranand about how children perform (or don't) when they're around their parents https://www.crossplay.news/p/playing-pokemon-with-kids

My latest for @RemapRadio is an interview with two friends from middle school who decided, decades later, to try (and for a while, fail!) to make a game. The result was the delightful cinematic platformer Planet of Lana, whose sequel is out today. My story https://remapradio.com/articles/two-best-friends-and-a-naive-dream-make-a-cinematic-platformer/

For @crossplayblog, I recruited my nine-year-old daughter to help me review Pokémon Pokopia, a new cozy game whose deliberately slow pace feels like a balm in today's anxious times https://www.crossplay.news/p/pokemon-pokopia-review

Cairn is one of the most remarkable games of the past 10 years, let alone 2026. It was a delight to chat with The Game Bakers about their sublime climbing game, and how, in an increasingly crowded market, they stick by a simple philosophy: "We make games like we cook" https://remapradio.com/articles/cai/