Dad games have been in vogue for a while, long enough that we've even seen their successors, daughter games, after them. Think Dishonored 2, or… every season of Telltale's The Walking Dead after the first. Either way, dad-and-offspring is enough of a genre that there are a number of Father's Day game dad tributes out there today:
Happy #FathersDay! ❤ pic.twitter.com/9ljHbMkcqDJune 20, 2021
The Witcher 3 is absolutely a dad game, with Geralt's drive throughout the game being to find and protect his adopted daughter, despite his prickly exterior. CD Projekt decided to celebrate the day with the tiniest video of a hug, and not the more traditional father-daughter bonding of teaching your adopted ward how to swordfight, but I can accept that, I suppose.
Empress Emily Kaldwin, seen here spending quality time with Corvo to wish him & everyone out there a happy #FathersDay ! pic.twitter.com/evIP4iUHz4June 20, 2021
Arguably a buy-one-get-one-free: Dishonored the first is a dad game—even if it's left at heavy implications that Corvo is Emily's father throughout the first game, you have to rescue her like a daughter all the same (while she draws adorable and/or ominous pictures). Dishonored 2, which optionally stars either Corvo or now-adult Emily, states their relationship unambiguously, and many see the sequel as an example of the daughter game. Parkour is a lovely way to spend a Father's Day: much better than being turned into stone by a witch.
The ancient traditions of #FathersDay have not changed all that much since the age of classical antiquity pic.twitter.com/V9PWpuiXYZJune 20, 2021
Hades gets to be the best of both worlds as a son game, because Zagreus' dad—Hades, naturally—is right there, being obstructive to Zagreus' emotional journey. His journey is also about getting out of the underworld to find his mother, who he's never had the chance to know. But, despite their struggles as a family, Supergiant suggests they can still kick back and fish, something there's inexplicably always time for in the underworld.
Happy Father’s Day from everyone at Santa Monica Studio! ❤️ pic.twitter.com/8goZucigg3June 20, 2021
Honourable mention goes to Kratos, who is perhaps the dadliest of dad game dads, because God of War isn't on PC—yet. With the trend of PlayStation exclusives becoming less exclusive, that may well end, letting more people see this very large man gently pat his large man-sized hands on a tiny child's head. Which is, I think, the heart of dad games.
We recently wrote about PlayStation exclusives that we want to see come to PC, where you'll spot some well-known dad (and daughter) games.
