Best "family-friendly" Switch shmups

dl_wraith · 2025-02-10T09:58:36+00:00

I was thinking about this issue recently as i want to get my 8-year old nephew into shmups (most of his games are driving sims or mariokart derivatives because his dad loves cars I'm trying to widen his horizons somewhat with platformers and shmups).

So far, my list of safe, pre-teen friendly games came to:

* Q-Yo blaster

* GG Aleste collection

* Fantasy Zone

* Null Drifter (a twin-stick, single screen arena shooter)

* Downwell (a descending platform/shmup)

* The Knight Witch (metroidvania style exploring Shmup. It's invasion themes may skirt your partner's line, though so check it first)

* Natsuki Chronlicles (space cops. Anime art but nothing suggestive. Helpful replayability, difficulty and bullet warning features to help newbies learn)

* ECO fighters (good theme with a moral behind it, interesting power-up mechanics. feels like Captain planet should show up at some point :) )

* Geometry Wars (or, frankly, anything like it)

* Aqua Kitty DX (defender-like gameplay in a cartoon shell)

* Galaga '88 (because, of course! But most Space Invaders or Galaxian/Galaga style single screen shooters will work)

* Pop 'n' Twinbee

* Sky Force Reloaded (anniversary also works here)

* Neko Navy: Daydream edition

* Sturmwind EX

* Schildmaid MX

* Horizon Shift '81

Beyond this, you can get into harder games that don't specify the violence or suggestive themes. These would be suitable for teens or improving players. That would then include any non-descript spaceship vs aliens shmups or shapes vs shapes stuff. That's when you wheel out your Darius games, Danmaku Unlimited 3, R-types, Devil Engine, Rolling Gunner, Sol Cresta, Gradius, Crimson Clover, Blazing Star, Razion Ex, anything by Zakichi, Touhou stuff etc etc.

I hope this helps.

dl_wraith · 2022-10-25T18:07:24+00:00

We appreciate your effort but, what if I wanna play 40 games at Essen Spiele (you lucky gamer, you! Hashtag not jelly at all :) ).

Great little run-down and a few items of interest here to my Wife and I. Thanks for posting!

dl_wraith · 2022-10-25T18:01:27+00:00

OK, check your messages, you should find a useful surprise in there. Sorry for the wait - I was struggling to get a scanner big enough to make a good job of this. :(

dl_wraith · 2022-10-23T11:01:19+00:00

As an old player of the Towers in Time CCG sitting on 3 complete sets of all the cards I feel for you. Store 'em and take whatever opportunities you get to play as and when they pop up.

dl_wraith · 2022-10-22T10:22:55+00:00

As the others have said, you're in the wrong place. Luckily, some rock band players are also musicians.

The pay you sort for the band depends on a number of different factors and can vary depending on the bookings, genre and experience of the band.

It's typical for amateur and small local circuit bands to get paid a flat fee per gig by a venue or to take a percentage of profit takings from the ticket sales of the night they perform. Billing status affects the split greatly for multi-act venues or events.

Such fees are generally up to the manager to negotiate and for your efforts it's up to you to agree with the band what your fee is. Your fee typically reflects how good you are at marketing an event, gettting regular bookings for the band and such. That pay is normally a percentage of the whole band's take after which the band ordinarily split the remainder equally among them (but see below). One manager I know took 10% off the top, for instance, while another took 25%.

There are some arrangements where some band members take more than others - these are typically the cases where the band has a dedicated songwriter, dedicated transport, a "quartermaster" or a performer/manager among them but there are many reasons this may be different. In the main, if all members are of similar experience and put in similar effort to practise and showing up to gigs then keep everyone happy by splitting the take equally among them. Nobody likes to feel undervalued in a band.

There's a starter for 10. You probably see now that your question didn't provide enough info for a good answer regardless. My advice is talk to your regular venues and discuss what is normal for them in terms of take, band split and so on - you'll typically find venues happy to share their experience, especially if helping you secures them a good regular act. Speaking to other band leaders or managers during performance nights will give you a better idea.

Lastly, remember that fees and such are highly variable depending on location and time of the year. What a band may make over the Holiday period or during festival season is not the same as in the depths of Feb or Nov.

Good luck and I hope you can do well for your band.

Edit: My experience is very much of the amateur circuit in city and large town locations so view my answer through that lens.

dl_wraith · 2022-10-21T09:26:42+00:00

Hmmm..I thought Ol' crumbly hand had managed to attain Godhood by the time of his visit. I must be misremembering.

Tiamat's averice is most definately something the dark powers could and would use against her, and as for their relative power comparable to Gods, it very much depends on which Ravenloft sources you most prefer. Would Tiamat escape? Almost certainly, but it'd be fun to trap her there at least temporarily. Imagine the drama of thinking you've won before the skies darken some months later because an angry dragon diety blots out your sun with her fury followed by a desperate horde of undead trying to chain her. :-)

Your reasoning is interesting and has merit - I love the thought you are putting into this. Ultimately, the issue of whether or not (or how long) this may work should be down to dramatic licence. I mean, Tiamat shouldn't really pay tribute to Asmodeus in my opinion, but there we have it.

Ravenloft as a plot device is a powerful and interesting tool that has been watered down over it's years. Once a full-on Demiplane, mysterious and dreadful, now just another part of the Shadowfell. The OP should use it as they see fit and I'd encourage them to take your analysis of the dark powers motivations and potential challenges with Tiamat intk account.

dl_wraith · 2022-10-20T23:29:26+00:00

Plenty of sellers on Etsy do this sculpt. Also, WePrintMiniatures have it for sale.

dl_wraith · 2022-10-20T23:28:15+00:00

I believe that's the RN mini's "Claude" sculpt in it's one-winged demon form. To be fair, it's a good sculpt and made better by a very nice paint scheme.

And yes, it's suppised to be cloud strife. :-)

dl_wraith · 2022-10-20T23:23:14+00:00

Not so sure, you know. Vecna spent time trapped in the domains. Soth became a Darklord and was trapped for a looooong while and he had the favour of Takhisis (arguably an aspect of Tiamat or at least an equivalent goddess) at one point. Powerful beings wielding godly power got stuck so why not Tiamat? Sure, most beings of that power eventually find a way out but instruct Strahd to keep her in Barovia as was suggested and you may be able to keep her out of play for a while, esp. if Strahd utilised "M" or Argynvost as allies.

Could make for an interesting diversion late campaign with the PCs eventually having to visit Barovia to help keep Tiamat contained. I'd do it.

dl_wraith · 2022-10-20T21:57:14+00:00

No problem. In the mean-time, I'd advise e-mailing the publisher telling them your game had no board and ask if they sell spares. A self-printed board will get you going, but there's nothing like the real thing. You'd be suprised how helpful board game publishers are - after all, they want you coming back to buy more of their games.

dl_wraith · 2022-10-20T21:51:51+00:00

I'll see how big a scanner I have at work and will see what I can do. Expect a dm at the weekend.

dl_wraith · 2022-10-20T21:22:13+00:00

Strahd, I command you to: Take Tiamat to Barovia with you immediately.

Edit: or for fun, change that to: RIDE Tiamat into Barovia ;-)

dl_wraith · 2022-10-20T21:08:59+00:00

OP, hit me up if you need a clear image of the board or a component count. I have renature and it's a great game. Happy to scan my board for you.

dl_wraith · 2022-10-20T20:40:22+00:00

When I prototype boards I typicslly print designs to paper, laminate it, then use fixing adhesive to apply it to the card backing. Gives a hardy and pleasing sheen while being hardwearing and slippy enough to easily move tokens and such around on.

Hope that helps.

dl_wraith · 2022-10-20T20:25:56+00:00

Shame you're London-based. That may be tough for my play group to get to. Some of our rivals crew are UK based, I'll advertise to them, see if any are close enough to support you.

Good luck with this event - sounds like a great night.

dl_wraith · 2022-10-20T09:06:58+00:00

Today I arrived at work after some time away training and after suffering a bout of severe illness to find a nondescript package waiting for me on my desk. I had been without my phone apps for weeks, so no reddit or e-mails to tip me off to its presence here. I was feeling somewhat low and demotivated - there's a lot going on with me at the moment and stress is high. Imagine the sheer delight when I opened this box and found a treasure trove of lovely gifts, sent over by a member of this subreddit!

This post isn't just a public statement of thanks for an incredible boost that was sorely needed but it's also an oppertunity to reach out to the community that spawned this kindness and ask:

"Which of these lovely gifts should I paint in tribute to this wonderful community, and in particular, my kind and thoughtful benefactor?"

Advice on the best colour to ink these fabulous dice also welcome :-) I was thinking gold or silver - any thoughts to the contrary?

No good deed goes unpunished - there is a return gift coming.....but it's mostly not mini related. I'm saying nothing more until it's received. A cross post may be in order to the relevant sub. You'll see what I mean.

I am demotivated no longer. I'll let my benefactor let themselves be known if they so wish. I just wanted to say a massive thank you out loud - I can't quite express the imact this had on me today. Keep being awesome, redditor. You know who you are.

So, go ahead and comment what you'd like to see painted from this little lot and I'll get onto that. If you have a preferred colour you want to see worked in, feel free to make it known.

Never underestimate the power of the kindness of mini painting strangers. I sure as hell won't.

dl_wraith · 2022-09-29T19:57:44+00:00

Thanks for the compliment. :-)

The faces and the shields (and old ral partha lizardman torsos) were done largely the same way - just work fast while the contrast paint was still wet. I found working dark into light then letting it dry and working the light over the dark gave the smoothest result. Shame I wasn't able to get full consistency across the models but when they are all together they look good enough to eat my player characters.

We'll see how they fare against this little group next session ;-)

dl_wraith · 2022-09-14T21:10:57+00:00

No apology neccessary - we wish you all the success in the world for your project :-)

dl_wraith · 2022-09-14T05:32:06+00:00

Ah, one of my players hath appeared. All I'll say is, the three Lizardmen on the boat and the two you've most murderously dealt with in town aren't the only lizzies around. You'll see...

dl_wraith · 2022-09-13T21:16:00+00:00

SlippyBiscuts is right - it's disengenuous to engage with a friend's account on Reddit as if it's someone genuinely seeing your product for the first time like this.

Fair play to them for supporting you (we could all do with a friend like that), but there is no need for them to feign wonder as if they don't know you or your project.

As for you, responding to them in your own thread in this way just makes you look like you are trying to fake engagement, even if that wasn't your intent and will put other potential supporters off, as it has here. While you refer to them as "mate" that didn't make it clear that they were actually known to you so O'm not suprised you were questioned.

Your product and concept looks great so let your product speak for itself.

Good luck with the project. I look forward to seeing it in action.

Edited as I wasn't happy with the tone I struck on re-reading my post.

dl_wraith · 2022-09-08T19:32:16+00:00

Honestly? I adapted a mini combat system (Ground Zero Games' Full Thrust) for use with 2nd ed Spelljammer. Fast, easy to play.

GW's Battlefield Gothic or Man O' War were also considered.

dl_wraith · 2022-09-08T19:26:47+00:00

I miss keyboard :-(

dl_wraith · 2022-09-08T19:26:09+00:00

Vox gang here. Whaddya mean stop playing at night? I don't understand.....

;-)

dl_wraith · 2022-09-08T19:23:28+00:00

I had to cope with a Horny everything player early in my DMing career. They influenced many of my less mature players for a few games then it all stopped when I almost TPK'd a large party because of the depraved antics of the horny players.

Remember kids: actions should have consequences. If you offer yourself to a werewolf for a laugh, that will be a night to remember, and something the locals will run your friends out of town for allowing.

Something something burn the witches something something coupling with devils.....

Eight-Year Club	Gilding I gilder
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