A Lost Early Interview of Ryan from Dad Suggests
Today I have something of a trip down memory lane in store for you as we approach the 5th anniversary of Dad Suggests. It’s a bit funny of a concept to publish this article, because it’s actually an interview of me. As you can imagine, that’s not exactly something I would usually consider for an article on my own blog - but I swear I have an acceptable reason.
The very good reason I refer to is that this interview first appeared on a now defunct website, and I simply thought it was a shame to have these memories of our first year in operation sink away into the abyss. There aren’t many recorded examples out there of me reflecting on why we do what we do on Dad Suggests, and I didn’t want to lose this one. Tyler of the now non-existent Kids Love Board Games conducted the interview, and I’ll reproduce the original questions and answers here in full.
But I also think this funny concept of an article provides an interesting opportunity for me to reflect on my answers after almost 5 years. Dad Suggests has come a long way since then. I’m still writing about our favorite kids books and family board games here, but we’ve also grown into an independent children’s bookstore as well.
So, with the added bonus of hindsight, Ryan from 2023 will be adding his own commentary after the original answers of Ryan from 2019. Is 2023 Ryan a changed man? Or am I destined to stay the same and have the same opinions forever? There’s only one way to find out.
And with all that said, and without further ado, let’s get to the interview - of me!
Tyler from Kids Love Board Games: Tell us about your blog.
2019 Ryan: I started DadSuggests.com as a way to share with others the things that my family loves – particularly family board games and picture books. But I don’t see it as a review site - mostly because I only recommend and write about the things we love. I look at it as a blog about parenting and raising happy kids.
My wife and I have two kids – a 6-year-old boy and a 3-year-old girl. I’m inspired to write about the things we’ve enjoyed together, and I often reflect on my role as a dad as well. There are certain topics that come up again and again - things like empathy, imagination, creativity, and self-confidence. If I had to sum up our mission very concisely - it would be spreading the message of reading to your kids and playing with your kids.
2023 Ryan: 2019 Ryan was a very articulate guy, huh? I’m very glad we’ve always used the site as a recommendation source instead of a review site. I still don’t like spending any time at all writing about things we don’t actually love - and empathy and imagination still feel like extremely important pillars to what we do even after all these years.
Our kids are 6 and 10 now - and it’s fun to think that our daughter is the same age now that our son was then. That means we’re rediscovering all of the board games that were perfect for him at that age, and that’s a special experience.
Tyler: How did you get started in the board game hobby?
2019 Ryan: I had a pretty standard, modest board game collection growing up. And we spent a very modest amount of our time on them as well. But I have very vivid and fond memories of playing board games as a child. One of my earliest memories is playing Hi Ho Cherry-O with my dad, and one of my favorite summers included playing Hero Quest with my dad, my brother, and a neighborhood friend.
I can vividly picture the random houses and the very rooms where I played Mouse Trap and Guess Who?. And when I took down the tubs of my old board games from my parents’ attic the feelings of nostalgia came rushing back. That’s when I really knew how big of a lasting impact playing games with your kids can have – and that’s why I’m trying to help them build some awesome memories.
2023 Ryan: We still have tons of those board games from when I was little, including Hero Quest - which I’m extremely glad to have. It’s by far the best game we had and a very special keepsake to share. But the funny thing is that the vast majority of those old board games in my attic were gimmicky games like Mouse Trap and Don’t Wake Daddy and Shark Attack.
I suppose my point is that board games have come an extremely long way. I have a lot of positive nostalgic feelings for those games, but I’m incredibly impressed with the hundreds and hundreds of strategic and engaging games for kids and adults to enjoy together now.
Tyler: What board games are you enjoying right now?
2019 Ryan: My wife and I are crazy about Spirits of the Wild. We have probably played that game more than any other game at this point. We’re very big fans of Azul as well. Lately our 3-year-old loves picking out Pick Me Up, Piggy! (we've always been huge Peaceable Kingdom fans) and Sleeping Queens. She’s actually a big fan of card games. And our 6-year-old son was blown away by Untold: Adventures Await recently. It’s a game that uses Rory’s Story Cubes to help you tell stories and it’s a blast. He’s a creative guy and he is hooked on writing those stories together.
2023 Ryan: It’s a lot of fun to look back on this answer. My wife and I are still crazy about Spirits of the Wild (except now it’s tragically out of print!) and Azul. They’re still 2 of our very favorite games after all these years. We now have a weekly battle against each other - and those games are still in our rotation of five 2-player games we’re obsessed with.
Now that we own a children’s bookstore and game store, Gamewright and Peaceable Kingdom are still two of our favorite game publishers - and we’ll always keep them in stock. In fact, Gamewright just released Sleeping Queens 2 and the original is still very popular with our kids.
My son is still a very creative guy and still loves to weave stories - and his current favorite outlet for that is actually Dungeons & Dragons. He has 2 online campaigns and 1 local campaign that I play in with him!
Tyler: What is your favorite family board game of all time?
2019 Ryan: 13 Dead End Drive – the classic game with working booby traps where you’re trying to be the last one standing and inherit the fortune. When I took down my old board games from my parents’ attic – 13 Dead End Drive was far and away the game I was most excited to see. I have very fond memories of this game and lots of nostalgia. And it really holds up too. I still love playing it with the kids. It was actually reprinted recently so thankfully families everywhere can still discover it for themselves.
2023 Ryan: Even after 5 years of growing our board game collection, and then recommending and writing about and even selling our favorite games in our store - I still agree with this answer. It has a great spooky, murder-mystery theme, and it’s still a lot of fun for me. And I don’t think it’s entirely the nostalgia talking. It’s one of the many items in our store I feel almost honored to share with the community.
Tyler: What board games are your favorite right now when you have an adult game night?
2019 Ryan: Like I mentioned before, if my wife and I are playing without the kids, we really like Spirits of the Wild a lot. We also like to battle each other in Kingdomino and Blokus Duo. Of course these are games we can play with the kids as well, but our collection is almost entirely comprised of family games. If we were going to bring a game to a friend’s house right now it would probably be Codenames, Azul, or a classic like Ticket to Ride. Those are always big hits.
2023 Ryan: My wife and I have added a few games to our list of 2-player games that we always return to. One of those games is Defence Against the Dark Arts. It’s the same system as Hogwarts Battle, but it’s a competitive 2-player game and it’s an absolute blast. And looking back on this interview has done one good thing - it reminded me of Kingdomino! That would be a perfect game for my wife and I to use in our Sunday who-does-the-laundry battles.
And, for the record, Grandpa Beck’s Reign of Dragoness was a very big hit at our latest adult game night.
Tyler: What got you into blogging in the first place? What keeps you around?
2019 Ryan: I started writing about the books and games that we love because I wanted to help other parents find really high-quality stuff to enjoy with their kids. Just as an example, my son and I really like scary stories. And I realized how tricky it was to find suggestions for picture books that were legitimately scary but still for kids.
Over time I’ve come to find out how much I enjoy reminding others that we have a really amazing opportunity as parents. I like to say that I have a noble duty to provide a magical childhood for our kids. That’s a big part of what keeps me going. I may be writing about family games and kids books – but in my head I’m often reflecting on making kids happy and other important pieces of the meaning of life.
2023 Ryan: It’s funny to be reminded about scary stories being such a huge motivator for starting Dad Suggests. I’d almost forgotten how big of a role that actually played. I had collected all of these really wonderful scary picture books for kids, but I could find so few resources to help me track down more truly good ones. And I’m still obsessed with finding new scary stories for us to read! My 10-year-old is really finding something spectacular spooky graphic novels now.
I also have to say I really like the phrase “noble duty to provide a magical childhood for our kids.” I should say that more or put it on a t-shirt or something. It really is meaning-of-life kind of stuff - and it’s the source of my personal opinions on everything from books to games to schooling and parenting.
Tyler: If money and time were not an obstacle, what would you be doing right now?
2019 Ryan: I really enjoy traveling a lot. If I could be doing anything, I would choose discovering new places around the world with the family every single time. We’d also like to get an RV and travel the country together. If money and time were not an obstacle, my best guess is that we’d pack up lots of board games and books and spend quite a bit of time relaxing in a forest or near an ocean.
2023 Ryan: Hey! Life goal achieve I supposed, because we have a cool, old, colorful RV now. Although it spends much more time in storage than in the forest. Now I suppose the new life goal is to set aside the time to actually use it!
In retrospect, however, the honest and correct answer to this question is things wouldn’t look very different from what we are doing now. We’re happy, we’re healthy, and we spend lots of time together. My business is writing about and selling board games and kids books. I actually get to sit and read great stories to children in my own children’s bookstore. How cool is that?
Tyler: What is something that people would find surprising about you?
2019 Ryan: Some people might find it surprising that I’m a licensed public school teacher who teaches chess to kids all day long. Chess is my entire job at school and I love it. There are a lot of wonderful life lessons that the game can teach kids – like the importance of thinking before you act and how to handle defeat. And it’s fantastic for firing up the frontal lobe and strengthening executive functions as well.
2023 Ryan: I don’t teach chess every day anymore, but I do go in once a week to work with the chess team still. My very first students that I had as 4th graders are now seniors - what a wild feeling. And they are also incredibly good at chess. I’ll be taking them to another national championship soon and it’s all a true joy to a part of.
I also grew my love of chess into a local non-profit that supports scholastic chess in all of Northwest Arkansas. I suppose chess will always be a part of my life - and not least of all because of how much I love to share it with children! Which reminds me… maybe I should leave a set setup and ready to play at the bookshop!
Thanks for checking out this lost interview! I hope you’ve enjoyed our recommendations over the years, whether you were reading our blog back in year one, or if you just discovered us after opening our bookstore. It’s always a pleasure to chat about books and games with all of you.
