Great Gaming Gifts!
Great Gaming Gifts!
It’s that time of year when we all try to find the perfect gift for friends and family. Games make excellent gifts! Game play requires that people are together at the same table participating in the same activity. They get us away from our screens and doing something fun together. With that in mind, here is a list of games that make excellent gifts – from stocking stuffers to that big Santa gift!
Stop into the shop for more suggestions!
Stocking Stuffers:
- Sushi Go! – A fantastic card drafting game about making sushi.
- TemPurrA – Cute cats and an eating contest… crazy!
- Spot It! – A really fun, fast action matching game that everyone can enjoy. Available as classic or Holiday Spot it!
- Dice – “You can never have too many dice!” said everyone!
- Happy Salmon – A fast, move around, activity game fun for the whole family. Plus, it comes in a salmon!!
- Booster Packs – For that Pokemon or Magic collector.
Family Games:
- Ticket to Ride – One of the best games ever designed. Easy to learn, fun to play over and over.
- Catan – Another classic, well loved game. Sheep for wood?
- King of Tokyo – Can you control Tokyo City as one of Godzilla’s friends and come out on top?
- Splendor – You’ll want to play this gem collecting game over and over. Simple, but complex this game works for everyone.
- Lotus – Build flowers and win points with this beautiful and compact game.
- Carcassonne – This game is the origin of the Meeple! Place tiles to grow the region and control cities, roads and farms for points.
- Sheriff of Nottingham – Can you trick the Sheriff into thinking that you aren’t trying to smuggle contraband into the market?
2 Player Games:
- Patchwork – A fun, Tetris-like game of quilt making where buttons are your currency.
- Lost Cities – This deceptively simple game will get you thinking, and quick rounds make it great for any time f
- 7 Wonders Duels – If you like 7 Wonders, you’ll LOVE 7 Wonders Duel. Now with the Pantheon expansion.
- Hive – An abstract game similar to Chess, but with insects! Surround your opponent’s Queen Bee to win.
- Tally Ho! – Will you be the Hunters and Lumberjacks or the Bears and Trees?
- Onitama – Capture your opponent’s master to win in this innovative Chess-like game.
Strategy Games:
- Power Grid – Can you build the biggest, best power grid in the US?
- Agricola – Expand your farm with livestock while building a brick oven to bake bread. Remember to feed your family members!
- Isle of Skye – What price should you sell that choice piece of land? Be smart and you’ll be the richest Chieftain.
- Castles of Mad King Ludwig – Build the best castle by bidding for rooms and connecting them to the best advantage
- World’s Fair – Wonderfully thematic worker placement game! Will you have the best exhibits?
- Happy Pigs – Be the very best pig farmer you can be by breeding your pigs, keeping them healthy and selling them at market.
Cooperative Games:
- Castle Panic – Work together to defend your castle! Great for kids!
- Pandemic (Pandemic Legacy) – Prevent the four viruses from spreading out of control.
- T.I.M.E. Stories – You and your friends are Time Agents sent back to right a wrong in the Time Continuum. A whole new concept in tabletop games.
- Forbidden Island – Work together to collect four trophies before the island sinks! A Mensa Select game that’s great for kids.
- Forbidden Desert – Collect all of the pieces of your steampunk airship before everyone succumbs to the desert storm.
- Mysterium – A semi-cooperative game in which one player plays the ghost as the rest investigate to determine who killed the ghost in this seance. It’s a little like clue with fantastic art and some fun twists.
Star Wars Games:
- Star Wars X-Wing – A tactical miniatures game in which Star Wars ships are fighting it out in space!
- Star Wars Rebellion – Are you going to be the Rebels or the Empire in this miniatures board game?
- Star Wars Edge of the Empire RPG – Get your blaster and play in the Star Wars Universe.
- Star Wars Destiny (releasing 12/1) – Two player collectible card and dice game with easy fast-action back and forth play. Will the force be with you?
Party Games:
- Codenames – Rival Spymasters vie for their team to be the first to identify their agents using only their codenames and one word clues.
- Codename Pictures – And now they only have pictures!
- The Resistance – Are you a spy or a member of the Resistance? Can you identify the other spies to foil the government’s plans?
- Ultimate Werewolf – Townsfolk try to take out the Werewolves, while the Werewolves try to pick off the Townsfolk.
- America -Use your knowledge of pop culture, food, products, games, sports, and United States history to score more points than your opponents.
- Concept – A little like charades on a board, get your team to guess the concept using only the clues you’ve given them via pictures on the board.
- Telestrations – A cross between Pictionary and Telephone, Telestrations is HILARIOUS!
Role Playing Games:
- Dungeons & Dragons – Wizard or Rogue, Human or Elf. Roleplaying in a classic fantasy world is a great get-away!
- Star Wars Force and Destiny – Be a Wookie if you’d like!
- End of the World – Play yourself in this series of world ending scenarios
- Fiasco – Single session RPG with fun characters and hilarious results
- Shadowrun – Take cyberpunk to the streets
Accessories:
- Deck Boxes – Useful for keeping organized, they come in an array of colors, styles and prices starting at $2
- Card Sleeves – Identify your deck and keep your cards clean and free of wear and tear. Come in many types and prices.
- Card Binders – Do you have a trade binder?
- RPG Miniatures – Prepainted or unpainted, it’s fun to have an actual Owlbear when you encounter an Owlbear (OK, not at ACTUAL Owlbear… you know what I mean!)
- RPG Tabletop Mats – These erasable mats allow you to draw your dungeon, erase, and draw another one!
- Playmats – Keep your cards nice by using a playmat. Plus, it makes the cards way easier to pick up!
- Dice – There is no such thing as too many dice!
