Holiday Gaming Gift Ideas for Geeks
It's that time of the year, for the holiday cheer...and all that jazz.
Searching for the right gift for the geek in your life can be easier than you think. Below is a list of ideas I know I would be happy to get. Hopefully, these will help anyone on the path to finding festive treasures. Good luck and have a great holiday!
Pictured above:
Top Bag: Quick and Easy Drawstring Purse (crochet) Bottom Bag: D4s Pouch (knit)
Dice bags
Whether you're buying dice or they have enough already, they will likely need to carry them to and from their gaming sessions. Help them have a less laborious journey and gift them a dice bag.
Homemade, knit, crochet, or sewn, there are many options out there--even dragon scale dice bags! You can search Etsy for local crafty vendors who make amazing bags any geek would be grateful to have. Check out to see if there's someone local to you! Using their location filter you can shop local
Here's a link to get you started: Search: Dice Bags
Or, if you're a crafty creator like myself, create some festive fantasy bags for your RPG friends. Okay, they do not have to be festive but at least make sure they are colors your friends like. ;)
Places that sell dice also tend to sell bags as well. More links are below!
Dice
For anyone who doesn’t know the spectrum of possibilities, listed below are a few brands that I personally love. There are many types of dice out there now, but the hardest part is not buying them all!
From a personal consumer standpoint, their website is straightforward and easy to navigate. This company has a wide variety of colorful dice, ranging from raw (unpainted, not tumbled) to metal and stone. Their sets come with twelve pieces comprised of the usual set of seven, but you get a d2, two d20s, and four d6 on top of the d4, d8, d10, d00 (percentile), and d12.
I just got lost in the rabbit hole that is their site. Looks like they recently released gaming mats (Quick Mats). Freakin’ genius.
For beautifully done artisan stone and woodwork items, Norse Foundry is the site for you. They have a plethora of gorgeous wares, from gemstone dice sets, wooden chests, to woodwork dice towers and dice holders. The pink set below is their pink cat's eye stone dice. I bought these at Pax East
When I think of the classic standard of dice, I think of Chessex. This company has been manufacturing dice since 1987. You will see their sets in many comic book and game shops that sell dice, even Barnes and Noble is stocking Chessex dice these days.
Kraken sells 12 piece sets. Shown above is Summer Solstice in its glittering glory.
Once upon a Pax East 2019, I bought a pink cat's eye stone set from Norse Foundry.
Mats
Game mats and battle mats are useful tools so players have a visual representation of the terrain, providing a more immersive adventuring experience. It helps in the adventure, so we can make decisions as to where to go next, sometimes where to avoid (eg. steep slopes or pits). It also helps in combat, the grid spaces are typically measured in small squares representing 5 cubic feet. Depending on how close or far an opponent is, helps to determine a strategy on how to attack.
Kraken as previously mentioned has Quick Mats now, link above.
This Pathfinder site has flat mats that are printed with different scapes and building layouts.
Outside the realm of dungeon crawling, you can find spacescapes and Warhammer mats on this site. Mats by Mars offers many different types of mats.
Games
Dungeon Mayhem is an easy game to learn and quick to play. Gather around the table for a battle of quick hits and surprise plays. Each character has their own specialty for unique strategies to play against your foe.
Tenzi - If you have little ones in the house or enough people who enjoy rolling dice, this game is what you need. All players roll a total of 6 dice each in an effort to be the first to roll a pre-determined number. The playability goes further than that though, the instructions have other ways to play so you can shake and toss dice all through the evening.
Dice Throne is a level or two more involved than the previous games mentioned, but simple enough to get people playing right away. Characters are similar to the dungeon adventuring type, choose one and fight your opponent by rolling dice. Your character's sheet will have Offensive and Defensive actions accompanied by symbols unique to each character. These symbols are imprinted on the dice and on your turn, you have three chances to roll for a set that matches the groupings on the board.
That is all for this list. I hope it's not overwhelming. If it was, try searching for local game bars or shops; don’t forget about them! Take a look at their websites or call and ask about gift certificates.
Local to Connecticut? Check out these places!
Gamecraft Arcade and Bar - Southington, CT
Barcade - New Haven, CT
Elm City Games - New Haven, CT
Be safe, be well! Blessed be and Happy Holidays!