Tabletop Gift List

The holidays are coming, and that means frantic shopping for gifts for all your gamer friends. I created this form to help us all figure out what's hot and what fits various niches in games. Fill out and submit the form, then click to see other responses!

I, for one, can't wait to pick up Sheriff of Nottingham from my Friendly Local Game Store!

Please share with others so we can get more ideas! If you want to review responses first, you can do that here.

Small World, by Phillipe Keyaerts

My apologies if the song gets stuck in your head...

Are you a wizard? Have you ever been called a troll? When you were a kid, was your nickname, “Dwarf”? Any skeletons in your closet, or rats in your walls? These are the probing questions you’ll have to carefully consider during a game of Small World.

I’m kidding, of course – Small World isn’t a game of sharing your dirt, but a fantasy-themed territory-acquisition (meaning you DON’T share your dirt) game from heavyweight publishing company Days of Wonder.  That’s a group well known for Ticket to Ride and other titles, and Small World fits right alongside those hits in a hallowed place in my game library. Come on inside, and I’ll share a few secrets of my own!

Dixit Journey from Asmodee

The eyes are the window to the soul. Truth is in the eye of the beholder. Sometimes the heart sees what is invisible to the eye. The eye sees what it brings the power to see. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. The eye is the notebook of the poet. If all these things can be said about the eye, what can be said about the things the eye sees? In Dixit Journey, a picture is worth anywhere from 1 to 1000 words.

Review: Elder Sign from Fantasy Flight Games

 

Elder Sign is a game based in the Lovecraftian Mythos. You and the other players take on the roles of the various characters from H.P. Lovecraft's writings. You are investigating the Miskatonic University Museum. The Museum has long been a hot-bed of unnatural occurrences.  Today an Ancient One will awaken. Your task is to locate the Elder Signs and seal the monster in the otherworld. There are unseen forces afoot. Keep your wits about you, or suffer the madness inducing twists and turns offered by Elder Sign from Fantasy Flight Games.

Review: Richard Garfield's King of Tokyo

Richard Garfield's King of Tokyo is my favorite dice drafting game, as well it should be! King of Tokyo provides a rich game play experience, minutes to learn and a lifetime to master. It's the winner of several awards, including:

• Best Family Game 2011 from The Dice Tower
• The Dice Tower Seal of Excellence
• 2012 Golden Geek
• Best Children's Game from Board Game Geek
• Best Family Game from Board Game Geek
• Best Party Game from Board Game Geek

Those are just what are printed on the box! There are a total of 19 awards listed on King of Tokyo's Board Game Geek Page.

One of the things that drew me to King of Tokyo in the first place was the box art. A giant lizard holding part of a skyscraper, a gorilla with cybernetic enhancements, and a massive rabbit robot with an energy sword. Everything about this box art screams "there is fun to be had here".

Review: Betrayal at House on the Hill

Avalon Hill Games

by Brian Judkins

If there is one game that has more power than any other to seduce people into the world of tabletop gaming, it must be Betrayal at House on the Hill. I no longer have fingers and toes enough to count the number of players who have been drawn in and possessed by the absolute, unapologetic fun of this game. My friends beg me to break this out, promising dates in advance. They just want to play it again and again and again.