Well, it’s that time of year, the annual struggle to figure out what to buy a gift for the special boardgamer in your life. I’ve been on both sides of this dilemma, and trust me, it’s hard to know what to get. To try to help you out, we’ve assembled a list of gifts that you can consider.

Surprisingly, we’re not going to include any games on our list. Why? Honestly, it’s incredibly hard to know what games are already in the collection, what sorts of games are preferred (or avoided), or which games might have already been owned but traded away quietly…

So rather than focus on games, we’d thought that we’d make a list of accessories and accoutrements that can be enjoyed by gamers of all kinds. There should be links for each off the recommendations. Amazon links are affiliate links for our blog.

Organization

Quiver – https://amzn.to/3jMofPM – The Quiver is a portable carrying case to hold card games and other small objects. The Quiver keeps things organized and neat. I know plenty of people that keep one in their car as an emergency game night collection.

IKEA Kallax Shelving – https://www.ikea.com/us/en/cat/kallax-series-27534/ – Many gamers prefer this type of shelving as it provides nice uniform spaces to store and display games. Additionally, the set is modular so it can grow to meet the size of any collection or room!

Royal Bags Gamers Bag Kit – https://www.royalbag.com/Board-Gamers-Combo-Pack/product/3765 – This is the first and only set of baggies that were reviewed and endorsed by the OG! This is a set with commonly used sizes of bags, in a thick durable weight.

Really Useful Plastic Boxes – https://amzn.to/2HL04DF – There are plenty of different sizes and systems here, but these are nice sturdy boxes that can keep bits organized both for storage as well as for game play.

Bits Bins – https://amzn.to/3fIS7vg – some smaller boxes that are also great to keep things organized on your table. This set gives you four different sizes of bins.

Stuff for the Game Room

LED lights – https://amzn.to/37n5QV4 – Whether you are shooting pictures or video reviews, its helpful to have good lighting. We have loved having these lights to put up when needed to be able to see our games better!

Neoprene Table Mats – https://amzn.to/3nAmCXJ – This is just an example of the possible sizes – you’ll obviously want to choose a mat that fits your gaming table. I was surprised at just how much better the game experience is with a nice mat to keep things in place when needed and also lets cards to be dealt nicely and smoothly.

Silicone Storage Bowls – https://amzn.to/34Hp4mU – nice colored bowls that can be used for either player storage (they come in commonly used player colors) or to hold common supply chits/coins/whatever. Heck, in a pinch, you can even use them for snacks!

Playing Card Racks – https://amzn.to/3ljvRcF – Sometimes you want your hands free to eat snacks, manipulate other bits, build little structures out of your meeples during other players’ turns, and whatnot, but still be able to see your cards! Card racks are a nice treat for games that include cards, but are also handy for some specialized games that use racks to facilitate “shared” hands between players. There are a few style options, or have your local woodworking friend or relative make you a custom set!

GeekUp Card and Bit Holders – https://boardgamegeekstore.com/collections/silicone-products/products/bgg-card-bit-holders – These great silicone racks from BGG are great for both cards as well as giving your four wells to hold money, meeples, gems or other little things.

Dry Erase Markers in Gamer Colors – https://amzn.to/2SFUPaf – Well, why not play your writable games with player colored markers? I like to use ones which have an “eraser” built in.

Colored Pencils in Gamer Colors – https://amzn.to/33qSPID – Some games need pencils and not markers. This is a great set for this as well

100 multicolored D6 – https://amzn.to/3mmEogg – These dice can be used for scorekeeping, surrogate pieces, player order markers and all sorts of other things. This set gives you colors to match just about any color set a game will give you

Mini polyhedral dice sets – https://amzn.to/3lf0FLK – sometimes you need more than a d6. The set has both 00 and 0 d10, which are perfect for keeping scores.

Fun Stuff

Finger Shocker First Player Chooser – https://amzn.to/3lvrA6k – I was once given one of these from a fellow gamer, and it certainly makes the whole first player decision making process a lot more interesting! Stick your finger in and whoever gets the shock gets to go first!

How to Host A Game Night – https://amzn.to/3q71z0h – Well, not everyone is going to be as gifted at hosting as Erik Arneson (though I suspect his awesome wife probably contributes…) – but a great book on how to have a successful game night in all aspects

Jigsaw Puzzles from the Magic Puzzle Company – https://amzn.to/2Hqc6SX – These are great jigsaw puzzles to help pass the time on some cold winter nights when quaratine keeps you in!

We hope that you are inspired by some of these ideas! We will be adding to this list as other ideas come to mind!