Well, the holiday season is upon us, and it’s time to start looking for gifts for loved ones (and assorted family members too). Gamers are notoriously hard to shop for because…. reasons. We’ve polled our writers here and we’ve come up with a few lists that might help you find some gifts for that special gamer in your life. With all these lists, we will use Amazon affiliate links (and if you buy things from clicking these links, we might make a commission that help us keep the proverbial lights on here)

You can check out our previous lists at: https://opinionatedgamers.com/category/holiday-gift-list/

Sometimes you just want to find neat stuff that gamers might like. A few non-game suggestions that came up in our discussion…

One of the things that I have loved is my Gamegenic 1100+ Dungeon card box.  I have taken a number of small card games and nestled them all inside this great box.  The magnetic lid holds everything in place, and it’s a great way to store a bunch of games in a ready-to-go travel kit…  https://amzn.to/3ECxrlA

Gamegenic has a number of different sized deck boxes which can be repurposed for all sorts of things – https://amzn.to/3Vu6SpB

The other one that I have is a Stronghold 200 + which now holds all sorts of accessories and dice; and it comes with a stand so you can easily access all the contents…  https://amzn.to/3ih3foL

A nice poker chip set to replace those pesky paper money bills in your games (also nice if you host a monthly poker night like I do)…

My fancy set is a nice Brybelly set – similar to this – https://amzn.to/33lF1Cl When I got mine, I was able to customize the denominations that I needed. I like the way the chips come in separate trays that can be lifted out so you can pick and choose the denominations you need. My set has huge numbers in the middle making it easy to see their worth

Of course, you might want something a bit less extravagant…

This one is a decent choice – https://amzn.to/3DGfhgj – I like this one because it still has printed denominations on them.  If you get plain chips, then people always have to constantly try to remember what each one stands for.

And, if you’re looking for small chips – I LOVE my set from Meeplesource – https://www.meeplesource.com/proddetail.php?prod=MoneyDiscs200

(though they appear to be out of stock as of 28 Nov 2022)

These are nice and light, and have all the denominations that you’d usually need.  I can’t find the link now, but I did find a great holder for these on Etsy once, and my set is nice and compact.

Another set that we have used in the past year is the Game On Travel Coin set –  Game ON! coins are 25mm in circumference and 2.5mm thick.This is size and weight of a US quarter but twice as thick.  The coins are two sided with a pattern and no pattern side.  They can be used as an activated/inactivated token.   https://dercoinmeister.com/index.php/shop/

For an audio experience, you could have a Dropmix set at the end of the table… Sure, it’s actually listed as a game – but frankly, it’s not great as a game.  But it is super fun to use the game as a soundtrack creator for your game night.  When you’re not actively taking a turn, head to the Dropmix, change the cards around on the machine and hear a new track!

https://amzn.to/31JOlzk

It’s addicting and quite fun.  I know a few of the OG members loved it and bought all the expansions, etc.    Here’s an example of one of the 30 card expansions – https://amzn.to/3DI9qqT

Organizationally – I am still a huge fan of the Ubertrayz from Uberstax – these modular bins can be used for player pieces, supply pieces, snacks, whatever!  https://amzn.to/3ICblkb  You can see our review of them here

Many of our other writers really like card holders.  There are a myriad of different varieties available, but these extra wide wooden ones have been a big hit.  I like the way there are multiple rows so you can arrange many cards in whatever way you want.  https://amzn.to/3pLm3we

We’re also a huge fan of the BGG bit holders – these silicone holders come in a variety of colors, and they can not only hold cards but also organize your pieces!  The different colors also make them great reminders of player color as well.

There are also a bunch of silicone dishes that can be found – to hold all sorts of bits or snacks; and then they helpfully disassemble to lie flat for storage.  We seem to use at least one at every game night now.

There are also bowls of the leather variety – but we’ve never tried them.  I don’t even want to think about how hard it would be to get Cheeto Dust out of a leather bowl!

Of course, I can’t forget my good friends at Royal Bag – we worked together to form a collection of bags in the sizes that gamers use most !  https://www.royalbag.com/Board-Gamers-Combo-Pack/product/3765 

I guess you can say that we officially endorse these!  You’ll get 5 different sizes of bags in large enough quantities that you won’t need to re-order for quite some time!

Other things that have come in handy are extra bits – to either supplement games that don’t have enough or maybe just to replace things you don’t like –  some suggestions for things

Meeples – https://amzn.to/3AwD3fT

Dice – https://amzn.to/3tKZCd6

Polyhedral Dice – https://amzn.to/3go3HRp

Mini Dice – https://amzn.to/3EkJvYB

Micro Dice – https://amzn.to/3EMOV00

Counters – https://amzn.to/3OkRRUu

Wood Cubes – https://amzn.to/3TKZfd6

Plastic Cubes – https://amzn.to/3OkRBF4

One other thing that my group used to need – but maybe doesn’t currently – is a nice timer to put someone on the clock. You know, that person who just takes too long to take their turn.  This is a nice timer that you can use a preset time or have a custom time – and light a fire under that slow player!

And while I dont’ use this stuff – I’m a rubber band guy – A bunch of the OG writers like using Hugo’s tape to hold their decks of cards together – https://amzn.to/3EKPOn6

Supposedly removable and reusable without leaving behind any residue…

Another thing that could help is a Lazy Susan for your game table. I have found this one can hold most Eurogame boards, and this way, people can rotate the game around to see what they need, in the orientation that they can read it!  https://amzn.to/3dAswVl

Sure, it’s meant for jigsaw puzzles, but man, it still comes in real handy for games.

And , lets not forget about lights.  The Gaming Basement (like many basements) can be a bit dark.  Even with all the lights on, sometimes you don’t get a great amount of light to read super tiny print.  We have found that these extendable lights are perfect for adding to the ends of the table when needed for that extra illumination – https://amzn.to/3IC7ns0

Finally, you’ll need a way to carry all your games around.  There are two solutions that I have found super handy.

First, are the great bags from boardgametables.com – https://amzn.to/3lQNZhe

They can be stuffed with games, they offer nice padding, and then they come with a shoulder strap or backpack straps so they can be easily toted around

The other option that I have are these collapsible crates.  They hold a bunch of games, have nice holes in the side to carry them, and they come with lids – which is super great when it’s raining or snowing.  https://amzn.to/3DEJJqX

That’s a nice list of things that a gamer might want to help them out…  We’ll keep adding to this as the years roll on – it seems like we’re always adding something to make our game nights a little bit better…