Holiday Board Game Gift Guide 2021
Tis’ the season for holiday shopping! The Tabletop Simulator blog is bringing you the second edition of the Holiday Gift Guide for all the tabletop gamers in your life. Check out unique board game accessories, the best tabletop decor, fascinating gaming reads, game night snack accouterments, and of course, our favorite online gaming destinations & digital picks on Tabletop Simulator! Whether you are looking for the perfect Christmas board game present or ringing in the new year with a terrific tabletop gaming gift, this list will guide you through the entire winter holiday shopping season.
What better way to spread holiday cheer than playing board games with friends and family far and near? Of course, Tabletop Simulator, the largest online tabletop gaming destination, is our top pick for the board game lover in your life. Connect with over 3 million users and enjoy a library of more than 30,000 games & other community-created content with TTS! Check out our Tabletop Talks series for game night inspiration from some of the most exciting digital board games ready to play now on Tabletop Simulator!
Magical Market Management! This holiday season, compete with your opponents to gain the most gold in a fantastical array of adventures. Enjoy a fresh take on deck-building with twists and turns galore & plenty of player interaction! What better time of the year to come together through some spectacular shopping?
Travel back in time to pre-history in this 2021, Tabletop Simulator DLC release. In Rise of Tribes, players control a tribal factions in prehistoric times looking to GROW, MOVE, GATHER, and LEAD their people. The board is modular, composed of hexes of various terrain types each with a population limit. Players manage the number of tribe members they place on any one hex to either trigger or avoid conflict.
While our favorite gaming method is online, there is a special atmosphere at a board game cafe that cultivates both competitiveness and comradery in a location entirely dedicated to boardgamers. So this year, give the gift of the ultimate tabletop gaming experience to the tabletop gamer in your life. If you are looking for a local cafe for you or your friends we have a couple of resources for you! Take a look at Meeple Mountain’s list of the Best Board Cafes World Wide and Game Night Bro’s list of their Favorite Tabletop Cafes by each state!
Do you have a tabletop gamer in your life whose passion is so big that they are thinking about becoming a full-blown board game designer? One of the best ways to get started is by looking into crowdfunding. We suggest Jamey Stegmaier’s A Crowdfunder’s Strategy Guide as the perfect step-by-step solution to launching the next phase of any tabletop game developer’s career. Any and all questions about the ins and outs of a successful campaign are answered by board game creator and Kickstarter expert, Jamey Stegmaier! Check out our interview with Jamey in our article earlier this year, Beyond The Board: A Crowdfunder’s Strategy Guide!
Looking for a unique perspective on how board games are defined in the market? We suggest reading Board Games as Media by author and media scholar Paul Booth. Explore his thoughts on the board game industry and its role in the greater media landscape in this fantastic book. His research explores new themes and trends including how tabletop games are playing an increasing role in our daily lives and expanding into new, untouched markets through diversification and digitization. Take a peek at our interview with Paul Booth from earlier this year, Beyond the Board: Board Games as Media!
Wine and cheese anyone? Spice up your next game night by serving up your snacks on this meeple-shaped cheese board! Head over to Skeleton Key GDS’ shop and grab yourself one of these game-ready trays today!
Sip your hot cocoa from a merry meeple mug this Christmas Season! Keep your morning joe both festive and board game-filled this season with this one-of-a-kind mug!
Whether it’s a brew or a refreshment, every game night can use these meeple board game coasters to jazz things up!
Braddockco Etsy Shop- From Tree to Home
Personalize your ongoing game nights while adding a special touch to your wall with this game challenge board. Keep score of up to 10 games 10 different challengers.
Classic tabletop games can be played out on the wall with this magnetic canvas game set! Not only does this gift provide unlimited fun but it also works great as a beautiful piece of art!
Not even the bathroom is exempt from board game decor for the truest of tabletop gamers! Wash your hands with the perfectly named “dice of cleanliness”, dice-shaped soaps with customizable scents.
If you plan on having long-running game night competitions or are in need of a great way to keep score during a game, then this personalized scorebook is the ideal present!
Shop: $99.99- $1,500+
$$$$- Wyrmwood Gaming Tables- Our most customizable & expensive recommendation is for the die-hard tabletop gamer in your life! Take a peek at their Prophesy Gaming Table starting at $1,500. Enjoy luxurious, hand-crafted pieces that have a one-of-a-king lifting mechanism, pull-out cup holders for multiple types of glasses, component organizers, card shelves, and much, much more!
$$$- Jasper Board Game Table- For a slightly more affordable price point, we suggest looking at Jasper. Beginning at $799, this table allows you to add a variety of additional features to build out a board game lover’s perfect table.
$$- Wooden Jigsaw Puzzle Table- Our final selection is the $99.99 Jumbl puzzle board. While there are no customizable components, the smooth fiberboard surface with 4 pull-out storage drawers is the best affordable gaming table option on the market!
Any of these options will be a great addition to your next game night!
Shop: $179.00-$769.00
We have 2 options for board game shelving solutions depending in your price point.
$$$- BoxThrone- For the hardcore hobbiest, with more games than they know what to do with, we suggest heading over to Box Throne’s website. They specialize in board game storage solutions starting at $259.
$$- Ikea- For a more affordable storage option, Ikea’s open shelving unit provides the ideal shelves that both organize your games and showing off the tabletop titles of your collection. We recommend these shelves as both a practical solution & a home decor focal point that puts your games on display every day!
Did we miss any of the best tabletop gifts on the market?
Comment below and let us know!