Best Christmas gifts for board game lovers 2022
Plenty to play on the sleigh.
The festive season is with us once again, which, of course, means scrambling around to find suitable presents for our friends and family. If your loved ones happen to enjoy playing board games, then you’ve just found the perfect well to draw from for gifts for board game lovers.
Rather than buying them yet another game to squeeze onto their shelves, why not consider getting them a present that fits the theme or serves as a useful tool for them to use alongside their hobby. From displays of their love for board games to handy little knick-knacks that they’ll appreciate, these gift ideas will bring a smile to their faces.
Best Christmas gifts for board game lovers
- Cuddly Catan-themed plush toys
- D20 candles
- Board game posters
- Games Night Scoreboard
- Board game bag
- Board game shelving
- Board game bucket list scratch-off board
- Dicebreaker board game t-shirts
- Meeple Christmas decorations
- Board Game Survival Kit
- Scythe metal coins
- Wingspan meeples
- Gucci dice
Some of these gifts could even change the way that your board gaming friends and family approach their hobby, offering solutions that they might have never thought about. Blow people’s minds with these fantastic Christmas gift ideas for board game lovers this 2022.
Cuddly Catan-themed plush toys
Revealed at the very beginning of 2021, these adorable cuddly plush toys are personified versions of the classic resources found in the beginner board game Catan. The two sheep - one is a reference to the robber token in the game - seem fairly straightforward. The other toys in the collection are rather more bizarre, but no less cute. A smiley log, brick, ore and wheat are also featured, paying homage to the elements players need to build their various settlements, roads and cities in Catan.
If your friend, family member or loved one happens to be a big fan of the beloved board game, and especially of any of the specific resources in the game, then a ‘Catanimal’ plush toy could be exactly what they’re looking to put on their pillows. Alternatively, you could even get one for a friend or family member’s child to play with, preparing them for the board game sessions to come.
Buy a cuddly Catan-themed plush toy from the Catan Shop
D20 candles
When it’s dark and cold there’s nothing quite like the inviting glow of a candle, especially if that candle happens to be in the shape of a d20. These d20 shaped candles are ideal for tabletop gamers who want to make their home a little more welcoming and well-lit. We’ve specifically included the Wild Mage d20 candle from the Spirit of the Wilds Etsy store because it randomly selects one candle from their collection, but the store has a selection of natural-smelling candles for buyers to choose from themselves.
These candles burn cleanly, meaning that they do not produce any smoke, and are made from sustainably sourced beeswax and natural essential oils. If your special someone has their own unique d20, then Spirit of the Wilds can even replicate it in candle form for you. Offer a comforting glow to someone who appreciates their dice with this particular present.
Buy D20 candles from SpiritoftheWilds on Etsy
Board game posters
Some board games have such iconic visual designs that they’re worth celebrating, which is what these board game-inspired posters do. They’re not one-to-one representations of the artwork for the board games they reference, but they tastefully evoke the ideas and themes of the titles they’re based on. For example, the Ticket to Ride poster features a block print of a train coming into the station, whilst the Terraforming Mars design depicts an image of astronauts exploring the Red Planet.
These posters are a perfect way for board game lovers to express their enthusiasm for the hobby and display a knack for interior design. Who ever said that board game art couldn’t be smart and very adult? Getting your friends one of these posters will help them find the balance between impressing the relatives and treasuring their beloved hobby.
Buy the Terraforming Mars poster from MeepleDesign
Buy the Sagrada poster from MeepleDesign at Redbubble
Games Night Scoreboard
With this personalised scoreboard, your gift recipients will be able to keep track of their respective wins and losses post-game nights. Especially competitive couples, families and friend groups will get a kick out of hanging this scoreboard on their wall or standing it on their kitchen counter, using it to serve as a reminder of who’s ahead in the household board gaming tournament.
The Games Night Scoreboard can be personalised to fit up to eight names – making it ideal for large households – with whiteboard sections that can be written on and rubbed out using a semi–permanent marker. Using their scoreboard, your gift-receivers will be able to settle arguments and decide who has to do the washing up this time.
Buy the Games Night Scoreboard from Not On the High Street.
Board game bag
As any board game enthusiast knows, besides trying to convince people to play with you, the hardest thing about the hobby is having to lug your games around without the luxury of a car. Which is why this travel bag that’s designed to carry board games is the ideal gift for people who regularly like to share their tabletop titles with others. Featuring two large inside padded compartments, as well as an outside compartment that’s perfect for smaller games, this game travel bag should make friends and family’s board game lives much easier.
Besides the handle at the top, the bag also comes with a larger shoulder strap and a trolley sleeve to enable users to attach it to their wheelie suitcases, making it more than suitable for taking on a tabletop holiday or using to carry home goodies from conventions - I know we certainly could have used one for our trip to Essen Spiel 2021. Sometimes the best gifts are the most practical ones.
Buy the board game bag from Amazon UK
Board game shelving
Speaking of practicality, this SONGMICS storage unit could offer a fitting solution to anyone’s disorganised board game collection. Kallax-style storage solutions are all the rage at the moment, but not everyone can afford a fancy piece of Ikea furniture, which is why this SONGMICS option is a good alternative - because it provides a similar kind of shape as a traditional Kallax unit, but for less.
The cubic cubbies are perfect for stacking board games in, with plenty of space available for all sorts of tabletop titles. This storage unit is available in semi-transparent and opaque finishes, allowing its owners to get a nice view of their beloved collection from multiple angles in their home. Help your board game loving friends and family better organise their collection with this SONGMICS storage unit.
Buy board game shelving from Amazon UK
Board game bucket list scratch-off board
Finding suggestions for new board games to play can be tricky, especially if you’re new to the hobby and don’t know what’s good. Other than perusing the many board game lists right here on Dicebreaker, getting someone a poster covered in suggestions for new games to play is another option. This 100 board games bucket list is a stylish way of encouraging friends and family to try out some games they may not have experienced before - from family favourites like Cranium to hidden gems like Bang! or Cash ‘n’ Guns.
Every time that they manage to play a game featured on the board games bucket list, they’ll be able to have the satisfaction of scratching off its panel on the poster to reveal a neat little image evoking the title underneath. Not only is this a great decoration for a board game lover’s abode, it’s also an excuse to get them to play the games you like that are featured on the poster as well - so it’s a win-win situation.
Buy the board game bucket list scratch off board from SpinningHatGifts at Etsy
Dicebreaker board game shirts
Gift something to your friends and family that’ll let them openly display their love of board games with one of our three brand new T-shirt designs. Featuring a nice selection of colours and fonts, this t-shirt will help your loved ones declare their passion for the hobby in a suitably fashionable and comfortable way.
The t-shirts feature a collection designs to help show off your love of board games to others. Whether you want to engage in conversation about Indie RPGs with the "Ask Me About Indie RPGs" T-shirt, or you want to declare that you're not an Orc or a Vampire but a board gamer then the check-list T-shirt will do a great job at clearing it up.
Buy the Dicebreaker board game shirts from the Dicebreaker store.
Meeple Christmas decorations
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This is possibly one gift that you’d want the recipient to open before December 25th, simply because it’s best used in the run-up to Christmas. These meeple Christmas ornaments are adorable handmade decorations designed to be hung on any board game lover’s Christmas tree. Coming in a variety of colours - modelled after the standard player colours usually found in a board game - including red, green, blue and yellow, these meeple decorations are tasteful little reminders of one’s love for the hobby.
Buy the Meeple Christmas decorations from 8BitBuilder at Etsy
Board Game Survival Kit
We all know someone who picks the same colour piece every time. Maybe they even get a little irate if someone takes their favourite, or the game of the day doesn’t even have that colour. Fear not, these super cute little accessory sets may be the answer to preventing fisticuffs at the gaming table! They come in a variety of colours, I just picked purple for the picture because it’s the best, obviously.
In addition to preventing chromatic affrays, the Board Game Survival Kit is just handy to have, especially for someone who frequently travels to games. Not sure what’s on the cards? Just throw the tin in a bag and every eventuality will be covered. As well as the colour selection, the kits have a bunch of contents options at different price points, though even the most tricked out tins won’t break the bank, making this a perfect stocking stuffer if you have lots of people to buy for.
Buy the board game survival kit from AtikinGames at Etsy
Scythe metal coins
There’s something satisfying about a heavy fistful of change, even if the currency in question won’t even buy you a Freddo. Anyone who has been to a LARP that uses metal coinage knows how much the clink of coins can add to a game’s atmosphere. Now you can give the Scythe fan in your life the warming feeling of cold, hard cash and they don’t even have to go camping in a field in the Midlands to get it.
The set contains eighty coins in five different denominations and they give a real premium upgrade over regular card tokens. While they are intended for Scythe, they can be used in plenty of other games. Gold pieces in D&D? Sure! Magic: The Gathering life tokens? Why not! Whatever your chosen recipient plays, they’re sure to get plenty of use out of these.
Buy the Scythe metal coins at Amazon UK and Amazon US
Wingspan meeples
Wingspan has become one of the most beloved family board games released in the last decade, to the point wherein it’s even appeared on an episode of the popular British soap opera Coronation Street. It’s unsurprising that Wingspan has managed to capture the hearts of so many board gamers considering its accessible theme and beautiful artwork.
If you have friends or family who are avid Wingspan fans, then these bird meeples will help to make their copy look even more attractive. These charming little meeples can be used in place of the otherwise rather plain action cubes the game comes with, making the act of marking an action an even more enjoyable and satisfying experience. The available meeples in this pack include red Cardinals, green Owls, yellow Eagles, blue Finches and purple Mandarin Ducks, each one matching the existing colours of the action cubes in Wingspan. Fans of the birdy board game will love these adorable little meeples.
You can buy Wingspan Meeples from Etsy.
Gucci Dice
A nice dice set is a point of pride for any board game lover and many have their favourites, but you can take this even further beyond your standard metal or gradient dice sets. This set of dice from Gucci - yeah, that Gucci, the fashion company that now has its own film starring Lady Gaga - are made from a deep emerald green resin, featuring a stars and interlocking G design, come in their own Demetra case and cost almost £300 ($400).
Unless you know someone incredibly fashionable who loves tabletop gaming, and that you’re willing to spend such a significant sum of money on, this entry is very much a bit of a festive Dicebreaker joke that we wanted to include.
