Still looking for presents? Let us help this Christmas with our Board Game Gift Ideas.
Christmas is a wonderful time for many of us. A time of generosity, of giving and receiving amazing gifts. It can also be a time of scratching heads as we try and work out just what board game to give! Here at Gathering Games, we have once again put our heads together to come up with a list of gift ideas in helpful categories that just might help you in your quest for the perfect gift for that board gamer in your life. As people who love to play games, we have tried to bring you some great suggestions from our own experience and even thrown in a few alternatives just in case you need more options.
Table of Contents
👪 Something for the Family
Harmonies
Categories: animals, tile placement, pattern building, open drafting
Players: 1-4
Playing Time: 30-45 mins
Ages: 8+
In Harmonies, players build different landscapes and create habitats for various animals. On your turn, you select a set of three coloured tokens from the central board, representing elements like mountains, buildings, trees, water, and fields, and then strategically place them on your personal board.
After placing tokens, you can choose to take an Animal Card, which provides an objective to guide your strategy. For instance, a field mouse card may allow you to place an animal cube and earn points if you create a landscape where a building is flanked by two fields. Often, these cards will allow you to score each time you create the desired habitat (usually capped at between 2-5, depending on the animal), with the points usually ramping up each time you do it.
At the end of Harmonies, players score points based on the habitats they create, with each terrain type offering unique scoring opportunities. For example, mountains score points if they form a range (connected to at least one other mountain), with taller mountain ranges earning more points, while rivers are scored for their longest uninterrupted chain of water tokens.
Decisions can involve tough trade-offs: placing a building might complete the ideal habitat for a gecko cube but block a river's extension, reducing its potential score. Similarly, placing an animal cube on a mountain tile earns points immediately if you’ve completed the required habitat layout but prevents stacking additional tiles. This limits the mountain's growth and reduces its final score. These layers of strategy make the game enjoyable for both children and adults while offering depth for more seasoned players.
This would be a perfect gift for a family to enjoy together, especially as a fun activity to play later on Christmas Day.
Harmonies
£27.99
£33.99
Description In Harmonies, you will create beautiful landscapes by placing colored tiles. These tiles will create territories for animals and will bring them in to settle in your tiny world! Tactically combine your landscapes and animals to earn the most… read more
You could also try:
Diamant 2024
How far will you go in the pursuit of gems? Diamant is a fun push-your-luck adventure exploring the caves. With each turn, you need to simultaneously choose whether you will return with your treasure to store safely in your chest at base camp or push on for greater riches. These caves have dangers, and uncovering one too many will result in you returning with nothing. Diamant is a fun, well-designed game that anyone can join. You can read our review of Diamant 2024 here.
Diamant (2024 Edition)
£16.99
£19.99
Description A brand new version of the hit push-your-luck game! Explore the jungle cave to secure precious gems. Travel deeper for more reward, but make sure you can get back out to tell the tale! Diamant — also published as… read more
Colt Express 10th Anniversary Edition
(Re-)Discover the awesome Colt Express with its fantastic 3D train. Each player plays a bandit trying to come away with the most loot in this clever game of pre-programming bandits and gunslinging. On your turn, you have to place your action cards face down into a common deck in the centre of the table.
Then, in the next phase, these cards are revealed one at a time and an action performed without changing the order of the deck. All of this leads to clever, thought-out moves and great frustration as the game state changes before your card is played. A great game, indeed, for family fun.
Colt Express 10th Anniversary Edition
£24.99
£32.99
Description Schemin' and stealin' to the end. No mercy, no possible alliance: between the cars, on the train’s roof, bullets come from everywhere. The out-laws are injured. The Marshall patrols the train, thwarts the plans of the bandits. He is… read more
🐺 Gaming for One
Gloomhaven: Buttons and Bugs
Categories: solo, fantasy, miniatures, campaign, hand management, really small pieces
Players: 1
Play Time: 20-30 mins
Ages: 14+
Gloomhaven became popular when it launched in 2017 as a large-scale, immersive, campaign-driven, dungeon-crawler-style game. Gloomhaven: Buttons and Bugs takes place after the events of Gloomhaven in the same setting. Only this time, as a wannabe hero, you find yourself magically shrunk to the size of a mouse and must battle your way through monsters on your way to recovering your size and reaching your goal.
Buttons and Bugs might come in a small package but packs a lot of game, with six different characters, each represented by an awesome tiny miniature, each boasting their own playstyle, Character card and double-sided ability cards. Alongside the variation in heroes, the game comes with 22 scenario cards, which double up as the game map. The gameplay is heavily inspired by Gloomhaven, using a similar card-driven action selection. In each round, you play two cards. Each card has a top and a bottom action, and you choose the top half from one and the bottom from the other. Once played, you flip the cards to their B side, creating a number of combinations. Alongside your ability card, you roll a modifier dice to see how successful your attack has been. Each scenario sees you come up against a number of unique monsters, each with its own AI, as they try to stop you from accomplishing your goal, which could just be to destroy all monsters!
As you progress through the campaign, you have the opportunity to level up your hero, upgrade your ability cards and improve your modifier table. On top of that, each completed scenario brings you items you can equip and use.
Buttons and Bugs is an excellent option for a solo game. Its size means it easily fits in a bag, and its small footprint means it can be played in a cafe, pub or, as the website suggests–even on an airplane tray table. And with a relatively short play time, it can fill half an hour or an evening with multiple scenarios.
This would also make an excellent gift for the solo gamer.
You could also try:
Paperback Adventures
Conquer a menagerie of pulp novel characters in this solo deck building word game. Just like in Paperback, you will build your own deck of cards featuring letters that can be used to spell out words. However, in Paperback Adventures, you will be going up against AI-driven enemies instead.
🥳 It’s Party Time!
Order Overload: Cafe
Categories: cooperative, memory, limited communication, increasing difficulty, playing cafe staff, that one friend that comes up with a technique to aid their memory and then can not remember one order on level 1!
Players: 2-6
Play Time: 20mins
Ages: 6+
Have you ever had that group of customers that come in and create the most ridiculous order that you know you're just not going to remember? Some of us have lived this experience, and some have experienced this brilliant, fun game! In Order Overload, you have to work as a team to remember increasingly difficult orders.
In each round, a number of cards are drawn from the deck, each containing a different order, and they are then read out to the group. In round one, you draw one per player, and in round two, two, and so on. These are then shuffled and dealt to each player. On your turn, you have to name an order that is in someone else's hand! Once you have been successful, you start again with an additional card each and so on.
Although this game has a simple concept, we had a lot of fun playing it. It's amazing how you can listen to 5 different drinks and forget every one of them on your first turn! For a fun party-style game that will compliment an evening with friends or family, act as a filler game before or after something more complex or put it in your bag for the pub as we did; this is a great little game.
Order Overload Cafe
£18.99
£20.00
Description Forgetting………is fun!? UH OH! Here comes that customer who likes to give confusing orders. Work together to memorize their order. It's ok if you don't remember the order cards that were given to you. But what tends to happen… read more
You could also try:
Traitors Aboard
In this pirate fun hidden role / social deduction game for up to 8 players, as pirates you will be doing all you can to add wealth to the treasure chest waiting for the right time to count your gold and split the plunder. But hidden among you, mutineers will be trying to work against you to ruin your plans and take a bigger share of gold for themselves. The trick will be keeping your roles secret and not being asked to walk the plank. On your turn you will either secretly add gold to the chest or play a card. Look through the chest, force players to lose their hand of cards if you don't trust them or place a plank card in front of someone, if any player receives three planks they go.
Traitors Aboard
£17.99
£19.99
Description Dive into the Thrilling World of Traitors Aboard! Experience the ultimate social deduction board game engaging players of all ages. Unleash fun for the whole family with its captivating blend of strategy, bluffing, and negotiation. Stand out from the… read more
Herd Mentality
In this fun party game of up to 20 players you have to think like the crowd. As the game goes on you will be asked open ended questions and the trick is to write an answer that others would think of. If your answer matches the majority you all win a cow but if your answer is unique you land the angry pig! The first person to win 8 cows takes the crown. This game is huge fun for a group and sometimes a real insight to those you spend your time with!
Herd Mentality
£18.99
£20.00
Description DON'T HAVE A COW MAN!In Herd Mentality, if your answer is the odd one out, you’ll be saddled with the Pink Cow - and you don’t want that.NAME A FOOD WITH A HOLE IN IT...Do you think your answer… read more
Get Wet (Family Edition)
Take the family trivia fun to a new level of jeopardy with Get Wet. Each player is put on the spot to answer a multiple choice trivia question with a spray bottle in your face. Get the answer wrong and you get wet. This would definitely be a fun party game for those Christmas family gatherings.
Get Wet Family Edition
£18.99
£19.99
Description Get Wet Family is inspired by viral trends on TikTok of people answering trivia questions or finishing song lyrics. If answered incorrectly, they GET WET! Take Turns to be put on the spot and answer 50/50 trivia questions. Answer is correct;… read more
💕 Fun for Two
Lord of the Rings: Duel for Middle-Earth
Categories: 2-player, card drafting, tableau builder, area control, set collection, multiple win conditions, running away from Nazgul, nasty hobbitses
Player Count: 2
Play Time: 30 mins
Ages: 10+
If you are looking for an excellent 2 player game this Christmas the Lord of the Rings: Duel for Middle-Earth is a fantastic choice. Played over 3 ages you take it in turns to draft cards from a central pool to either build structures that bring you resources and Gold, or further one of your goals to victory.
In Duel for Middle-earth you have 3 ways to win;
Firstly, there is a central board representing 7 regions of Middle-Earth. If you choose a military card from the supply you can choose to place troops into one of 2 regions on the board. If you ever have presence in every region on the board you achieve victory. Placing troops in the same region as your opponent starts a combat in which the troops eliminate each other until one is left.
Secondly, there is the ring track, every time you take a ring card from the supply you move the amount of rings depicted towards your goal. This is a clever tracker in which the fellowship are moving along towards mount doom to destroy the ring, whilst the forces of Sauron are chasing them trying to stop it happening. If either the ring is destroyed or the fellowship are captured the game ends in victory for the successful party.
Lastly, you can win by rallying the races of Middle-earth to your cause, this is achieved by collecting faction cards from the supply depicting their symbol, if you form an alliance with all 6 races then you have achieved victory.
The twist with Duel for Middle-Earth is that not all cards are available. At the start of the age you set the cards up in an overlapping pattern in which only the cards on top, with no cards overlapping them, can be played. This brings brilliant tactical decisions as you try to engineer the right cards being available on your turn and try not to uncover cards that would benefit your opponent.
This is a huge recommendation from us here at Gathering Games and for more information you can read our full review of Duel for Middle-Earth here.
The Lord of the Rings: Duel for Middle-Earth
£22.99
£27.99
Description A dark rumour rises from Mordor. The Eye turns to Middle-earth. The hour has come. The Fellowship is reunited. The Heroes prepare for battle. In Duel for Middle-earth, you’ll have to choose sides. Play as the Fellowship of the… read more
You could also try:
Patchwork 10th Edition
A classic, very popular 2 player game that has been released in which you are making a patchwork quilt by collecting and placing polyomino style pieces on your board.
Patchwork: 10th Anniversary Edition
£18.95
£22.99
Description HAPPY BIRTHDAY, PATCHWORK! From one of Gathering Games favourite designers, Uwe Rosenberg. In 2024, we celebrate the 10th anniversary of our mega seller Patchwork (more than 1 million copies sold worldwide) with a new edition. This reprint of a… read more
Fugitive 2nd Edition
Fugitive is a really clever game of deception and deduction as one of you, the fugitive tries to escape a marshal who is trying to work out where you might be hidden on the way. Brilliant game that can be played in 10-15 mins and worth checking out.
Fugitive (2nd Edition)
£23.99
£24.99
Description Fugitive - a tense two player deduction card game, full of close calls and great escapes - all packed into 10 minutes! It's a quick, intense chase between the Fugitive, who is trying to get out of town, and… read more
For more examples of 2 player games why not read our guide on the Best 2 Player Board Games For Valentine's Day?
🙏 Cooperative Play
Daybreak
Categories: cooperative, tableau builder, hand management, simultaneous action selection, multiple card tags, planting trees, terrifying carbon production, hopelessly watching the temperature rise
Player Count: 1-4
Play Time: 60 - 90 mins
Ages: 10+
If you are looking for a cooperative game then Daybreak might be the interesting new game for you this Christmas. Daybreak is a game about climate change, more specifically world powers coming together to see if they can make a difference and reverse climate change.
In Daybreak you will work together to play local projects within your own world power or contribute to global projects collaboratively in an effort to reduce the amount of carbon being produced in the world. This could be in reducing dirty energy and increasing your green energy capability, or it could be in projects that reduce emissions from cars or industry, or it could even be planting more trees.
This game has come incredibly well designed and not only is the artwork very nicely done but each card in the game - and there is a lot, comes with a QR code that not only helps with any rule clarification but tells you all about the project and even how to find out more. This has been brilliantly designed and really impressed in the games we had.
Each global power can have 5 local projects running at any time so during the local phase you are either adding tags to existing projects to strengthen them or playing a new project on top of a stack, benefitting from the tags already there. It has some really clever action efficiency as you activate a project then play a new project over the top in order to benefit from the same stack of tags.
Each round, you will produce carbon emissions - which is quite alarming, and then any you can not sequester through oceans and trees or even carbon capture technology are added to the temperature track, the more carbon goes in the warmer the earth gets.
You win if you enter drawdown and less carbon is produced then you have capacity to deal with.
Daybreak has been a great addition to my collection and highly recommended if you are looking for a quality cooperative game that is something a bit different!
Read our full review of Daybreak here.
You could also try:
Spirit Island
In Spirit Island players take on the role of Spirits defending their island and its inhabitants from colonizing invaders. Each Spirit plays in a completely different way enabling fantastic combinations and replayability. Throughout the game you will grow your influence and presence, play power cards as well as gaining new cards to bring new combinations and stop invaders from exploring and building, spreading fear in the process. Spirit Island is an excellent solo or cooperative game.
Spirit Island
£72.99
£89.99
Description Spirit Island is a 2017 co-operative game from Greater Than Games. Deep, strategic gameplay unfolds against a startlingly compelling backdrop of island spirits fighting to defend their home from colonial invaders. Can you and your friends use your spirits’… read more
Forbidden Jungle
In Forbidden Jungle, up to 5 players work together as you seek to survive on a mysterious jungle planet after your craft crash landed, leaving you stranded there. Explore new tiles, hold off hordes of venomous creatures in your quest to find and power your portal home.
Forbidden Jungle
£26.99
£34.99
Description In Forbidden Jungle, your team has crash-landed on a mysterious jungle planet, and you need to work together to survive. Search the ruins of an abandoned outpost for an elusive escape portal, all while fending off an ever-growing horde… read more
👶 One for the Kids
King of Tokyo: Origins
Categories: dice rolling, king of the hill, player elimination, push your luck, rampaging monsters, crazy power cards
Player Count: 2-4
Play Time: 30 mins
Ages: 8+
In this new release of King of Tokyo we go back to where it all began with big monsters attacking the city.
In King of Tokyo you play as one of 4 rampaging monsters competing with each other to be the first to 20 victory points or the last monster standing whichever comes first! Throughout the game you will compete to place your monster in Tokyo, whilst there you will accrue valuable victory points but you will be a target for all of your opponents.
On your turn you will roll the 6 dice and depending on the results you can choose to reroll as many as you like up to 2 more times. The dice will either enable you to gain victory points if you have a set of 3 matching dice, heal damage but only if you're not in Tokyo, gain energy to buy power cards or do combat damage. If you are in Tokyo any combat damage you deal hits all other monsters but if you remain in Tokyo you are a target for everyone else's attacks! Once you have been attacked you can choose to yield tokyo but if you choose to stay you gain additional victory points every turn you remain.
King of Tokyo Origins is a fast paced fun, dice rolling game that the kids and adults will enjoy. Easy to learn and full of monster rampaging fun. A great gift for Christmas Day.
King of Tokyo Origins
£19.99
£24.99
Description King of Tokyo: Origins is a standalone game in the King of Tokyo series that's meant to serve as an entry point for new players since it's a smaller, more affordable package. The game includes four new monsters, an… read more
You could also try:
Disney Mad Tea Party
Have fun in this topsy-turvy tea cup stacking game. On your turn you will play cards depicting all the iconic characters from Alice in Wonderland. The card you play will tell you what to do on your turn, which cups you need to stack and any other special rules for that turn. The game is as simple as that, stack the cup count to 3 and if it hasn't fallen over the go passes to the next person. The first person to play all of their cards wins. This has the normal fun of a dexterity game that can bring in people of all ages and plays in just 10-15 mins so will be a great addition to the family game stack.
Disney Mad Tea Party
£16.50
£17.00
Description Bring the Mad Hatter’s tea party to your family’s game table with Disney Mad tea Party! Join your favorite friends from Disney’s Alice in Wonderland in this topsy-turvy teacup-stacking game! Play a card to place a teacup, but don’t… read more
🤓 Thinking Strategically
Arcs: Conflict & Collapse in the Reach
Categories: space opera, area control, hand management, space combat, multiple scoring options, dice rolling fun, war trophies, I'm going to pretend to support you then destroy your ships.
Player Count: 2-4
Play Time: 60-120 mins
Age: 14+
Arcs is a sci-fi strategy game where players represent officials from a distant empire vying for dominance through battle, gathering resources or diplomatic influence.
Arcs features a card driven action selection system. At the start of each round the players are dealt 6 action cards from a central deck and starting with the player with the initiative, will take it in turns to play a card to complete a number of actions listed on that card. The other players then either have the option to follow suit in a trick taking adjacent style mechanics, surpassing by playing a higher number to gain the most value or pivoting, changing the style of the action card but only getting 1 action. This gives the game a really clever action selection mechanic as you work out which cards will give you the best turn efficiency.
Your action cards also allow you to select certain ambitions which you will compete for to score victory points in the round. There are 5 potential ambitions ranging from Tycoon where you are trying to collect the most resources, Tyrant where you are trying to take captives, Warlord where you want trophies of war (destroyed ships) as well as Keeper and Empath ambitions where you are collecting certain symbols or tokens. On your turn when you play a card you may choose to declare one of the above ambitions making it available to score in this round but only 3 will be scored each round. Choosing carefully can secure victory and derail your opponents plans.
Arcs is a fantastic deep game of growing resources, building star ports and cities, manufacturing ships, entering into combat or growing influence with the courts. In this clever space opera game, the ability to choose the ambitions that are scored each round can change the dynamic of the game. You may have defeated the most ships but unless the warlord ambition is declared it scores you nothing.
Arcs has already become a real favourite in the board gaming community and well worth investing in for those that like a deeper, more strategic gaming experience.
Arcs
£45.99
£47.99
Description Long ago, the Reach thrived. But our ancestors failed us, and I fear we’re no better. As we wrestle over the galaxy’s edge, can we break the cycle? Can we build something new? Arcs is a sharp sci-fi strategy… read more
You could also try:
Wyrmspan
Explore caves to build habitats for this awesome well designed world of dragons. Wyrmspan is a brilliant engine building game designed by and influenced by the very successful creators of wingspan. In Wyrmspan you will play dragons into your cave system in order to meet various scoring conditions. Each of your dragons bring different abilities and as you add additional dragons your actions chain and become more powerful. Wyrmspan is a beautiful, well designed game that brings huge variety and replayability, it even comes with a dragon spotting guide with information on every dragon in the game. A great option for a more strategic Christmas game night.
You can read our full review of Wyrmspan here.
Wyrmspan
£44.99
£54.99
Description Welcome to Wyrmspan, a world where majestic dragons soar across the sky in a dazzling array of colours and shapes. You are a novice dracologist who has discovered a hidden labyrinth on your property. Explore the ancient tunnels and… read more
🧦 Stocking Fillers
Ideas for Santa
Spots
Categories: push your luck, action selection, dice rolling, trick drafting, dice placement, lots of dogs, going bust and watching your friends laugh at you
Player Count: 1-4
Play Time: 25-30 mins
Ages: 10+ (community indicates 6+ on BGG)
Spots is a push your luck dice chucking game in which you are trying to complete dog cards by matching dice to the spots on the card. Any dice you can not use get buried in your backyard, careful though, if your buried dice total is more than 7 you bust and your turn is over.
On your turn you can do one of 2 things; take the actions on a trick card and flip it over or score your completed dog tiles. When you take a trick from the face up cards available, you then follow all the instructions on it, these will tell you how many dice to roll and potentially other special abilities for this turn. Once you have rolled you have to place your dice on your dog cards, any dice you can not play must be buried in your yard - not good! If you have any dog treats these can be used to reroll bad dice rolls but you have to roll all the dice of that roll not just the dice you didn't like!
If you choose to score your dog tiles, you remove the dice from any completed tiles and draw a new dog for each one you have completed. If you ever reach 6 completed dog tiles the game ends!
Spots is a fast paced fun game in which you will always take one risk too far and see your family or friends laughing as you discard your dice. Each game is set up with 6 trick cards but with over 20 in the box there is a lot of replayability as each game will feel very different. Spots is an easy game to pick up but with plenty of strategy to learn and that addictive element of pushing your luck can be enjoyed by all.
Spots
£19.99
£24.99
Description From the makers of the smash hit party game Monikers comes Spots! Spots is a game that combines dice and dogs. You’ll roll dice and try to match them with the spots on your dog cards. But be careful,… read more
You could also try:
Rafter Five
Oink games have produced some fantastic small box games and Rafter Five brings another gem to the table. In this clever dexterity game, you are trying to build as big a raft as possible where the box itself becomes part of the base of the raft.
Through the game you will be placing raft cards on the base using the rafters to weigh them down whilst trying to balance treasure chests on the raft. It is a great little game and will go well in any stocking.
Rafter Five
£19.99
Description You supported it ALL? 5 rafters are collecting planks of wood to make their raft bigger. Try your best to instruct them to load the cargo into the raft. But be careful, the balance of the raft extensions is… read more
Odin
Odin is a brilliant hand management game where you are trying to get rid of all your cards as quickly as possible, sending your vikings into the world. The deck contains six suits all numbered 1-9. At the start of a round you will deal each player 9 cards of which the starting player will play one to the table. Each player has to beat the total or play an additional card which must be the same number or colour.
The twist is you play the cards in digit order so a 6 and a 3 would be 63. When you play cards to the table you then get to pick up a card previously played. Odin is an interesting take on hand management / ladder climbing style game where the player with the lowest points at the end wins the game.
Odin
£9.99
£11.99
Description Send your best Vikings into battle! Collect cards with the right characters from Norse mythology to make up your hand and surprise your opponents. Create the best combinations to turn up the heat on the battlefield. With fast-paced rounds… read more
🎲 That's Not All
We really hope, here at Gathering Games that you find this article useful, we know how hard it is to get the gaming fan in your life a treat this Christmas. If you want more ideas why not have a look through our full collection of board games as we have already created a number of helpful categories to filter through the many awesome games available.
There are a number of reviews on our blog that may also be useful in tracking down the perfect gift. If you can not find what you are looking for you can always contact us and we will do what we can to help you.
From all of us here at Gathering Games we wish you a very happy game-filled Christmas full of dice and festive cheer.
