As we gear up for the holidays, you may be wondering which board games, RPGs, and wargaming products make the best holiday gifts. We're here to help with our helpful list in 2023's Tabletop Holiday Gift Guide! From Dungeons and Dragons to Warhammer, board games and beyond, we've got all the best gifting ideas ready for the season.
Roleplaying Game Gift Ideas
Roll the dice and let your imagination run wild! Here are some of our favorite tabletop RPG gifting recommendations.
D&D Starter Set: Dragons of Stormwreck Isle
To start, we recommend this incredible Dungeons & Dragons starter set, Dragons of Stormwreck Isle. With an MSRP of $19.99, you can't really ask for a more affordable entry into the hobby. This starter set includes ready-to-play characters, a full adventure guiding players through the titular Stormwreck Isle (while teaching the game as you go), and an easy-to-understand rulebook detailing the core mechanics of the game that you need to understand to play.
Pick Up D&D Starter Set: Dragons of Stormwreck Isle here: Amazon
Dragonbane RPG Core Rules
Want to gift something with a bit more of an old school feel? Try out Dragonbane, a game that marries old-school aesthetic and feel with modern, fast, and flexible rules. From our good friends over at Free League, Dragonbane is a translation of Drakar och Demoner, the first tabletop RPG to launch in Scandinavia back in 1982. This latest edition heralds back to the glory days of Scandinavian gaming, while keeping the gameplay and rules feeling thoroughly modern.
Pick Up Dragonbane here: DriveThruRPG
Essence20 Field Guide To Action And Adventure
For the ultimate crossover RPG gaming, look no further than the Essence20 Field Guide To Action And Adventure. With rules to combine the G.I. Joe, Power Rangers, and Transformers RPGs from Renegade Games, you can finally have a truly heroic RPG experience. We loved the game when we reviewed it earlier this year, saying "Not only does it open up more player options, it can provide the sorts of adventures only a crossover can have."
Pick Up Essence20 Field Guide To Action And Adventure here: DriveThruRPG
Stat Trackers: The Ultimate DM Tool
One of the coolest things we saw at this year's PAX Unplugged, Stat Trackers make a great gift for your forever GM. Shaped like a long bookmark that folds on one end, Stat Trackers are meant to be draped over your GM screen to help show off combat initiative on the player's side, and full stats on the reverse (GM) side.
Pick Up Stat Trackers Here: StatTrackers.com
Wargaming Gift Ideas
Line up your minis and get ready for the battle of the century! These gift ideas are perfect for the wargamers on your list!
Warhammer 40,000 Starter Set
We love Warhammer 40K over here, and think everyone should get into the game in one way or another. If you've got a gamer in your life who's been hinting that they're curious to try out Warhammer 40K, this Starter Set is an amazing way to introduce them into the hobby. It includes basic rules, dice, push-fit miniatures (need to be snipped, and are unpainted, but require no glue), and range rulers. What are you waiting for, soldier!?
Pick Up the Warhammer 40,000 Starter Set here: Amazon
The Army Painter Speedpaint Most Wanted Set
Army Painter's line of Speedpaint truly revolutionized tabletops across the world when it first released. Designed to naturally darken in recesses and lighten on highlighted portions, carefully applied Speedpaint can reduce your time behind the brush drastically! Plus, it's just fun to work with! This Most Wanted set includes the most popular colors and a complimentary brush - perfect for the wargamer on your list who never finishes their painting projects!
Pick Up The Army Painter Speedpaint Most Wanted Set Here: Amazon
Miniature Agnostic Wargames from Osprey Publishing
Have a wargamer on your list that wants to try something new, but isn't ready to invest in a whole new line of miniatures? The good folks at Osprey Games (alongside North Star Military Figures) put out some of the most fun wargaming rulesets that don't care what miniatures you use! Venturing into the frozen wastes with Frostgrave, or delve out into the stars with Stargrave, and use whatever minis you've got lying around!
Pick Up Stargrave and Frostgrave (and all sorts of other great wargames) here: Osprey Games
Board And Card Game Gift Ideas
From goofy to gorgeous, approachable to strategic, gather around the table for a look at our favorite board and card game gift ideas this holiday season.
Heroes of Barcadia
Whether you've got someone on your list who appreciates a good pint, or they're just into fun, lighthearted tabletop gaming - Heroes of Barcadia by Rollacrit should definitely make it onto your holiday list. In this rollicking dungeon crawler, every time you take damage, you take a sip from your glass! (And don't worry, there's nothing that says you can't drink water if you're not into spirited beverages) We can't recommend enough the party-atmosphere Heroes of Barcadia creates!
Pick Up Heroes of Barcadia here: Rollacrit
Magic: The Gathering Lord of the Rings Scene Boxes
Looking for a showpiece gift for the Magic: The Gathering and/or Lord of the Rings fan in your life? These Scene Boxes from the MTG Tales of Middle-Earth Universes Beyond set might be just what you need. Each set comes with 6 Traditional Foil Borderless Scene Cards, 6 Art Cards, 3 Set Boosters, and a paper display easel. When lined up side by side, the Borderless scene cards depict an epic moment from Lord of the Rings. Fly, you fools! And pick this up!
Pick Up Magic: The Gathering Universes Beyond Lord of the Rings Scene Boxes Here: Amazon
Mycelia from Ravensburger Games
If you're on the hunt for a brand new game that's approachable, cozy, cute, and still offers some wonderfully strategic thinking, we can't recommend Mycelia from Ravensburger highly enough! Though there are multiple games with similar titles, look for the colorful game full of cartoon mushrooms. In Mycelia, you'll draft cards to collect magical dew drops on your board. It's cute, it makes a great gift, and it's truly hot off the presses!
Gift Guide Picks From Years Gone By
Just because they're not our latest recommendations, doesn't mean these gifting suggestions from previous years are any less fun! Here are some of our favorites from past TechRaptor Tabletop Holiday Gift Guides:
Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion
Gloomhaven shot through the tabletop gaming world like a bolt of lightning when it first debuted, amazing gaming fans with its 100 hours of gameplay. With Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion, they took that big, expansive experience and made it more compact and digestible. With a fun campaign, secrets to uncover, and a flip-mat of battle maps ready to go, you can jump into the world of Gloomhaven easier than ever before!
Pick Up Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion here: Amazon
Alien: The Roleplaying Game
Alien: The Roleplaying Game, by Free League, remains one of our favorite non-fantasy tabletop RPG's. Set in the Alien universe, you play as space-faring hapless and unlucky adventurers trying to survive in the cold of space against the looming threat of Xenomorphs. With this bundle on DriveThruRPG, you have everything you need to jump in!
Pick Up Alien: The Roleplaying Game here: DriveThruRPG
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Have a tip, or want to point out something we missed? Leave a Comment or e-mail us at tips@techraptor.net
Giaco Furino joined the TechRaptor team as a Staff Writer in 2019 after searching for a dedicated place to write and talk about Tabletop Games. In 2020, he… More about Giaco
