The Best Gaming Gifts Under $50
Welcome to the time of year when the sun sets early and everything turns into an ad for Macy’s, or Mariah Carey, or MrBeast Burger overnight. For me—a curmudgeonly person whose rent is, devastatingly, almost equal to her birth year—being encouraged to spend yet another paycheck on things that won’t last makes me queasy. On the other hand, my low tolerance for garbage makes me a great Christmas elf: I present to you my list of great gaming gifts under $50.
In it, you’ll find video games, useful accessories, and the only kind of shopping I really love to do—low waste, small batch, indie stuff. And because these are my real recommendations, I’d like to think there’s something interesting in this list for everyone, even someone as hard to please as me.
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I love the delicate engraving on these 20-sided-die lamps made from laser-cut wood. They cast mystical-looking numbers on the wall in soft, candlelight yellow—a subtle and sumptuous way to declare you’re a nerd.
Thousand Year Old Vampire
Game designer Tim Hutchings’ Thousand Year Old Vampire is one of the moodiest role-playing games out there, and its physical version also happens to be one of the most gothically beautiful. The journaling game can get dark and too real, as it encourages you to glue yourself to the character you create, an outcast who’s lived 100 lifetimes. But that’s where I tend to be emotionally around Christmastime anyway.
Yoshitaka Amano Vampire Hunter D poster
Final Fantasy artist Yoshitaka Amano produced ethereal art throughout his freelance career in the ‘80s, one of the earliest examples being his illustrations for Hideyuki Kikuchi’s light novel series Vampire Hunter D. The Vampire Hunter D prints Amano currently sells on his website represent those illustrations in faithful detail, in high quality print. They’d be stunning in a frame over your bed, if you’re not too scared to stare into their details before you go to sleep.
Mob Psycho 100 Clay Art
I’ve been a fan of Brazil-based clay artist Witcat for a long time—their gumball-eyed interpretations of anime and gaming characters are the perfect balance of fun and haunted. Their glossy Mob Psycho 100 wall art exemplifies that well, though they’re also currently open for incredible commissions.
Castle Crashers Remastered
2008 2D side-scrolling hack-and-slash Castle Crashers Remastered looks as good as it ever will in this 2019 Switch port, but, though its frowning cartoon knights are particularly adorable here, that’s not the draw of Castle Crashers. It’s great because it offers low-stakes couch co-op, an opportunity to bond with your cousins and nephews over a plate of meatloaf leftovers.
Skywin Game Storage Tower for Nintendo Switch
Here’s a practical gift (see on Amazon)—an easy way to organize your Switch, its games, and its controllers. Now you’ll have more space for the $230 Mushroom beanbag from Pottery Barn.
Redragon Fizz K617 Mechanical Keyboard
Mechanical keyboards exist in a crowded room. There’s a lot of them, there’s a lot of confusing adjectives people use to describe them (my favorite is “creamy”). But the Redragon Fizz K617 (see on Amazon) cuts through the noise. It’s a universally enjoyed budget option, it can be modified well enough, and it comes in strawberry yogurt pink (see on Amazon).
Koss GMR Over-Ear Gaming Headphones
Milwaukee-based Koss Productions manufactured the first high-fidelity headphones (the Koss SP/3 Stereophones with pudding cup-shaped ear pads), and so the company’s take on gaming headphones marks the next wave of history. The GMR 540s (see on Amazon) sound miles better than most gaming headsets in their price range, and there seems like plenty of space to add your own cat ears, too, if you’d like (see on Amazon).
Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor
I am preternaturally obsessed with this 2014 action-adventure game (see on Amazon), and so it gives me preternatural joy to recommend it to you. Its endless waves of angry orcs will absolutely satiate anyone who enjoys satisfying and constant combat, doing it in a Renaissance Faire-looking environment, or, yeah, I guess Lord of the Rings, too.
Final Fantasy XVI Torgal Puppy Plush
There are plenty of fan interpretations of loyal Final Fantasy XVI doggy Torgal, or even DIY options, like this sweet cross stitch pattern, but I think the official Square Enix store offers the premier recreation in its polyester plush, currently available for pre-order and January shipping. He’s soft and he’s small, a formidable cuddle companion.
Siren Cove Genshin Impact Eyeshadow Palette
Streamers looking for camera-ready make up, makeup lovers who equally appreciate a cruelty-free label and chibi things, and good, old-fashioned Genshin Impact fans will love this pigmented palette from indie brand Siren Cove. In their cute container, these colorful eyeshadows will liven up a drab vanity just as much as they’ll make your eyes glitter.
Among Us Necklace
You could give away this Crewmate necklace as a joke—Among Us seems positioned to be an eternal meme. But the delicate Swarovski crystal shimmering in its middle also makes it a subtle and dainty, yet instantly-recognizable accessory for any video game fan. Like much of the holiday season, I think it’s maybe a little “sus,” but in a cute way.
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