The 15 best gifts for video game fans this holiday season

Collector's edition games, Spider-Man 2 bundles, a pricey but so worth it pinball game—we've got plenty of cool ideas for the gamers in your life

By William Hughes | November 16, 2023 | 1:00pm

Games Features Exclusive - PlayStation 5

The 15 best gifts for video game fans this holiday season

Clockwise from top left: Themberchaud Dungeons & Dragons holiday ornament (Image: Hallmark), The Super Mario Bros. Movie vinyl soundtrack (Image: iam8bit), Spider-Man 2 PlayStation 5 Limited Edition Bundle (Image: Sony), From Ants To Zombies (Image: Bitmap Books)

As Black Friday and its dreaded twin, the Cybered Monday, approach, the world of gaming is preparing to unleash some of its most deadly and powerful deals ahead of the holiday season. Luckily, The A.V. Club is here to help curate your holiday gift-giving selections, from the inexpensive to the “You gotta really love somebody to buy them a pinball table, huh?” From books to music to holiday ornaments, there’s something here to cater to every flavor of gamer, injecting a bit of Yuletide class into the gift-giving experience.

PlayStation 5 Console – Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 Limited Edition Bundle

Price: $599.99Insomniac Games’ Spider-Man 2 is one of the best superhero games to come out in years, bringing both Peter Parker and Miles Morales to thrilling, symbiote-battling life. If you really want to celebrate the gamer in your life’s love of webheads of all flavors, considering picking up this slick bundle, which comes complete with a Spidey-branded PlayStation 5, Dual Sense 5 controller, and a digital copy of the game. (Meanwhile, if your recipient already has a PS5, , complete with a collectible statue that features, yes, “19 inches of Venom.”)

Lords Of The Fallen Collector’s Edition GameStop Exclusive - PlayStation 5

Price: $249.99Does your potential gift recipient like getting a lot of stuff in a single box? Consider this GameStop exclusive collectors edition of new Soulslike title Lords Of The Fallen. Not only do you get the game, but the set also comes with a 100-page hardcover art book, a steelbook, posters, art cards, and all sorts of digital goodies—but also a 19-centimeter figurine of the game’s “Dark Crusader” class character, offering up the inspirational message “Dare To Hope”!

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Diablo IV Red Lilith 12-inch statue and Lilith Goblet

Diablo IV and Price: $120 (statue) and $66.66 (goblet)We know how it is: You’ve already spent weeks of your life plowing your way through Diablo IV’s multiple characters classes and difficulty options. But how do you bring your murderous devotion to the game’s main antagonist, certified Demon Mom Lilith, into the real world? Well, why not get your own foot-tall statue of her, and then toast to it with a stainless steel gauntlet crafted in her image? For bonus points, fill it with the blood of the damned—or Mountain Dew’s new , which also bears Lilith’s likeness.

Xbox Game Pass Holiday Sweater

Price: $45Bring in the holidays in thrifty style with this genuinely charming-looking sweater celebrating everybody’s favorite “Wait, I can just play this? It just came out!” online gaming option. Made of knitted acrylic, it’s a great way to tell everyone you know that there’s a whole new Yakuza game on this thing, right now, for basically free!

Starfield Aerial Skate Deck

Price: $75Merging the indoor- and outdoor-kids lifestyles, Bethesda is offering this highly mobile tribute to their latest open-universe RPG, Starfield, in the form of a slick-looking skateboard deck. And, much like Starfield’s actual spacecraft, we would die roughly nine seconds after trying to leave the Earth on this thing. But intrepid adventurers will presumably fare much better.

Atari X Misfit Watch

Price: $85It can be hard to pick up gaming-themed clothing that doesn’t immediately scream “goober” to the universe, so imagine our delight at stumbling across this design by watch brand Misfit, celebrating the storied history of Atari with art from artist JK5. Our theory is, really good video game outerwear should take a second to “get”; your pals will likely be dazzled by the watch’s brilliant colors long before they realize you’re repping an old-school brand.

From Ants To Zombies: Six Decades Of Video Game Horror

Price: $41[Editorial note: From Ants To Zombies author .]This thick, beautiful tome of gaming lore is another exemplary release from Bitmap Books, full of gorgeous, glossy pictures and art of horror games stretching across 60 years of the genre’s history. Curated by Alex Chatziioannou (who’s previously assembled some of our of the highs and lows of horror gaming), it’s a title that’s gorgeous on the bookshelf, and better in the hands; if you’ve got a friend who’s interested in horror games from their earliest eras to their current cutting edge, this is an easy no-brainer.

B-12 and Zurk cat toys from Stray

Price: $40Look, we know: They should put out a toy of the actual cat from Annapurna’s delightful 2022 adventure Stray. Still, if you spent much time with BlueTwelve Studio’s charming post-apocalyptic feline adventure, chances are you have a cat somewhere in your life. So why not spoil them with their own robot buddy—or the chance to mercilessly tear apart the creepy Zurks that chase you through half the game?

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves Themberchaud Ornament With Light

Price: $24.992023 was a big year for gaming, and now it can be a big year for your Christmas tree, too, with this (big) ornament from Hallmark, celebrating the very large, very dangerous dragon Themberchaud from Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. Sure, you could go for the smaller version that doesn’t have the flame spurt with the light in it, but where’s the adventure in that?

The Super Mario Bros. Movie original soundtrack

Price: $64.97Composed with a film-long series of homages to the gaming classics by Brian Tyler, the soundtrack to The Super Mario Bros. Movie has never looked better than in this vinyl from iam8bit. And, yes, before you ask: It also features “Peaches,” the love ballad sung by Jack Black to Bowser’s favorite kidnapping victim, Anya Taylor Joy’s Princess Peach.

PlayStation, Nintendo, or Xbox store gift cards

, , or store gift cardsPrice: VariableAs more and more games have gone exclusively digital, it’s gotten harder to just, say, hand someone a wrapped package that can immediately be torn open and played. Sure, you could give out specific download codes for the game you want to gift, but … if your gift recipient is already typing out a code into their favorite console, why not give them a bit of choice about where their digital money goes?

Star Wars Stern pinball tables

Price: $4,999.99Every gift guide should include one incredibly impractical gift that the author themselves would basically cut off a limb to get; for us, it’s one of those beautiful Stern pinball tables, based on a little pop culture property called Star Wars. Sure, it’s a steep price tag, but what price can you attach to the feeling of being able to just wake up every day and play Stern’s excellent Star Wars table—or blow your friends’ minds by showing off your very own pinball table, right there in your house? ($5,000. That’s the price you can attach.)

Spider-Man: Miles Morales Gunnar gaming glasses

Price: $79.99Glasses brand Gunnar actually offers a series of Spider-Man-themed glasses for consumers, including some bright blue ones that are more “Peter” than “Miles” for the younger set. These are the snazziest, though—complete with blue light-blocking lenses so you don’t completely fry your eyes playing Spider-Man 2 at 3 in the morning when you should be going to bed.

Bridgerton party game

Price: $19.97Get yourself a ton of Ton on the cheap with this card game adaptation of Netflix’s hit series Bridgerton. A great stocking stuffer for your friend who’s more into TV binges than rule-heavy Eurogames, and who just wants to spend an afternoon luxuriating in our shared dreams of being the subject of one of Lady Whistledown’s scandalous missives.