As we conclude our week full of Holiday Gift Guides, we move away from the controller for a bit. There are plenty of non-game items out there that will make any gamer happy. Whether your giftee prefers Xbox 360, Playstation 3, Wii, or the Sinclair Spectrum, we think you’ll find our list of twelve board games, toys, and accessories a perfect non-game gift for any fan of co-op.
Each year, I try to work in a theme of some sort to my holiday guides. 2011 is no different, and this time around we’ve got an adaptation of everyone’s favorite carol they don’t remember all the words to: The Twelve Days of Christmas! In the interest of fairness and political correctness, we will dub this interpretation “The Twelve Days of Generic Winter Holiday”. Rolls right off the tongue, doesn’t it? We’re going to skip to the last verse in order to give my Ctrl, C, and V keys a break.
On the twelfth day of Generic Winter Holiday, my Billy gave to me...
Chances are, you’re going to be spending some time with children during upcoming family gatherings. Why not try a nice cooperative board game that kids are sure to love? Castle Panic has archers, knights, orcs, goblins, and more! Work together with other players to defend the towers at the center of the board from the invading horde. Check out our coverage of Castle Panic here.
Surely you listen to the official Co-Opticast, right? It’s only the best video game podcast on the interwebs. The dulcet tones of Nick and Mike as they share the latest co-op news and the hottest games will have you all a-tingle. As they often point out in the podcast, the official Co-Optimus T-Shirts are a great way to let everyone know about your burning love for the site. Wearing one of these fine pieces of clothing is like having Mike and Nick groping you no matter where you are. At least, that’s what they tell me.
What could be better than a card game based on the superlative Lord of the Rings saga? Why, a co-op deckbuilding card game based on the superlative Lord of the Rings saga, of course! The core set allows for two player co-op, and expansions take that up to four. Add powerful heroes, tactics, and spells to your deck in order to team up against the foul minions of Sauron. Expect a Tabletop Co-Op for this one soon.
Who needs ladies dancing when you can have ladies lancing? Gears of War 3 featured a couple very strong female characters, which is, sadly, pretty unusual for games as a whole. Perhaps the most memorable is Anya, who moved from Control dispatcher to the thick of battle with Marcus and Dom. This Anya figure has a Lancer and 30 points of articulation to help her keep your desk or bookshelf free from grubs and glowies.
Are there really any maids that milk these days? I’m guessing it’s more grumpy old farmers or mildly disturbing machines that do most of the milking in 2011. But really, who needs milk anyway, especially when you can get milk chocolate! The Chocolate Invader is hand-made “from bean to bar” and comes in a nifty wooden box, with a sticker and a poster, too. Yummy and retro? Yes, please!
You are likely to get very tired over the next month or so. Dashing through the snow, from a Christmas program here, or a staff party there, might wear you down. Wouldn't it be nice to have a comfy bean bag to come home and flop down into? We reviewed the Sumo Couple, a ginormous deluxe model made for two recently, and were impressed. There are many other types available; something for anyone!
For this entry, we have none other than the doomed Spartans of Noble Team. The Halo Reach action figures are of particularly high quality, which I can personally verify (as can my kid). Hunting down all six of the figures can be a hassle, but Toys R Us has you covered with this giant gift set, packed with Kat, Carter, and the rest of your Noble Team favorites.
Golden rings? Good luck finding those at a decent price in this economy. The price of gold is going up, up, up. If you require the bling and glamour of gold, but can’t afford the real thing, there’s only one substitute: an Xbox Live Gold Card! Well, it’s not the only substitute, but fans of the Xbox 360’s multiplayer service will find a free year of Gold a pretty sweet gift anyway.
In the board game Pandemic, four different viruses are spreading across the globe like wildfire, and it’s your job to team up and take them down before it’s too late. An excellent, very tense board game where cooperation and planning are vitally important. Maybe the strains of illness in the game aren’t all bird flu, but hey, it fits the song this way, and gives us a reason to be angry at the birds for a change. Would you like to know more?
If there’s one game universe that just screams "HOLIDAY CHEER", it has to be Warhammer 40,000. The festive green skin of the orcs and the inevitable spilling of colorful red blood immediately puts one in mind of the season. Though the orcs don’t appear in Space Hulk Death Angel: The Card Game, you can still whistle a jolly tune as Genestealers fall before the onslaught of your mighty Marines (or more likely, the other way around). More about Death Angel can be found here.
We are huge fans of the D&D board games, as you might recall. Hot off the presses comes the newest of the series, The Legend of Drizzt. The noble dark elf Drizzt Do’Urden is among the most popular fantasy heroes of all time, and he is given a starring role here. His trademark twin scimitars, Twinkle and Icingdeath, will make the fight easier, but you’ll still need the help of Wulfgar, Breunor, and others to defeat all your foes.
3D Printing is an exciting technology, full of possibilities. The folks over at My Robot Nation have a particular creative take on it. Use their online editor to custom design a robot between two and six inches tall, and they will 3D print it and ship it to your giftee! Super cool. Of course, the best stocking stuffer would be a tiny 3D Co-Optimus mascot bot, Billy, and maybe even Player 1 bot and Player 2 bot as well. They are all getting pretty famous, from what we hear.
We hope you've enjoyed all of our Holiday Buyer's Guides this year. Plenty of awesome stuff from the tabletop to the T-Shirt drawer and everywhere in between. Have a great holiday!