Gift guide! It's Christmas Time!

You don't have to be afraid! We're here to present some present ideas for you and your own. Doing some not-so-last-minute Amazon Christmas shopping made me realize that it's not too late to make some gaming suggestions for my readers or, barring that, maybe some suggestions for my reader's loved ones to look to. You notice that we have reviews for all these items. This is not an accident! While we love year-in reviews and Christmas buying guides all over the net, we feel the little blurb you get here wouldn't be enough to make a purchase decision with. That's why we've combined the two and made a kind of "best of the year" and "stuff we'd be proud to gift" list all in one. Enjoy!

The Adventurers from AEG

Waaaaaay back in February this year Andrea reviewed a little game from AEG that seemed to come out of nowhere. The premise is simple: you play a team of Indiana Jones types trying to get in and out of the temple alive with as much gold as possible.

It's a common troped among non-collectible games, but The Adventurers offers up a truly unique experience. Part Incan Gold, part Mouse Trap, it's a game that, say it was me "even the whole family can enjoy." Whether laughing at the poor explorer who gets crushed by the giant stone or flaunting your lock picking skills, The Adventurers really delivers on the phone. The 3d terrain really brings the game alive and helps deliver that impending sense of doom you should get when going into a trap-ladden temple. Who's this a good gift for? Everyone. You have to hate fun not to like this game.

Outbreak: Undead

We found a lot of gems at Gencon, and this is a game I can proudly say Andrea discovered all on her own and brought to the table for us to play. Find her review here. There are a ton of zombie RPG's out there to choose from, but from the get-go, paging through Outbreak: Undead, you immediately get a different feeling from the book. The thing is basically the textbook/diary from hell. Every page is lined like a notebook and the text is written from the viewpoint of a survivor.

The system itself is quite unique. It's focuses very heavily on the aspect of the zombie. There are extensive rules about how many zombies will find you and how quickly they'll eat you alive. In other words, it's a cheery holiday affair. Who's this a good gift for? Anyone who's interested in zombie tabeltop fun but may be burned out on other zombie games. It's also a great place to start for rookie zombie role-players.

Warhammer 40,000: Death Angel from FFG

Solo and Cooperative games seem to be all the rage lately. Battlestar Galactica was a ridiculously-huge success that's spawned one interesting expansion soon to be followed with a second. Risk is great, but sometimes you just want to take the collaborative play of an RPG and run with it in a ready-to-go board or card game. You can find my review of the game here.

Fantasy Flight really hit the ball out of the park with Death angel. It's playable for one to six people which means it's great for the lonely gamer or the regular friday night group. The gameplay is fast and deadly, and victory really feels like a big deal. Somehow they managed to take the high-stakes action of Space Hulk and through it into a tiny box costing just a tiny fraction of the price. Who's this a good gift for? Someone you don't want to spend a lot of money on but still want to give a great gift for. A.K.A. this is the perfect budget gift to a gamer friend. It's also something I would freak out if I got it in the mail from a cross-country old friend who knows I don't have anyone to game with since I moved. Either you'll get to play it, or you know someone without a group will get to play an honest-to-God game on their own. Win-Win.

Battles of Westeros from FFG

We're all about Battles of Westeros around here. It was kind of our big break, and it's really only fitting since we've been gaming in George R.R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire world since the very beginning. Review, you ask? Try our whole label section here. I think you may find what you're looking for.

In our time playing Battles of Westeros, it became clear quite quickly that Rob Kouba, the designer, took what worked with Battle Lore and amped it up. He made the battlefield mobile and more unpredictable. Much like the source material, you always had to stay on your toes as the game shifted from Battle Lore's section-based play to BoW's commander-based action. Who's this a good gift for? Anyone who liked Battle Lore will flip when they give Battles of Westeros a shot. It's a deluxe game, but it's quickly expandable, so make sure you don't pick it up for someone who doesn't like FFG's expansion model. Otherwise, it's hard to go wrong with wargamers when it comes to BoW.

That's all we got for now! Hope it makes your Christmas shopping even the tiniest bit easier. There's truly a staggering amount of great stuff out there to be for your gamer loved ones. Good luck!