It’s that time of year once again, where we celebrate Christ our Lord’s birth. Was Jesus Christ really born on December 25th? Who knows, but history aside, the point of the holiday is to reflect on how the world rejoices that its Savior has come to bring us to Him. I also love Christmas because I can spend time with my family or friends if they are available. The typical traditions are always fun—watching Christmas movies or listening to music, hanging the lights and ornaments on the tree, or making dinner for Nochebuena! I’m Cuban so for us Hispanics, we celebrate more on the 24th than the 25th.
As a gamer, there are a lot of sales going on for every platform, especially the infamous Steam Sale for PC. PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo had lots of deals, but I only grabbed a few. I picked up Monster Hunter Rise thanks to a close friend of mine letting me know about it at GameStop, and I also got Aspire Inas Tale on Epic Games Store. I heard about this one from The Reformed Gamers, so I wanted to give it a playthrough. On the Steam Sale, I picked up Chrono Trigger, The Room & The Room II, Firewatch and The Messenger.
It’s not all about gifts, but I am the type that loves looking for deals on anything including games so I take advantage of this time of year. I tend to have a large backlog, so I don’t buy too many but when there are games that are under $10 that I’ve wanted for a while, it’s hard to say no!
Since it is Christmas, these deals and a certain post I read got me thinking about gifts for gamers. What are some items, besides video games, that a gamer would be happy to receive?
There used to be a store called ThinkGeek that Gamestop acquired but has since shut down. One of their stores was located here in Miami, FL and I would love to go inside with stars in my eyes. I wanted to buy almost the entire store, from the figures to home decor, clothing, and Funko POPs, and other things I didn’t know I wanted till I entered inside. If you thought video games are the only products marketed to gamers, you would be very surprised and shocked to know how much variety is out there.
Books, figures, clothes, decorations, food, stickers, cosplay gear and so much more are offered in exchange for the mighty dollar. Instead of providing you with a list of games that would be enjoyable to that gamer you know (or yourself!), I want to share some ideas that those of faith or not would like to own.
I got this idea of sharing gamer gifts from the good people over at Taming Gaming whom I’ve had the pleasure of interviewing. Below you will find some products and stores I recommend. Let me know what you would gift to a gamer this Christmas so I can also check them out!
Books
- Area of Effect: Wisdom From Geek Culture
- Faith & Fandom Volume 1
- Of Games and God: A Christian Exploration of Video Games
- Reality Is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World
- Thy Geekdom Come
- The Legend of Zelda and Theology
- 42: Discovering Faith Through Fandom
- The New 42: God Terraforms All Things
- Finding God in Anime: A Devotional for Otakus
- BitMap Books (Highly recommended art books for gamers)
Board Games + Other Gifts
- FanGamer (Lots of home decor, books, clothing, posters, etc)
- MONOPOLY: The Legend of Zelda Collector’s Edition
- Square Enix Store Merchandise
- Monopoly Gamer Overwatch
- UDON Entertainment (Has lots of merch, but some artbooks are adult/R rated)
Let me know which of these you liked best, and what games you bought or played during this winter season? What are you looking forward to in 2022?
Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and I pray that this coming year is a blessing from our Heavenly Father to you!
James 1:17
17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.
Below are some of my previous Christmas posts over the years that may interest you.