This section of of our Holiday Gift Guide is for small games that can fit inside a stocking. Most of them fall into the "filler" category, but some of them have deep gameplay that belies their simple packaging.
The Great Heartland Hauling Company—Breaker, Breaker! Welcome to America’s heartland. It’s time to grab your trucker hat and hit the open road. In The Great Heartland Hauling Co., players will travel the heartland picking up cargo and selling it for profit. Clever design and great thematic gameplay! It's between printings right now, but you can preorder from the Dice Hate Me Games Web site.
MSRP: $20
Ages: Box say 8 and up, but we've both played this with younger kids.
Review: http://wp.me/p2hTk7-A5
Maximum Throwdown—In Jason Tagmire's card-flinging free-for-all players choose a team (deck of cards). Then they start throwing down... Literally. Each card has special icons that either score points or give special powers to the player who threw them, but if someone covers your cards you lose those powers and points! A fun and unique card game for all!
MSRP: $19.99 (Find it online)
Ages: The box says 12 and up, but that seems way high. Should be fine with 8-year-olds and up.
Qwixx—This is a wonderful, fast, easy-to-explain dice game that's completely portable. It's a great filler, and would definitely work with nongamers. We've even played with my 5-year-old. Don't hesitate to pick this up.
MSRP: $11.95
Ages: 8 and up, though younger should work fine with just a little coaching.
Review: http://wp.me/p2hTk7-SG
Coup—Coup just came out in a retail release. And you should buy it. There's so much bluffing in this game. So much intrigue. So much awesomeness. The actor Wil Wheaton even encouraged readers of his blog to read MY review of the game.
MSRP: $14.99 (Find it online)
Ages: 10 and up.
Review: http://wp.me/p2hTk7-EP
Hanabi—This is on my (Firestone) short list for Game of the Year; it would easily fit on the Gamers' Game list, but is here based on size. You have a hand of cards that you only point away from you. The other players are trying to give you clues about your hand, while trying to figure out clues about their own. And the whole point is to lay down cards in the various colors, in numerical order. It's fantastic.
MSRP: $10.95 (Find it online)
Ages: 8 and up
Review: http://wp.me/p2hTk7-RH
Council of Verona—The first title in Crash Games' Pub Series, a series of games that can be played anywhere. Council of Verona packs lots of game play into a tiny box. It features a good deal of bluffing and intrigue. And fits nicely into any gamer's stocking!
MSRP: $14.99 (Find it online)
Ages: 13 and up
The Duke: Robert E. Howard Expansion Pack
If you're gamer doesn't have The Duke, you should seriously go buy them a copy... Like right now. And what would be a better addition to that game, and a perfect stocking stuffer than a sweet four tile expansion pack featuring the legendary characters from the work of Robert E. Howard!? That's right you can bring Kull, Soloman Kane, and even Conan the Barbarian to fight along side your Duke and hack and slash your way to victory!
MSRP: $9.95 (Find it online)
Ages: 13 and up
Review: (of the Duke) http://wp.me/p2hTk7-122
12 Days
A card game that has an obvious holiday theme, so it seems obligatory that we should add it to the list of games that should be stuck in stockings! 12 Days was also JUST featured on the latest episode TableTop featuring geek hero Wil Wheaton, if you want to see it being played, click here (Just be aware they use a lot of cuss words -that are mostly bleeped out- on the show)
MSRP: $15.95 (Find it online)
Ages: 8 and up
Stay tuned for our final entry: The Gamers' Games! Thanks for reading!
