Oh man. You’re behind on gifts? Join the club. You already missed Hanukkah and Diwali. Christmas, Kwanzaa, and New Year’s are coming. Luckily, you can still order video games—and digital downloads will save you, day of. Write it down on a card, and you’ll be golden. Here’s a video game for everyone on your shopping list this year.
The Perfect Video Game For: Whoever Is With Their Families Over the Holidays
Kingdom Two Crowns (2018)
Kingdom Two Crowns is an addictive, thorough, side-scrolling base-building game with a good mix of adventure and mythical mystery thrown in. It’s a great mobile purchase for anyone who will be sitting in living rooms with other people this season.
The amount of detail management means players will stay invested in the work. And since your enemies are AI (as compared to online multiplayers in other popular base-building phone games) and there’s a very easy pause/save function, you can play at your own speed. The game is rich enough to be engaging, but not so riveting that you can’t pause to laugh at an uncle’s joke, help someone in the kitchen, or throw a snowball. And, best of all, you can play this one co-op, so tell a partner or your favorite cousin to download it, too.
- MSRP and platforms: $6.99 on iOS App Store and Google Play Store; $19.99 on Nintendo Switch
The Perfect Video Game For: Anyone Who Is So Over 2021
Fire Emblem: Three Houses (2019) and Mass Effect: Legendary Edition (2021)
Choose your own adventure in response to the phrase: “Take me away to…
- “a Hogwarts-like battlefield with tons of people I’ll fall in love with and become intricately concerned with learning their favorite gifts and schedules and weapon expertises, and let me spend 40+ hours there, and then when it’s all done, give me a good excuse to do it all again.”
- “a super mega space opera with tons of people and aliens I’ll fall in love with and become intricately concerned with learning their sociopolitical backgrounds and family drama and weapon expertises, and let me spend 40+ hours there, and then when it’s all done, give me a good excuse to play the two sequels right away.”
For anyone who is so (insert preferred expletive here) over 2021, there is no better choice than these two epic games:
1) Fire Emblem: Three Houses holds strong since its release in 2019. Its careful balance of thrilling turn-based combat and Hogwarts-ian delights—ranging from fishing to baking to trying to get two of your students to fall in love with each other—will keep you in a pleasant other-worldly fugue on the go via Nintendo Switch.
2) Mass Effect: Legendary is likely my personal Game of the Year, slash Game of my Life, and this lovingly remastered version is a binge-worthy game that will make you laugh, make you cry, make you fight your ass off as you save a future Earth and all of space from The Big Bad.
These games will help you forget this nightmare of a year, at least for several hours.
MSRP and platforms:
- Fire Emblem: Three Houses: $59.99 on Nintendo Switch
- Mass Effect: Legendary Edition: $59.99 on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC
The Perfect Video Game For: Your Mom Who Doesn’t Game
Overcooked! (2016), Regency Love (2013), Monument Valley (2014), and More!
We get it: Buying gifts for your parents is difficult enough as is. Why complicate things by throwing in something complicated like games, with their pixels and their buttons and their doohickeys?
Fortunately for you, we went to the trouble of making this easy. In our list of best mom games, you’ll find gift ideas that are super accessible and easy to pick up. No gaming rigs required! Although that is quite the picture…
An excerpt from the piece to set the stage:
As the “two-week suggested lockdown” turned into months, I often thought about my mom, stuck inside her house with none of her regular sociable, adventurous opportunities available to her.
I realized that I had an unprecedented opportunity to get my mom into my favorite pastime. I suggested games that weren’t gratuitously violent, had easy-to-understand mechanics, and could be played on her phone or tablet. (Consoles can be intimidating.)
During the pandemic, I’ve gradually turned my mom into a casual gamer. I love that journey for her, and I hope this list helps you guide a loved one on a similar adventure.
The Perfect Video Game For: Your Small Demon-Child Who Enjoys Wreaking Havoc
Rain On Your Parade (2021)
Rain On Your Parade puts the player in control of a happy rain-cloud whose endeavors include setting a bully’s birthday presents on fire, kickstarting a zombie apocalypse, exterminating the dinosaurs, and intentionally freezing roads so drivers will flip over in their cars. Much like Untitled Goose Game, Rain On Your Parade delights in mischief, tasking the player with causing all sorts of chaos, from something as mild as pouring rain on a wedding to as near-cataclysmic as burning down an entire warehouse.
For any Dennis the Menace-in-training, this game will hopefully help them channel that destructive enthusiasm into something more humorous and less dangerous.
- MSRP and platforms: $14.99 on PC via Steam, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X/S, and Xbox One; also available on Xbox Game Pass
– Guest nomination by Sam Martinelli
The Perfect Video Game For: The Kid Who Just Wants To Draw
Chicory: A Colorful Tale (2021)
Chicory: A Colorful Tale is all about letting players let loose. It’s a 2D action-adventure game heavily inspired by old-school Zelda titles (think A Link to the Past or Link’s Awakening). And while it excels at being a Zelda-like, it adds a unique twist to the formula: Instead of swinging a sword, you paint.
You play as a cute dog in a world of (equally cute) talking animals. One day, you gain control of a magical brush—a tool that grants the user the ability to paint the world and reshape it as you see fit. And you’ll need to paint, as the world recently lost all color to a mysterious and deadly darkness.
As the new steward of this exceptional power, you’ll explore treacherous woods, complete errands for townsfolk, and take down menacing adversaries—all while expressing your inner creativity. It’s must-play for any video game enthusiast, yet a particularly wonderful gift for the art lover in your life.
- MSRP and platforms: $19.99 on PC, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch
– Guest nomination by David Silbert
The Perfect Video Game For: Someone New to Gaming Who Likes Swiping Right
Reigns: Her Majesty (2018)
No matter how you feel about the app Tinder, it’s hard to ignore the impact it’s had on our society. The Reigns series know humans love the simple act of swiping—the power, the excitement, the trepidation—and adds high court drama, medieval witchery, and multi-generational mystique.
Nerial, the developers of the series, have gone on from the original to create a partnered Game of Thrones version as well as a multiplayer board game. I’m a big defender of mobile games (OK, not all mobile games) as a way to level the playing field and create more accessible entry points to my favorite hobby. Reigns: Her Majesty is a great, accessible, exciting game for someone in your life (perhaps a feminist (girl)friend) who’s been curious but intimidated about gaming.
- MSRP and platforms: $2.99 on iOS App Store and Google Play Store, $7.99 on Nintendo Switch
The Perfect Game For: Your Buddy Who Just Likes To Shoot Stuff
Halo Infinite: Multiplayer Season One Battle Pass (2021)
The latest entry in the Halo franchise just launched in December, and is already being heralded for its expansive (paid) campaign and fun (free!) multiplayer. While your buddy can enjoy the multiplayer mode without paying a penny, the battle pass to this revamped nostalgia machine ensures they can “pew! pew!” other players in style.
- MSRP and platforms: $9.99 on PC, Xbox Series X/S, and Xbox One
On behalf of the entire Punished Backlog team, we wish you good health, happy holidays, and a wonderful 2022!
