Gifts for board game and puzzle fans in the US

Games for people who do not play games

Most gift games get opened once. The ones that come back out are short, loud and easy to explain. Exploding Kittens takes about five minutes to learn and fifteen to play. Giants Moving Tiny Furniture has you carrying doll furniture with your pinkies, which needs no explanation at all. If the household has a Switch, Mario Party Jamboree lets four people play on one console, and it arrives as a download.

Cards are the other safe bet. A family that plays at the cabin will use a camp cribbage table more than any box with tiny pieces. A cribbage board shaped like their lake is the sentimental version. Jumbo-index cards help a grandparent keep playing.

Puzzles: pick the difficulty

For a jigsaw fan, how hard it is matters more than the picture. A scene with clear areas, like the eeBoo Brooklyn living room, is a comfortable 1000 pieces. A repeating pattern with no picture, like the Areaware or the Le Puzz clocks, is far harder and suits someone who has done dozens.

For an older puzzler or a quick weekend project, go smaller: a 500-piece birdbath or a large-piece Route 66 map. The Dowdle advent calendar spreads one puzzle across December, a few minutes a day.

For the person who has everything

Take-apart and build puzzles make a different kind of gift. The Craighill Tetra is solid metal and sits on a desk once solved. The UGears Book of Secrets takes hours to build and ends as a box with a hidden drawer. A plain Rubik's Cube is the cheap version for a stocking. Under 20 dollars buys most of the card games and smaller puzzles here; the cribbage boards and the build kit sit higher.

What we would buy

For a family that rarely plays, Exploding Kittens and a deck of good cards. For a couple with a cabin, the camp cribbage table. For a serious puzzler, the Le Puzz clocks, because it will take them a while and they will talk about it. Ask before buying any big title; keen players often own it already.

Questions people ask

What is a good board game for two people?

Sky Team is built only for two: a co-op game where partners land a plane without discussing their dice. Cascadia also plays well at two and is calm and easy to teach. Ticket to Ride works at two but feels less tense than with a full table. Avoid party games like Decrypto, which need six or more.

What board game should I buy for a family with kids and grandparents?

Pick something with short rules that does not reward experience too much. Set lets quick-eyed kids beat adults. Ticket to Ride and Sushi Go Party are easy to teach. Herd Mentality works with a big group. A crokinole board is a Canadian classic that every age can play at once.

How hard is a 1000-piece puzzle?

It depends on the image more than the count. A picture with clear areas, like a reading nook or a harbour, is a comfortable project over a few evenings. Repeating patterns, like a page of clocks or a textile print with no picture, are much harder and suit experienced puzzlers. Large sky or sea areas also slow things down.

What do you get someone who already owns lots of board games?

Ask what they have first, since hobby gamers often own the popular titles. Newer games like Heat or Sky Team are less likely to be on the shelf. Or skip games: a folding felt puzzle board, a metal take-apart puzzle or a camp cribbage table adds something different to the collection.