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The Best Board Games To Give as Gifts

We’re living in a golden age of board game releases right now. With hundreds of board games to choose from and with the holidays coming up, picking out which games to buy can be a big task. Whether you’re shopping for a friend or a family member, there are many things to consider as you browse. Depending on who you are shopping for—(is it for you and your family to play over the holidays?)—it’s time to plan out what you and your family would enjoy playing together time and time again.

That’s where I come in. I’ve filtered the options down to the best of the best in five different board game subcategories, depending on your target audience. I’m not just basing choices on the most fun to play, but also what will surprise and delight people encountering a game for the first time; either as a gift or for an initial play. After all, there’s never been a better time to be a board gamer, so this is a fantastic opportunity to spread festive cheer with games that bring people together.

Best Board Game Gift Ideas for Adults

When a hobby game has become as popular as Wingspan, it’s hard not to recommend it to an even bigger audience, as there are, of course, great reasons for that popularity. It’s got an appealing theme, an addictive gameplay loop and rich strategies to explore. It also features beautiful art and stylish components, which make it particularly pleasing as a gift option. As such, it hits a perfect sweet spot as a great board game for adults across different requirements. If you want something a bit faster or more interactive, I’ve provided some other great suggestions in the carousel below.

Best Board Game Gift Ideas for Kids

Picking out board games for children has the added difficulty of finding something that’s age appropriate, but you’re unlikely to go wrong with Rhino Hero Super Battle. It’s great fun for adults as well as kids. You’re using cards from your hand to build a skyscraper, up which your wooden heroes will climb and dice-off, and these kinds of dexterity balancing games cut across ages. However, our additional options below give you a choice of more fully child-focussed games, or some basic strategy to start them off.

Best Card Game Gifts

Card games have come a long way since a quick round of Spades was the height of novelty, and that includes cooperative titles like our pick in this category. The Crew features the trick-taking you might be familiar with from playing card games like Whist, but players have missions dictating certain cards they need to win in order for the group to succeed, so it’s no longer a matter of slapping down the highest card you can. Strategy and nuance are required. As are all the recommended games below, which includes some more heavier and more competitive fare. On a similar (but different) note, check out our picks for the best trading card games.

Best Single Player Board Game Gifts

Playing on your own is an increasingly popular way to spend time with board games. Even without the social aspects, there’s still a lot of enjoyment to be had from the challenges and tactile delights of tabletop play. But hey, with the award-winning Dorfromantik: The Board Game you don’t have to choose as it plays well cooperatively with a group in addition to solitaire. However, you choose to play, you can sit back and enjoy its chill, puzzling gameplay and branching campaign. But if you want something a bit more intense, or specifically designed for solo play, check out our alternative suggestions, or click over to our list of the best solo board games.

Best Party Games and Group Game Gifts

If the holiday season is a traditional time for both games and parties, why not combine both by offering a top-tier party game as a gift? Word-based clue-giving title Codenames has it all: a choice of competitive or cooperative play, a wide range of suitable player numbers and ages, a great balance of skill and tension and even occasional moments of hilarity when clues or guesses go terribly wrong or stray into double entendre territory. No wonder it’s won a raft of awards since its release. Despite its flexibility, some of these additional suggestions can offer you a few more thrills, or some bigger belly-laughs.

For even more holiday gift ideas, check out our gift guides below:

Matt Thrower is a contributing freelancer for IGN, specializing in tabletop games. You can reach him on BlueSky at @mattthr.bsky.social.

Sonic Fans Can’t Believe the Latest Sonic the Hedgehog 3 Trailer Actually Gave Shadow a Gun

If you logged onto social media this morning and wondered why “HE HAS A GUN” and “HE PISSED ON THE MOON” were trending, let me reassure you: that it an extremely normal thing to wonder. And the answer? A new Sonic the Hedgehog 3 trailer debuted this morning, of course. What, that wasn’t obvious?

The latest look at the highly anticipated threequel gave us quite a bit, actually, including glimpses of the Chuck E. Cheese-like take on Chao Garden and more shenanigans from Jim Carrey’s Dr. Robotnik. But, most importantly, according to a lot of Sonic fans on social media today: they gave Shadow a gun.

Amid the various looks at Sonic v. Shadow action in the trailer, we get a quick glimpse of Shadow (who will be voiced here by none other than Keanu Reeves) with, yes, a gun. Shadow has packed heat in one video game before — in his own 2005 title, Shadow the Hedgehog — but it’s pretty safe to say that fans didn’t expect to see that represented in Paramount’s film series.

“HE HAS A GUN, THIS SH*T MEANS SOMETHING TO ME MAN,” wrote @UltimaShadowX on X/Twitter. Others jumped in with cries of “THEY DID IT THEY ACTUALLY DID IT” and “oh sh*t I’m definitely passing out,” while some streamers posted their live surprised reactions.

Really, the Sonic community is losing it over this: as of press time, the top post on the Sonic the Hedgehog subreddit is simply a screenshot from the trailer with the title, “THE GUN IS BACK PEOPLE I REPEAT THE GUN IS BACK”

In all seriousness, though, some were actually pleased just to see the shoutout to the 2005 game in the movie. “I’m sorry I can’t get over the fact that he has a gun,” wrote one fan. “It is so crazy to me that they actually are acknowledging Shadow 05 even in the movie. I never thought I’d see such a positive appreciation for him again.”

Another fan pointed out that he also appeared to be riding the bike from the 2005 game. “References to shadow 2005 is so crazyyy,” one added. “THEY COOKED SO HAAARD”

Even though the famous Sega character has only used guns in one game, “Shadow with a gun” has long been important to the fanbase. We’re sure you’ve seen the memes. Sonic Team head Takashi Iizuka, however, recently told Video Games Chronicle that there’s a good chance we won’t see Shadow with guns in a game again.

“When we talk about Shadow, he would use whatever he needed in the moment to get the job done. So he would pick up a gun or ride a bike in order to get the job done – he’s that kind of character,” he said at at the time. “But he’s also extremely powerful on his own and doesn’t really need a gun or anything because he can do it himself – he is a weapon. So as long as there’s no need for Shadow to use a gun, he will probably not use one.”

Well, at least fans who do want to see that have the movie, which speeds into theaters on December 20. For more in the meantime, check out our review of Sonic the Hedgehog 2, which we said “brings all the humor and charm of its predecessor, while also being delightfully more loyal to its source material.”

Alex Stedman is a Senior News Editor with IGN, overseeing entertainment reporting. When she’s not writing or editing, you can find her reading fantasy novels or playing Dungeons & Dragons.

Microsoft Confirms Windows 11 Update Kills Star Wars Outlaws, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, and Other Ubisoft Games

Microsoft has confirmed that Windows 11 version 24H2 is accidentally killing Ubisoft games such as Star Wars Outlaws, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, and more.

As reported by VGC, Microsoft updated its support website to reveal it has placed a temporary block on Windows 11 for users with those games installed.

“After installing Windows 11, version 24H2, you might encounter issues with some Ubisoft games,” Microsoft said. “These games might become unresponsive while starting, loading or during active gameplay.

“In some cases, users might receive a black screen. The affected games are Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, Assassin’s Creed Origins, Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, Star Wars Outlaws, and Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora.

“To safeguard your Windows update experience, we have applied a compatibility hold on devices with these games installed. These devices will not be offered to install Windows 11, version 24H2 via the Windows Update release channel.”

Ubisoft released an update for these issues in Star Wars Outlaws in its major Title Update 1.4 but Microsoft notes players may still experience issues. No timeline was given for when the issue will be fixed proper, but players of Ubisoft games on PC are advised not to update to version 24H2 if possible.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.

Colossal The Witcher 3 Mod Makes Thousands of Visual Improvements

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt just received its biggest graphics boost since the official Next-Gen Update arrived in 2022, in the form of a mod that makes thousands of visual upgrades.

NexusMods user HalkHogan released The Witcher 3 HD Reworked Project: Next Gen Edition, which they said “raises the game’s visuals to the highest level yet and enhance it to a truly next-gen masterpiece.” The mod reworks textures, models, materials, and more, and the number of these changes “can be counted in the thousands.”

“Everything is carefully made with attention to every detail,” the mod page added. “All this is aimed at making the game more detailed, realistic, consistent, and as faithful as possible in reflecting the dirty world of The Witcher. Now you can experience the most beautiful adventure yet.”

Anyone on PC can download the mod on PC, with HalkHogan noting it only has a “little impact” on performance. “The game should run similar to before mod installation,” they said. “If you play on Ultra+ textures video card memory demand will be higher.”

The Witcher 3 arrived in 2015 and put studio CD Projekt Red on the map for its fantasy open-world, considered story, and expansive quests. The developer released an official mod editor for the PC version called REDkit earlier this year, and players have used it to grow The Witcher 3 even more.

This includes everything from a morality and reputation system that adds even more consequences to Geralt’s actions, to a fully customizable character creator that lets players take on the role of a sorceress.

These mods have breathed more life into the game while CD Projekt focuses on its many upcoming Witcher projects. The next mainline game is codenamed Polaris and will star a new protagonist, and an entry with more mass appeal is being developed at The Molasses Flood. Fool’s Theory is also developing a remake of the original The Witcher in Unreal Engine 5.

Image Credit: The Witcher 3 HD Reworked Project: Next Gen Edition by HalkHogan on NexusMods

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.

Silent Hill 2 Player Discovers Creepy Messages Hidden in TV Static

Silent Hill 2 Remake developer Bloober Team made a handful of small changes to the beloved survival horror game and players have now discovered another: creepy messages hidden in TV static.

As reported by PC Gamer, YouTuber Shiba uploaded two videos after discovering the secrets. “A message is playing on the TV in Brookhaven Hospital, transmitted in Morse code,” they said. “The sound is mostly drowned out by the static from the TV, making it difficult to hear clearly. However, the Morse code is distinct, with a clicking noise that resembles a telegraph.”

Shiba shows the TV doing so, and translates the code as saying “again and again and again” in perpetuity. The TVs in the nurses’ lounge and the break room of the Boar section of Toluca Prison play the same messages.

Not every TV in the game does so though, as the Woodside Apartments set, Brookhaven Hospital set, and room 106 at Jack’s Inn set all display another message: “Why did you do it James?”

Both messages fuel different fan theories but it’s unclear if there are any further answers hidden in the game. Regardless, they add to the mystery and mythos of Silent Hill 2 and hopes for more questions to be answered in the future.

Bloober Team and publisher Konami released the Silent Hill 2 remake on October 8 to glowing critical reception and strong sales, leaving many fans of the previously dormant horror franchise eager for more.

Bloober has said it’s open to making other Silent Hill games, though at the moment is focused on its sci-fi survival horror game Cronos: The New Dawn.

In our 8/10 review of the Silent Hill 2 remake, IGN said: “Silent Hill 2 is a great way to visit – or revisit – one of the most dread-inducing destinations in the history of survival horror.”

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.

Troy Baker to Reunite With Neil Druckmann for Naughty Dog’s Untitled New Game

Actor Troy Baker is set to star in Naughty Dog’s untitled new game.

The Sony-owned studio is building a yet-to-be announced single-player game with Uncharted and The Last of Us chief Neil Druckmann at the helm. Fans know next to nothing about this project, but according to GQ, Troy Baker has signed on to appear in it.

“In a heartbeat I would always work with Troy,” Druckmann is quoted as saying in the article. Baker famously played Joel in The Last of Us Parts 1 and 2 for Naughty Dog and has worked closely with Druckmann for years.

In December last year, Naughty Dog canceled The Last of Us Online, its troubled attempt to create a live service version of the popular franchise. At the time, the studio said it would have needed to put all its resources into post-launch content for years to come, and that approach would have severely impacted its ability to develop future single-player games. Naughty Dog then went on to confirm that it had more than one ambitious brand new single-player game in the works, without revealing anything about them.

In June, Druckmann said Naughty Dog was looking to break away from being predominantly associated with The Last of Us. “I promise you, we will not be The Last of Us studio forever,” Druckmann insisted, speaking of Naughty Dog’s beloved post-apocalyptic franchise that debuted in 2013 and received its Part 2 sequel in 2020. The studio is otherwise best known for creating the Uncharted franchise, though this was put to bed with 2016’s Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End and smaller follow-up The Lost Legacy a year later.

In the shorter term, Baker is set to star as Indiana Jones for MachineGames’ Indiana Jones and The Great Circle. Then, he will appear in Ken Levine’ Judas, having played Bioshock: Infinite protagonist Booker DeWitt. Season 2 of HBO’s hit TV show The Last of Us comes out spring 2025.

Photo by Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic.

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

Cyberpunk 2077 Player Hits Level Cap Before the Opening Credits

One dedicated Cyberpunk 2077 player has hit the level cap before beginning The Heist mission, meaning before the opening credits have rolled.

Reddit user uO__Ou shared their self-inflicted challenge, noting that it “took so damn long” while confirming a playtime of 40 hours and 30 minutes. Game tracking website How Long to Beat pegs Cyberpunk 2077’s entire main story at around 25 hours and 30 minutes in total, meaning the player spent more time in the opening area than it would take to actually complete the game.

Cyberpunk 2077 opens with a handful of smaller missions before the crux of the story kicks off with The Heist. Per open-world game standards, it also limits players to the opening area of Watson during this time, meaning just a fraction of the game’s total activities (that award experience points) are available.

uO__Ou overcame this somewhat by using an exploit that allowed them to leave Watson. This doesn’t activate the dozens of side quests or other open-world activities available in Cyberpunk 2077’s Night City, but does offer better grinding locations.

“Go to Pacifica, Batty’s Hotel for, in my experience, the best farming spot,” uO__Ou said. “Repeat it over and over and over. Took me 40 hrs but, to be honest, if I did this more efficiently, it can take less than 35 hours. Just don’t forget to sleep every hour for an experience boost and to use different weapons for your sanity and for skill progression.”

Cyberpunk 2077 uses a similar progression system to the likes of The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim, where players can engage in different activities to level up specific skills which contribute to the overall level. Being stealthy and getting headshots, for example, upgrades the Headhunter skill, while crafting items upgrades the Engineer skill.

uO__Ou used these different skills to eventually reach the final Level 50, though it could have almost certainly been reached faster by actually progressing the main story. With developer CD Projekt Red now done with Cyberpunk 2077 and its expansion Phantom Liberty, and focusing on a sequel codenamed Orion (and upcoming The Witcher games codenamed Polaris and Sirius), however, fans are having to come up with quirky challenges like these to keep themselves entertained.

Practically nothing is known about Orion so far, as CD Projekt Red is still in the process of creating a North American studio in Boston to develop it. It has been called a sequel to Cyberpunk 2077 though, and may feature more involved life paths.

In our 9/10 review of Cyberpunk, IGN said: “Cyberpunk 2077 throws you into a beautiful, dense cityscape and offers a staggering amount of flexibility in how you choose to take it from there.”

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.

The Witcher: Ciri’s Origin Story Getting a Comic Adaptation

Dark Horse is adapting another The Witcher short story from author Andrzej Sapkowski into a comic book, this time focusing on how fan-favorite character Ciri came to be.

A Question of Price is the fourth short story adapted in The Last Wish collection, Dark Horse announced. The collection includes stories pulled from the first canonical The Witcher book, with this story explaining how protagonist Geralt of Rivia saved Ciri’s father from the wrath of her grandmother.

“Geralt is invited to a banquet at the Kingdom of Cintra,” the synopsis reads. “The Princess has come of age and suitors prepare to present themselves for her hand in marriage. Wary of the Queen’s invitation, Geralt attends the dinner with caution. When a mysterious uninvited guest, bearing the armor of a knight enters the hall, a bold declaration and a shocking revelation ignites the party into chaos and uproar.”

This will sound familiar to fans of The Witcher live action adaptation, as A Question of Price was adapted in Season 1 Episode 4 of the Henry Cavill-starring Netflix series.

The hardcover comic version, arriving in the same style as previous The Last Wish entries A Grain of Truth, The Lesser Evil, and The Edge of the World (which arrives January 16), releases on July 29 priced $17.99. This leaves just three short stories left to adapt from The Last Wish: Sapkowski’s debut story The Witcher; the short story on which the collection was based, also called The Last Wish, and The Voice of Reason.

The latter of these was told as an overarching story to introduce each separate short story, however, so it’s unclear if Dark Horse will also adapt this one. There are plenty more short stories to adapt beyond The Last Wish though, namely from subsequent collection The Sword of Destiny.

Dark Horse has a line of its own The Witcher stories too, which has released roughly once a year since The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt was released in 2015. These are all set within the canon of CD Projekt Red’s The Witcher world, and some have even continued the story of Geralt, Yennefer, Ciri, and other beloved characters.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.

Baldur’s Gate 3 Dev Larian’s Huge 2023 Profits Revealed

While the mainstream success of Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game Baldur’s Gate 3 is undeniable, developer Larian has yet to announce a sales figure. But after financial records for last year were made public, we finally have an idea of just how big Baldur’s Gate 3 really was.

Confirmation comes from financial records posted by the Dublin, Ireland holding company for Larian, which is ostensibly based in Belgium, and controlled by majority shareholder, founder, and CEO Swen Vincke. (Ireland is one of the world’s most significant tax havens, with corporate tax revenues exploding in the country over the last decade.)

According to a paywalled report by the Irish Independent, Larian posted a €249 million (approx $260.9 million) pre-tax profit for 2023, which included the August release of Baldur’s Gate 3. Revenue for the year hit €427 million (approx $447.5 million).

Larian has never announced a sales figure for Baldur’s Gate 3, although publishing director Michael Douse indicated in February that the game had sold well over 10 million copies, and Hasbro, the parent company of Dungeons & Dragons owner Wizards of the Coast, said in March that Baldur’s Gate 3 had earned it $90 million due to its licensing deal with Larian. The Irish Independent reported that Baldur’s Gate 3 had sold around 15 million copies and paid out a €28 million dividend this year as a result.

Larian’s bumper 2023 financial results are in stark contrast to the company’s 2022, which saw a loss of €214,000 (approx $224,100) off the back of just €22.7 million (approx $23.7 million) in revenue. Baldur’s Gate 3’s wild success, then, was a game-changer for Larian, and that’s without taking into consideration the ongoing sales Baldur’s Gate 3 has pulled in so far in 2024. Indeed, Douse has said that Baldur’s Gate 3 has 20% more active daily users this year than last, with mods helping to fuel seemingly never-ending interest in the RPG.

Vincke told IGN in September that the success of Baldur’s Gate 3 meant Larian was now in a “luxurious position,” and could “pick our own destiny and our own path.” The developer shocked the video game world when it announced plans to make brand new games outside the Dungeons & Dragons universe, rather than follow Baldur’s Gate 3 with DLC or a sequel.

The Irish Independent confirmed that while Vincke owns virtually all the ordinary shares in Larian’s Dublin holding company, Chinese megacorp Tencent owns a “large chunk” of preference shares in the firm via its Tencent Cloud Europe division.

Baldur’s Gate 3 isn’t Larian’s only hit game, of course, but its success is a magnitude higher than that of its previous RPGs, including Divinity: Original Sin 1 and 2. Larian opened multiple development studios around the world to aid with the development of Baldur’s Gate 3 as part of its “following the sun” concept of 24-hour game development, with teams handing off work to the next time zone at the end of their work day to speed up development. In addition to Dublin, Larian has studios in Kuala Lumpur, Barcelona, Guildford, Quebec, Warsaw, and its original home of Ghent.

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

These Are the Best PS5 Game Deals to Shop Right Now

Merry Christmas to us all, because Black Friday deals have started early, including tons of video games. When looking through all the early Black Friday video game deals, we spotted several PS5 games available at steep discounts on Amazon and beyond. A few highlights from PS5 game deals this Black Friday include Stellar Blade for $49.99, Sonic X Shadow Generations for $29.99, Elden Ring for just $19.99, the critically acclaimed Metaphor ReFantazio for $49.99, and Alan Wake 2 (Deluxe Edition).

Sony has also confirmed its Black Friday PS Plus offer: New members can save 30% on a 12-month subscription, and current PS Plus Essential members can save 25% on an upgrade to PlayStation Plus Extra, or 30% on Premium/Deluxe. If you’re not sure what the latest PS Plus game lineup is, see the November PS Plus games list, which includes the return of Rockstar’s GTA 5, Dying Light 2: Stay Human, and Like a Dragon: Ishin. Here are the biggest PS5 game deals right now.

There are several more games in Amazon’s sales list to check out, but here is a short list of additional PS5 games to highlight:

Top PlayStation Black Friday Deals

If you’re ready to invest in the PSVR2, now is the time to get the PlayStation VR 2 Horizon bundle for just $349 on Amazon (usually $599.99). 42% off is not too shabby for the cutting-edge PSVR2, in which we scored a 9/10 in our review, and is a compelling alternative to other affordable VR options like the Meta Quest.

PlayStation fans can snag discounts on various PS5 Black Friday bundles, PS5 Slim (on sale now at 17% off), the PS Plus subscription, PSVR 2, DualSense controllers (in multiple colors), and more from PlayStation’s Black Friday Sale. At the time this article was written, PS5 game bundles are still discounted as low as $374.99 (usually priced at $449.99 or higher) including the Fortnite Cobalt Star Bundle and NBA 2K Bundles (both digital and disc editions). Our advice is: When you see a popular bundle on sale and price-matched across retailers, be sure to get it while you can before the deal is gone or the bundle is out of stock!

Note, many of these PS5 game deals are also available in the UK at an equivalent price.

When Is Black Friday 2024?

The official Black Friday date in 2024 is November 29, but the deals season is here now! Across the gaming category, also see Nintendo’s Black Friday sale, with discounts on Tears of the Kingdom, Joy-Con controllers, and more planned. Also see the Xbox Black Friday deals, with discounts live now.

Lindsey (she/her) is IGN’s Director of Audience Development and Commerce. She’s been at IGN since 2021 and has a background in SEO, especially in the gaming, entertainment, and tech media spaces. Find her on Twitter at @LindseySalzer.