The Escapist staff of editors and gift-givers tells you what you should buy the gamer on your list in 2013. That’s where this handy-dandy guide for giving gifts to the gamer your life (read: you) comes in.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year, a time of joy, mirth, celebration and pulling out your hair over finding just the right present for the nerd (or nerds) in your life. It’s also the time of year when you will be telling family and friends what exactly to get you this holiday season. But don’t worry, The Escapist is here to help!

Through the next few pages, you’ll find suggestions and ideas for all kinds of nerd goodies for that special someone in your life. Games, books, movies, and gadgets; we’ve got it all, even some ideas for those who’ve won (or think they’ll win) the lottery this holiday season.

So grab a piece of graph paper and a pen, read on, and get ready to make some holiday wishlists!

Games Games Games

You guys like games for all consoles, handhelds and even the glorious PC? Well, here are our picks for the games to get for you and your friends.

XCOM: Enemy Within

Paul says: Get ready to save the world once again from an extraterrestrial menace, Commander! This stand-alone expansion for last year’s award-winning tactical strategy game XCOM: Enemy Unknown features a whole host of new enemies, council missions, weapons, gear and special abilities to help you kick ET’s ass back into space once more. Using the power of a new resource, Meld, you can modify your troops with gene mods to make them faster, stronger, and tougher than ever, or construct cybernetic cybersuits to turn your soldiers into walking tank-like cyborgs armed with railguns and rocket-powered fists! It’s a must have for any XCOM fans or those who love a challenging strategy game. Just remember that a 95% chance to hit still isn’t a guarantee of a successful shot.

Justin says: The Baldur’s Gate series is just one of those timeless classics of gaming. Developer Beamdog aims to bring those classics to a new audience, and maybe polish up the old girl a little along the way. Last year they released the first half of their enhanced edition featuring the original Baldur’s Gate and the Tales of the Sword Coast expansion, but only just recently did we see it completed with Baldur’s Gate II: Enhanced Edition, which covers Baldur’s Gate II: Shadows of Amn and Throne of Bhaal. The Enhanced Editions make some improvements to the UI and add some new content, along with making the game compatible with widescreen monitors, but they are otherwise faithful renditions of the some of the pinnacles in the RPG genre. This is where these editions are at their best, bringing old classics to a new audience that didn’t experience them the first time around and doesn’t want to be bothered with jumping the hoops to get them working now. Though if you are looking for a more untouched version, you can find them at Good Old Games.

Schuyler says: Diablo III was released in 2012 for the PC to an audience wary of its real money auction house and displeased with the game’s issues with loot drops. Then a year later, Blizzard brought the game to the Xbox 360, fixing all of these problems and giving console gamers a chance to experience one of the best franchises of the past twenty years. The Diablo experience on a console brought me back to when I was neck deep in Gauntlet and being in loot-grinding heaven. In an age where PC gamers usually get the glut of RPG games, leaving the console with more first person shooters than you could shake a stick at, Blizzard extended an olive branch of sorts and hopefully we get more of the games that were PC exclusives ported to consoles so that the masses can too partake in the fun.

Justin says: Look, I’m just going to put my foot down and state that Battlefield is the best multiplayer military shooter series. There’s just something about that theme that’s been getting me itching for its open map combat for years now. Battlefield 4 continues this legacy, combining all the chaos and spectacle that the series is known for. Buildings are leveled, tanks run over soldiers and conflicts escalate until the last reinforcement ticket ticks off. There are just not many games where you can shoot a helicopter pilot out of their airship, jump off a building, steal it midair and fly off to rain fire down on their control point, at least not without a heavy dose of quick time events. If you have a shooter fan on your shopping list, get Battlefield 4.

Heather says: I’m a big fan of handheld gaming systems and count myself pretty lucky to live in a time when portable gaming systems are as powerful as they are today. The Playstation Vita is no exception to the rule of awesome that has befallen portable systems in recent years, but it doesn’t often get enough credit. The PS Vita is really an exceptional platform, and with front and back cameras and dual touchscreens, the Vita is already worlds above other handheld gaming systems. If you’re looking for a killer game to play on your PS Vita, fork over your cash to Media Molecule for Tearaway, because it’s so worth it.

Jon says: Pokemon has only gotten better with age. And these, the latest, are better than ever. They’re beginner friendly, straightforward, very transparent, and as complicated as you want them to be. They’re so good, in fact, that I want to own both.

Paul says: If you missed out on any of this crazy co-operative shooter last year, then get ready to joy puke your face off with this special, DLC-loaded edition of Borderlands 2! Featuring all 4 DLC packs, new vault hunters Krieg the Psyhco and Gaige the Mechromancer, a whole host of character skins and battle arenas and of course, the award-winning game itself!

Schuyler says: Minecraft may have come out initially in 2009 but it’s never too late to hop on the bandwagon. After it was released for the PC while it was still in its alpha version, Minecraft sales went through the roof making fans from almost everyone that touched it. This game has gone from an indie game to one of the best selling games on the Xbox, that doesn’t happen often. Minecraft has changed the way that people look at games, you are given a world to reign over as you see fit. The only limits are your imagination, so if you want to give the gift of an experience that they won’t forget I suggest that you download the game to your PC or Xbox for hours upon hours of fun.

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Gadgets & Peripherals

We know we all like to buy extra gadgets for the men and women in our lives – and for that extra special gamer inside all of us who prefers to play computer games with the best peripherals in the comfort of a high-tech chair wearing the best headset money can buy.

Greg says: The future is here, at least according to the commercials. But I had some time to fool around with the Galaxy Gear watch that syncs up via Bluetooth to your Samsung smartphone and it is a damn fine piece of tech. You can send calls to your wrist – and speak into it using a Captain Kirk voice – or you can quickly check your email or get other notifications rather than digging through your pockets or your bag. The Galaxy Gear ain’t perfect – it only works with a specific model of Samsung phone right now – but it would definitely be something for the tech-crazy urban commuter on your list. You know, just to hold them over until Google Glass or the iWatch comes out.

Janelle Says: Not all headsets are created equal. For the gamer on the go, the Plantronics RIG Headset was created specifically for them. With swappable mics and the ability to connect to your PC, PS4 and Xbox 360, this is the transformer of headsets. The microphone choices allow for both superior sound in streaming with the addition of an in-line mic and remote for smartphones, all in one place. The RIG also comes complete with a mixer that allows you to plug in your computer and your cell phone at the same time, allowing you to switch from a game to call with a simple click of a button and without removing your headset. Unfortunately, you are tied to the wire no matter what pieces you use, but the extreme comfort of the completely padded frame combined with the flexibility for travel, makes up for what it lakes in wireless functionality.

Josh says: If you’re not sold on the next generation of consoles and are perfectly content playing a vast library of current-gen games, this might just be the investment you need to make for your gaming future. It’s compatible with both Xbox 360 and PS3, as well as PC, so it’s versatile to say the least. It’s intensely comfortable to lounge in, plus it’s got built-in Surround Sound and a rumble subwoofer in the seat for an immersive gaming experience. Whether you’re racing, dungeon crawling, or noob-tubing your day away, the RC-5 should spice up your current-gen gaming experience.

Jon says: While older wireless headsets were a bit unreliable, these things have lots of multi-year reviews and a reputation for longevity. In truth, the real function is a push-to-talk button on the headset itself. The ability to make a sandwich in the next room while staying on chat… that’s the definition of lazy luxury.

Greg says: They say adding a bootup SSD to your PC is the easiest way to boost performance, and, in this instance, “they” are absolutely correct! I upgraded my gaming rig with this solid-state drive this year and it has added years to my aging hardware. Put your OS and your games on the drive, and load times are reduced to seconds instead of minutes, and games with texture intensive rendering start to sing again. Of course, it’s not as fast as a rig with an i7, 16 gb of RAM and SLI graphics cards, but an SSD like this one will get your games playing again on the cheap.

Heather says: It’s your lucky day! You’ve finally been accepted into the Aperture Science test subject program! You’re going to need a fantastic portal device, something with the power to help you excel at your tricky tasks but also shows that you’re an individual with preferences and opinions. Look no further than the Customizable Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device! With plenty of different options, you can show off your personality with this portal device all while skillfully avoiding the near death experiences in the testing areas. But, disclaimer, even this portal device won’t make the cake real.

Josh says: Want surround sound, but hate running wires? Yeah. Me, too. That’s largely why I don’t have surround sound in my living room. But if I had one of these bad boys, I would have all the luxury of surround sound, without a room full of speakers and wires. In conjunction with science, Polk has concocted a scheme to simulate surround sound without the need to have the speakers physically surrounding you. It’s crazy, I know, but I saw it in action, and it really does work. It’s a tad more expensive than some of the lower-end surround sound systems, and the convenience makes it well worth the trade-off.

Movies & Books & TV

When we’re not playing games, we like to chill out and watch our favorite screen with different media such as DVDs, Blu-Rays, or TV episodes on DVD or Blu-Ray (Who watches cable anyway?) There’s even some of us who prefer the analogue distribution method of text on *gasp* actual paper – comics and books.

Paul says: When legions of monstrous creatures called Kaiju emerge from a dimensional rift at the bottom of the sea, mankind builds the Jaegers, massive robots controlled by two pilots locked in a neural bridge to defeat them and save humanity from certain destruction. But as the invading Kaiju grow stronger and more relentless, it falls on two unlikely Jaeger pilots and a legendary Jaeger to stand up and cancel the apocalypse. Seriously, this movie is about giant robots punching the crap out of giant monsters. Do you really need any other reason to pick it up?

Justin says: A number of us at the Escapist absolutely love history, military history to be precise. From ancient Roman legions to medieval sieges, we just soak this stuff up, but it’s quite possible there has been more written on World War II than every other war and conflict combined. Sometimes this can even be drilled down to a single battle, which is the case for Shattered Sword: The Untold Story of the Battle of Midway. What makes this such an interesting read for history fans is that it debunks and reexamines much of the commonly held beliefs and knowledge around this pivotal naval battle. This is just the kind of stuff that the history buffs on your list will really enjoy, getting to see their facts warp and learn something new.

Janelle says: Anyone attending cons the latter half of this year has been surrounded by endless waves of Survey Corps enlistees. If you don’t yet recognize the last symbols for the hope of mankind, what are you waiting for? From the director of Death Note, Attack on Titan tells the story of the last remnants of humanity, hiding from massive Titans, who roam the land looking for humans to eat for fun. In this kill or be eaten world, only the members of the elite scouting legion go past the fortress walls for the reclamation of human territory, only to rarely return. Fans of Pacific Rim and giant monster animes alike, take note! This one is for you.

Schuyler says: If you know anyone that loves movies then this is for them. Stanley Kubrick is, quite possibly, the most influential American filmmaker of the past century and this collection has nine of his movies that helped change the way people look at film. From Lolita, a classic tale of inappropriate love, to Eyes Wide Shut, a modern tale of inappropriate love, Stanley Kubrick had amassed a very impressive catalog. Here you get his best films all in one bunch. Sit and watch Alex DeLarge go through the Ludovico technique and Frank Poole drift off into space by way of a paranoid sentient computer. You’re given so many different experiences in this collection, you know it would just make someone’s holiday so special.

Comics To Buy: Hawkeye Vol 1, Saga Vol 1 and Saga Vol 2

Jon says: Saga, the story of two aliens from warring races on the run in the far future, is one of the most imaginative and glorious. Hawkeye is about what one of The Avengers does on his days off. They’re easily the two best series of comics you’ll read all year – and they’re collected in some wonderfully rendered, high quality trade paperbacks.

Jon says: The extended cuts of The Lord of the Rings trilogy movies are some of the best cinematic experiences I’ve ever had. The extended Hobbit is no less enjoyable. The added footage, while brief, is more of what endears most to the Jackson remakes: character moments. There’s dwarf wrestling, elven snootiness, and One Ring foreshadowing. The extended cuts are the definitive, must have versions

Justin says: House of Blades – the first book in the The Traveler’s Gate Trilogy – is one of those books I stumbled across by happy happenstance. I was looking for a light read while I was doing some traveling and cherry-picked a few selections to my Kindle. House of Blades was the one that really sucked me in. It’s not quite as dense or exhaustive as other fantasy epics, but that’s good sometimes and it makes up for it with some interesting characters that often play as sly divergences from the normal fantasy tropes. For instance, the prophesied hero is not the main character. This is coupled with a well thought out and intriguing magic system, where every mage, or traveler, has their own powers and restrictions based on what realm they draw it from. I just love finding good reads from young writers, and I tore through the second book when it was released a few months back.

All the Things …

There’s always some geeky tee-shirt or referential poster we wish we had around the holidays. And if you have to spend time with relatives, a little alcohol never hurt.

Greg says: If you were a dork in the late 80s, you watched Star Trek: The Next Generation. Something about its characters spoke to me, not the least of which was Lt. Commander Data and his search for acceptance in human society. Easily my favorite character, Data was equal parts wide-eyed and jealous of his crewmate’s emotions, even though his immunity to threats against organic life made him a scriptwriter’s dream. Other than hooking up with Tasha Yar, Data’s bond with his cat Spot was possibly the most human part of him, and artist Jonathan England depicted the relationship in this acrylic painting perfectly. Grab a print for your TNG fan, cat lover, or android fetishist.

Heather says: So you’ve spent a grueling day destroying your enemies out on the battlefield and you suddenly remember: your wife nagged you all morning about needing a new trash bin for the house. Frustrated, you survey your surroundings and kneel down to pick up a discarded helm from one of your fallen enemies. This should do nicely. It’s a decent size and you’ll always remember the pride you felt at your battlefield success when you get to toss the bone of that turkey leg you just destroyed into this helm. Now, not only are you a true warrior but reusing this helm makes you a conservationalist too. Another win for the fearsome warrior.

Janelle says: Science isn’t just for NASA anymore! This holiday season, impress your friends and drink like a modern mixologist with Molecule-R’s Cocktail kit. The beginner’s box comes complete with all the chemicals and pipettes needed to make a spherical mojito with enough sci-fi edge to serve at your very own Purgatory Bar. While you will need some kitchen savy and your own silicon mold or two, who isn’t look for a good excuse to run out and buy your own liquid nitrogen?

Greg says: Traveling as much as I have in the last year is certainly taxing. Not on me – I love it – but on my luggage. The carry-on I’ve been using pretty much daily for the last 12 years is quickly becoming reduced to mere threads, so I was in the market for a new travel option. After consulting with those who travel far more than I do, I decided to invest in the Sky Train. Choo Choo! This fantastic piece of luggage speaks to me – it has pockets and compartments for days, and can convert from a shoulder bag, to a backpack, to a briefcase in seconds. If you play your packing right, you can even get away with abandoning a suitcase altogether and just bring the SkyTrain as your uber carry-on.

Janelle says: Everyone has a power piece or two within their wardrobe. Like all power pieces, you don’t pick it, and one day after continuous wear for months on end, you realize it has picked you. Whether it be that trusty cap that prevents any day from being bad hair day or those 5 inch sequined heels capable of walking over the world itself, they grant us strength in areas where life tests us. I AM cousins, is one of my unlikely power pieces. For those days where I really need my inner bounty hunter, nothing starts my day off right quite like putting on my utility belt and space armor in one fell swoop. And let’s be honest, how many other awesome cosplay inspired t-shirt come double sided? Pick one (or a few) up, and maybe it will pick you too.

Josh says: If you’ve ever tried to get your caffeine fix from Pepsi or Mountain Dew, you probably know how poor a substitute regular soda is for coffee. But still, it’s soda, which is much more delicious than coffee, so maybe it’s worth drinking four cans to keep yourself in the game for a couple more hours. Enter BAWLS. Delicious soda (I’m particularly fond of the Root Beer flavor) infused with a little extra kick. It’s not quite a cup of coffee, but it’s better tasting and, more importantly, more heavily caffeinated than regular soda. A case won’t last long, but it should carry you through the holiday break, at least.

Unplugged – Tabletop Games

The Escapist office plays a lot of video games, but we also make time to play around the table face-to-face. Here’s our favorite board games, roleplaying games and completely tasteless card games from this year.

Janelle says: From desktop to table top, the WoW Trivial Pursuit board game is a must own for any World of Warcraft enthusiast, both past and present. With a board covered in zones, cites and flight paths from around Azeroth, categories ranging from Loot to Lore will test the knowledge of even the die-hard fan. Beyond the adorable baby murloc player pieces, it plays just like the old school Trivial Pursuit we’ve come to know and love, without the Entertainment and Sports categories we hate to land on. Pulling from a wide range of knowledge bases, players from all expansions will find themselves calling out their fair share of answers. After spending an evening with 6 of your friends reminiscing and competing over the good ol’times in Khaz Modan, you’ll quickly realize that Trivial Pursuit meets World of Warcraft is the perfect un-plugged marriage made in Outland.

Paul says: Ever wanted to build your own dungeon, complete with traps, monsters and other horrors, but just couldn’t get your town to approve your building permits? Now you don’t have to, with Boss Monster! This card game, designed for 2-4 players, lets players lure adventurers to their doom with treasure-laden (and trap filled) rooms in the hope of knocking them off and gaining the most souls. Chock full of geeky references to old-school games and RPGs, this card game is a blast to play and a good choice for any fan of tabletop adventures.

Justin says: Every year it seems like more and more Magic folks are getting into Commander, EDH for the old hats, which is not surprising because it’s a fun and varied format. One playgroup might look to cram as many broken combos together, while another just plays with whatever cards are going to have the craziest effect on the boardstate. Following up the last successful Commander deck run, Wizards of the Coast has outdone themselves releasing their latest line, multiplayer aspect and politics of the game and some of the format specific features. For instance, Tempting Offer lets all your opponents copy a powerful effect of yours, but for everyone of your opponents that takes part, you get to do it again. These kinds of cards really help to ensure that games rarely play out exactly the same. So get your playgroup to secret Santa them to each other and hope you get the Mind Seize deck, there’s already a card in their worth more than the deck’s $29.99 MSRP.

Greg says: Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson published a little game called Dungeons & Dragons in 1974. The RPG-progenitor came in a cardboard box with three booklets called Men & Magic, Monsters & Treasure and Underworld & Wilderness Adventures in distinctive white covers with black and red inks. Gygax and Arneson later supplemented what came in the “white box” – as it came to be known – with setting material for Greyhawk and Blackmoor and these artifacts were highly desired collector’s items. Now, for the first time in more than 30 years, you can buy a newly printed copy of these first D&D rules thanks to Wizard of the Coast reissuing them in a fancy wooden box. If you do, you’ll get the 3 booklets, plus 4 more supplements, 2 sets of polyhedral dice, handy reference sheets, and the envy of every old school gamer everywhere.

Justin says: Oh, Cards Against Humanity, let’s all compete for who’s the more horrible person at the table. For those initiated and so-far untainted minds, Cards Against Humanity is a match-making card game based around one player reading off a topic or short sentence from a card and the other players will play cards that they feel match. It’s sort of like Apples-to-Apples, only much worse. See rather than mundane or safe topics, Cards Against Humanity is deliberately chalked with some of the most foul and politically incorrect things imaginable, but in the right circumstance with the right group of folks, and perhaps a bit of alcohol, its ruckus good time. Just be careful who you gift it to, you might not want to know that their mind even worked that way.

Jon says: Lords of Waterdeep is one of the most fun boardgames I’ve played in years. It blends a lightly complicated management element with a trend towards efficiency that I can’t resist. That said, Scoundrels of Skullport adds wonderful elements – and space for another player – that really throw a wrench into the works. If you like boardgames at all, you owe yourself both Lords of Waterdeep and its expansion.

If I Won the Lottery

Ok, we know you will never be able to afford these awesome gifts, but we like to shoot for the moon. Whether it’s a castle in the mountains, or a massive Batman-themed gaming room, you can appreciate the fantasy of swimming in our fictional money bin and buying these gifts this year.

Jon says: 4k PC Gaming is the future. Live the future now. Gaming in 3840×2160, with 3D, on a Smart TV with voice interaction? Yes, let’s do that. Besides, after you spend nearly $40,000 on a new TV, the $8,000 to $10,000 for the top of the line gaming PC is like a drop in the bucket.

Alex says: The year 2013 holds special significance for me. In high school, the role-playing game Cyberpunk 2013 captured my imagination, and ever since I’ve wondered if its dire predictions would come true this year. If so, then right now the Middle East would be melting down, the US would be in the midst of a devastating economic depression after losing a decade-long war in a Third World hellhole, international corporations would be exploiting the masses, gun violence would be on the rise, and Asia would be sinking into a polluted morass. This Christmas, I’m grateful that none of that -wait, what? It’s all happening? Oh. Oh, damn. In that case I’m buying a castle for Christmas. A real castle, made of stone, situated in an isolated place. This 3,000-square foot keep on Schweitzer Mountain, in fact.

Justin says: Now if money truly wasn’t an issue, I’m sure there’s a number of high ticket items that come to mind. Maybe it’s a super-powerful computer, some ultra-high-end TV or rare collector’s items, but you know what none of those are? A real-life goddamn mech. The Kuratas is built by Suidobashi Heavy Industry and is the brainchild of artist Kogoro Kurata, who grew up watching anime like Armored Trooper Votoms and Gundam and was disappointed with the future’s lack of giant robots. So he decided to do the sensible thing and set out to build them. The Kuratas even look like something straight out of anime, coming equipped with BB-gun gatling cannons and other not-so-lethal weaponry. I can’t think of a better way to spend $1.4 million.

Heather says: Nothing says “I have all the money I could ever want” more than purchasing an underwater resort, a la Poseidon Underwater Resorts. Remember that time Rapture was a utopia? Didn’t it start off that way, so long ago? Maybe this is the start of the real life Rapture. If so, I want in on the ground floor of that venture.

Alex says: If you’ve read or seen Game of Thrones, then you know that Jon Arryn’s castle, the Eyrie, is basically situated in the least accessible place on Earth. I’m convinced that the Eyrie was actually built during a mythic era when the Arryns had access to flying griffin mounts. It’s the only way to make sense of the site of their stronghold – and all the cells that open to the air. Anyway, the point is, if you have a mountain castle, you need flying mounts to go with it. Since griffins aren’t available, I’m buying a flying car. They’re not available either you say? Oh, but they are … on pre-order.

Paul says: In the event you ever get enough money to feel like Bruce Wayne, why not go all out and actually get yourself a real life Batarang? This full scale replica of Batman’s most iconic weapon comes from Batman: Arkham City, stands tall at 22 inches with its base and weighs in at an impressive 20 pounds. It also features working LED lights and the Batarang is even detachable! Advisory: Don’t actually throw the Batarang at anyone.

Heather says: With unlimited funds at my fingertips, I could finally travel in style and I’d sure as hell be buying the Sultan of Brunei’s Boeing 747-430. This jet is the epitome of understated elegance and at such an affordable price too! But really, in all actuality, it’s absurd and outrageous and I love it. I mean, look at it!

Alex says: There’s no point in having a highly-defensible castle if you’re not prepared to defend it. That’s why the last of my lottery money is going towards this functioning Wehrmacht Tiger tank. One of the best main battle tanks of World War II, the Tiger has a classic aesthetic that will look quite striking when stationed on the snowy slopes of my new home. I’ll have to figure out how to restore the cannon to full function, of course, but that’s the challenges of life when you’re rich and evil. I mean paranoid. I mean prudent.

Janelle says: What self-respecting gamer hasn’t spent some of their childhood daydreaming about owning the ultimate gaming room? For some, the ultimate gaming room is simply a giant tv and a comfy couch. But why dream so small? For those with an unlimited budget, go big for your home like everyone’s moody rich kid, and build yourself a $2 million bat cave themed theater with 12,000 square feet to deck out in surround sound and all your technogadget wares. With a 180- inch screen, the Xbox One never looked so good.