10 Christmas Gift Ideas for Gamers
Every year I get asked the same question by somebody in my life: what do you buy the gamer who already owns everything? This year I decided to answer it properly. I am filming a daily Christmas gift guide video series, one gift idea a day, heavy on retro because that is where my heart is.
These are Days 1 through 10 of the series, written up for anyone who would rather read the list than watch the videos. Every pick is under $100, most are under $50, and prices are as of late October 2026. Holiday sales move fast, so double check the price before you check out.
If you want to check out the videos find them here on my YouTube channel Year of the Dad Gaming
1. Gaming Hats
The easy win at $20 to $30.
Start simple. A snapback with an NES controller, an Atari logo, or a Pac-Man ghost on it is the gift equivalent of a layup. It fits every head, it never needs batteries, and the gamer in your life will actually wear it instead of politely putting it in a drawer.
This is the pick for the person you are shopping for at the last minute. No sizes to guess beyond “hat,” no setup, no wrong answer.
2. Displate Metal Posters
Game room art that will not wreck your walls, around $50.
Displate makes posters printed on metal, and they mount with a magnet instead of nails or screws. That means no holes in the wall and you can swap the art whenever you get bored. The retro gaming designs are fantastic. Pixel art, classic box art, arcade cabinets, all of it looks sharp on metal.
They run sales constantly, so never pay full price. Wait for a discount code and a medium poster lands right around fifty bucks.
3. Rechargeable Batteries and Battery Packs
The practical gift at about $18 for a 4-pack.
I know. Batteries sound like the socks of Christmas gifts. Hear me out. Every Xbox controller and half the retro-style wireless controllers in the house eat AA batteries like candy, and a good set of rechargeables pays for itself by February.
This is the gift nobody buys for themselves and everybody is grateful for by New Year’s. Pair it with a controller or a handheld from this list and you look like a genius.
4. Handheld Emulators (Miyoo Mini Plus)
A pocket full of retro for about $65.
The Miyoo Mini Plus is the little handheld that kicked off this whole emulation boom, and it is still the one I recommend first. It is roughly the size of a deck of cards, it plays everything from the NES up through the original PlayStation, and the screen looks way better than a $65 device has any right to look.
If the gamer in your life grew up in the cartridge era, watching them scroll through thousands of the games they grew up with is worth the price all by itself.
5. RGB Lighting
Game room glow for about $25.
An LED light strip behind the TV is the cheapest way to make a game room look like a game room. The Govee strips stick on in minutes, change colors with an app or remote, and the bias lighting is genuinely easier on your eyes during late night sessions.
It photographs great, it installs in ten minutes, and it works for movie night too. This is the under $50 pick that makes the whole setup look twice as expensive.
6. Plug and Play Retro Games
Zero setup, all nostalgia, $60 to $80.
Some gamers do not want a project. They want to plug something into the TV and be playing in two minutes. That is the plug and play category: mini consoles and handhelds with the games already built in. The Sega Genesis Mini, THEC64 Mini, and the Super Pocket all do this well.
One warning on the Genesis Mini: it is discontinued, so prices bounce around. Check Facebook Marketplace before you pay online prices. I find them listed locally all the time.
7. Retro Patent Posters
Classy game art for $15 to $20.
These are prints of the actual patent drawings for classic hardware: the NES controller, the Game Boy, the original arcade cabinets. They look like blueprints, they frame beautifully, and they are the rare piece of game art that does not make a room look like a toy store exploded.
This is the pick for the gamer with an office. It reads as art first and gaming second, which is exactly why it works.
8. Gaming Headsets
For the gamer who plays after bedtime, $30 and up.
A decent headset does two jobs. It lets them hear the game properly, and it keeps the game from waking up the whole house. As a dad who does most of his gaming after the kids are asleep, I can tell you that second job is the one that matters.
You do not have to spend a fortune. Solid headsets start around $30, and the $50 range is the sweet spot for something that will last a few years. If they play online with friends, make sure it has a good microphone.
9. Heat-Changing Coffee Mugs
The stocking stuffer champ at about $15.
Pour hot coffee into the Game Boy mug and the screen “turns on.” Tetris pieces stack up, Pac-Man appears, the design shows up like magic. It is a fifteen dollar mug and it gets a bigger reaction than gifts that cost five times as much.
This was Day 9 of the video series and it might be the most giftable item on the whole list. Cheap, fun, and every gamer drinks something hot.
10. My Arcade Player Tabletop Arcade
A tiny working arcade cabinet for about $30.
The My Arcade Player is a mini tabletop cabinet with a real joystick and real buttons, and it actually plays. Mine is the Frogger version, because some of us have taste. It sits on a desk, it runs on batteries or USB, and everyone who walks past it stops to play one game.
Thirty bucks for a working arcade cabinet you can hold in one hand. That is the whole pitch and it is enough.
More coming
That is Days 1 through 10. The series keeps rolling, and I will write up Days 11 through 20 as Part 2 once they are filmed. If you want to watch instead of read, the videos are going up daily.
What is the best gaming gift you have ever given or received? Tell me in the comments. The good answers might end up in the next round of the series.