A Holiday Gift Guide: Puzzles and Games Galore

Our editor rounds up the best presents you can play. I'll start with a caveat: the games in this guide are mostly screenless. Video games are a rich cultural medium, I'm told, but one in which I have zero expertise; for my twelve-year-old nephew, the main video gamer in my life, I usually just buy a Nintendo gift card and call it a day. The suggestions below focus, instead, on puzzle books, brainteasers, and the sort of party games that require no higher tech than a couple of AA batteries. Such analog games are staples of holiday gift-giving, and for good reason.