It's too late to get a gift shipped and shopping in-store is a nightmare. We may earn revenue from the products available on this page and participate in affiliate programs. OK, so you waited too long to order a present online . You don't want to brave the crowds. And you do't want to disappoint everyone during the holidays.

Is someone on your list hard to shop for? We've got a ton of great options for just about anyone. And grab a little something for yourself. We may earn revenue from the products available on this page and participate in affiliate programs. Some people get their holiday shopping done on a responsible schedule. They budget, strategize, and stay organized for a stress-free season. Last-minute holiday shopping is a time-honored tradition, and we're here to help make it a lot easier.

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.

Our columnist on digital culture suggests technology--or anti-technology technology--to give this holiday season. We are entering a Surrealist phase of personal technology. Any device you might imagine can be found online courtesy of an obscure Chinese factory, ready to be shipped out for a loved one's holiday enjoyment: pocket-size artificial-intelligence gizmos ( Rabbit r1, $199), in-home hologram machines (Code 27 Character Livehouse, $558), human-size robot servants ( 1X NEO, $20,000). The components of tech have become better and cheaper, from microchips to speakers and screens (have you seen how cheap a good TV is these days?), enabling out-there innovation. On the consumer side, we are bored of rote device designs; we've seen a dozen models of iPhone and crave something refreshingly different.

Toys, crafts, lab kits, and more for the young loved ones in your life. In theory, buying gifts for children is a snap. If they're old enough to talk, but not old enough to ignore you completely, they will likely tell you what they want. And, if your kids run in the same kinds of circles as mine, they all seem to want the same things: fidget rings, slime, a Labubu key chain, a Squishmallow, a Sephora gift card, a digital wad of Robux, a hoverboard, and maybe a puppy. The adult who strives for a more bespoke level of gift-giving--or simply to find something with no connection to screens, mirrors, or fads--risks coming off as presumptuous and pretentious.

Whether you're shopping for your closest friend who has everything or a grumpy family member who criticizes every gift you've ever given, we have the best suggestions for you. We may earn revenue from the products available on this page and participate in affiliate programs. Your friends and family deserve the best possible gifts. But, shopping can be tricky. You don't want to give them something impersonal, like a gift card, but you also can't resort to drawing them a card with a Christmas tree on it again. It's our job to find the best products and deals, so we've spent way too much time digging up a ton of products that pretty much anyone would like.

Maybe there's an audiophile on your list, or maybe you're shopping for someone who recently acquired a new phone and could use something better than the pack-in headphones. Either way, we have a slew of recommendations in the audio gear section of our holiday gift guide. On our list you'll find smart speakers from Google and Amazon alike, along with Sonos, whose new "One" speaker includes Alexa built in, with Google Assistant support coming soon. When it comes to headphones, our selections run the gamut from the affordable (Jabra's Move headset) to the high end (Bragi's Dash Pro wireless earbuds and these noise cancelling headphones from Sony), with a couple mid-range options in between. Rounding out the list, we have a soundbar, drum machine, synth app, the Amazon Echo Show and one of our favorite portable Bluetooth speakers.

A lot of people have been doing light therapy during the winter to keep their mood up while the Sun is hiding. There was even an episode of Broad City about it. Well, Llana could have used the Luminette 2 light therapy glasses, because they let you get some much-needed light while you're on the go instead of dashing into a room for light therapy every time your mood goes down. These are for the person who has issues with seasonal depression who doesn't have a lot of time. There are so many different headphone options out there that it's hard to know which ones to get, so we'll save you some time.

Each year, I spend some of my time testing out video games and video game gadgets so that I can give readers suggestions on what to buy for the holidays--either for themselves or for friends and loved ones. This year I have quite a range of gadgets, toys, and other video game related items. I'll have a separate list for the games themselves. In this list, there's everything from keyboards to gaming headsets to the consoles themselves. This is a terrific, compact mechanical keyboard designed to save space and make gaming easier than ever for first-person-shooter gamers in particular. I love the clicky keys and small footprint.