It’s that time of the year again, holiday shopping season! We’re publishing this on Cyber Monday, and you can likely find all sort of greatly over-hyped deals, just like you probably did last Friday. There are still probably folks you still need to shop for, and if you have one of those “hard to shop for” folks on your list, you’ve pretty much described most everybody in our office. So we asked around the office, to see what they enjoy seeing under the tree, and here were a few ideas.
Board or puzzle-type games seem to be a popular thing around the office. Jake’s kids gave him the Laser Maze Logic Game last year that is a lot like the Rush Hour game he already had. But Laser Maze has lasers, and everything is better with lasers.
Greg and Dylan both are into board games. Both enjoyed the board game Betrayal at the House On The Hill – 2nd Edition. Not a sit-down and learn it in one sitting type of game, but a lot of fun. Dylan recommends Settlers of Catan as a good introduction to in-depth board games, saying “a fantastic game for three or four players, where the goal is to conquer an island by building a civilization and trading with your neighbors.” He also has praise for Forbidden Island, a cooperative game of treasure-hunting on a sinking island, where you have to work together to gather archaeological treasures and escape before the island falls into the sea.
Dave is a music guy. He loves the Sonos systems. The Sonos Play setup is a great little speaker setup that connects directly to your home’s WiFi network and wirelessly streams your music library or from online sources like Spotify or Pandora (and can be controlled from your smart phone).
Eric and his boys have had a great time with their Snap Circuits kit. Jake has a similar set and his kids enjoy learning about electricity with the kit. So does Jake, honestly.
Jeff pretty much likes everything at The Grommet and likes their philosophy: They launch undiscovered products and help them succeed; they call them Grommets. Grommets aren’t just things. Grommets are products with a purpose invented by people with stories. So the products there may or may not be tech, but they are unique, undiscovered, and you’re bound to find something there that you won’t be able to find anywhere else.
Brock says that we nerds tend to sit in one place staring at a screen all day and products like Fitbit allow us to get more active in a geeky sort of way. It tracks steps, distance, and calories burned and shows you how you’re stacking up against your daily goals. At night, it tracks your sleep cycle, helps you learn how to sleep better, and wakes you silently in the morning (and all of our wives might appreciate that).
And despite what everybody thinks, we’re not all hung up on getting the latest toys of gadgets, and we’ll all be happy with a donation to any of our favorite charities. While we always want to “Better The Lives Of Others,” these charities are far better equipped to do so.