The Greatest Gift For a Gamer? Your Time

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Every year around this time I write a blog post that’s a holiday gift guide for the gamers in your life. This year I want to focus on what I think is the best gift of all for the fellow gamers in your life… your time.

Nothing shows a person you care like taking time out of your own busy life to spend time with them. That’s one reason games are so awesome! They’re an expression of friendship. I’d rather play a game with a friend than get a new book, dice tray, GM screen, or game that I’ll never play with them because they’re too busy. Save your dollars, friends. Give me that other resource that’s more precious than cash.

Gift Ideas that Only Cost Time

Here are some quick holiday gift ideas for the gamers in your life that only cost you time:

• Run a holiday-themed one-shot game. Taking the time to run the game and bring your friends together is a huge commitment that counts as several presents in my book. This is an especially great gift if you don’t normally run games. Invite your GM friend(s) over and let them take a break as a player while you run things for a bit. Organizing a game can be difficult, but remember virtual tabletops make life easier!
• Learn the rules to an entirely new RPG and teach them to your friends. Discovering a new game is super awesome, but reading a book full of rules takes a lot of time and mental energy. Taking that burden from your friends by reading it and explaining it to them is a huge gift! Plus you finally get to take that book you Kickstarted three years ago off the shelf and give it a read.
• Take some of the administrative work off your GM’s plate. Coordinate calendars to find the date for the next game, write an awesome recap of your campaign thus far to share with the group, or finally send that backstory you’ve been meaning to type up. Tasks like this can be fun, relieve your friends’ stress levels, and make a world of difference for the already burdened GM.
• Got a game designer friend? Read their rough manuscript, playtest their adventure, or invite them over for dinner and a brainstorm. Bouncing ideas off people you trust is an invaluable tool for every game designer.
• If you’re artistic, draw maps, sketch characters, write a song, make a movie, or do something else to show your group how much you’re enjoying the game. If what you create can be used in the game, that’s even better!

How else can you give the gamers in your life your time this holiday season? Sound off in the comments below!

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