Video Game Buyer's Guide

Welcome to our 2017 Holiday Buyer's Guide!

It's that time of year again when friends, parents, readers, and kids ask us for advice on what they should buy this year. This year's guide heavily features Nintendo because of the awesome year they had, but several other games will be highlighted in their own sections.


 When determining if a game is right for you or your kids, we recommend you follow the ESRB guidelines, but will happily answer any questions you have regarding the content of a game.


Our Holiday Buyer's Guide uses affiliate links, mostly linking off to Amazon. This means if you click one of our links and make a purchase, we will receive a commission for referring the sale. This money goes directly back into our blog so that we can continue to provide gaming commentary and coverage year-round. Thank you for supporting our blog and the developers who work hard to bring these great games to life. Please note adblockers may render images invisible in this guide.

Nintendo had so many great games release this year that we just had to create a special featured section devoted exclusively to the Nintendo brand


Due to how many great titles were released, we had to limit ourselves to just a few of the best titles and hardware accessories worth sharing. 

Super Mario Odyssey

Super Mario Odyssey is probably game of the year for 2017, and it alone justifies the purchase of a Nintendo Switch.


Reviving the Mario 64 platforming Style, you'll explore tons of worlds, solve puzzles as you find moons and coins hidden throughout, upgrade your Odyssey, and of course save the Princess from Bowser's clutches.


Mario Odyssey is a masterpiece, and a reminder that great games can call back to the past while still innovating and moving the industry forward.

Antank Switch Battery Case

HORI Compact Playstand for Nintendo Switch

Nintendo Consoles to Buy This Year

Nintendo Switch

The Nintendo Switch console has had an amazing year with so many great games to play for kids and adults of all ages. We HIGHLY recommend owning a Switch to play all of the games released already, and to get ready for the big wave of games coming next year.

New 3DS XL & New 2DS XL

The New 3DS XL and New 2DS XL handheld systems continue to provide tremendous value and entertainment. There are numerous games released this year that we highly recommend.

End of the Nintendo Section!​​​​​

Star Wars Battlefront 2

Despite its highly-protested business model (which has  been put on pause as of this guide), Star Wars Battlefront 2 remains one of the best games released for PC, PS4, and Xbox One this year.


We recommend Battlefront 2 because of its tremendously fun multiplayer battles, fan-servicing single-player story, and overall fun Star Wars experience.


Assassin's Creed: Origins

Assume of role of Bayak, an Egyptian Medjay, as he unlocks the secrets of the precursors involvement with the ancient Egyptians.


Discover the origin of the Assassin organization, and the beginning of the Templar Order.


We recommend the PS4 Deluxe Edition because it comes with the Season Pass content!

Horizon Zero Dawn

Explore a vibrant world rich with the beauty of nature – but inhabited by awe-inspiring, highly advanced machines. As a young machine hunter named Aloy, you must unravel the mysteries of this world and discover your own destiny.


The Complete Collection includes both the original Horizon: Zero Dawn and The Frozen Wilds expansion. Additionally, those who purchase the Complete Edition will receive all of the bonuses included in the Digital Deluxe edition.

Board Games

We're super excited to include a board games section this year's Holiday Buyer's Guide! Special thanks go out to Yotor, our Board Games Contributor, for his hard work compiling and writing this year's Board Game Buyer's Guide.


While you can click on any of the games in this guide to easily purchase them on Amazon, we highly recommend you visit your local board game shop. Supporting these local businesses is very important to us, and local stores can always help you find more great games to add to your collection!

  • Must-Own
  • Expanding Collection
  • Heavy Games
  • 2 Player

A must own for everyone! Basic premise is that you are a team of scientist trying to cure several pandemics around the world. A great way to get kids and family together working together toward a common goal. This co-op game is one that I’ve never had a problem bringing to the table. Rules are quick and easy to learn and since it is co-op people can freely ask questions around what they should do.

A classic! Catan has been around for a while now and if you own monopoly and clue, you should treat yourself to a “Euro” game. In this game you build roads and cities while rolling dice collecting sheep, wood, and other resource cards building and trading while working toward a victory point condition. Again this is another game that my family loves and will play weekly.

Ticket to ride is a easy to teach train game of collecting sets of trains while trying to link railways across the board. This game takes the basics of rummy and expands on them with a simple train design and a couple extra rules to have become one of the most popular games of all time.

Want to get your kids into board games and away from screens? Tell them they will get to play a game where they are giant monsters that get to fight mommy and daddy's monsters! This is a great game where you play a dice rolling (think Yahtzee) style game where you have to attack your opponents or work to a victory point win. Overall another great game for families of all ages, but easy for kids with basic math skills.

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