Day Ten of The 2021 PopCult Gift Guide is devoted to games of the not-video variety. I’ll be including one or two links so you can order these online, but if you can find them locally, try to do that. We’ve got gift ideas for game-players for a wide range of ages and interests so let’s roll the dice…

El The Chicago Transit Adventure Board Game
$45 from Transit Tees
Also available from other retailers
Suitable for ages 13 and up. 2 – 8 players.

Welcome to Chicago! There’s lots to do in The Windy City, and you have a full itinerary. Make your way around the city using the famous elevated “El” trains to visit places of interest and return to the State/Lake station before anyone else.

Strategize your optimal route by utilizing trains and buses, but be prepared for detour. Keep an eye out for stations undergoing renovation, and be sure to carry enough Transit Tokens to pay for your fare! And of course, you’re not the only person riding the trains. Other travelers might just throw your plans for a Loop! Pack your bag, gather your friends, and set out on your Chicago Transit Adventure!

Contents:

1 20″ x 30″ Game Board Map of Chicago’s famous Elevated Train System
8 Painted and Screen Printed Wooden Train Pawns to match the 8 train lines
32 Screen Printed Wooden Transit Tokens
12 Fluorescent Acrylic Station Renovation Markers
67 Destination Cards with places to visit around Chicago
28 Condition Cards that will help or hinder your trip
2 Six-Sided Dice

Designed by Transit Tees in Chicago’s Wicker Park neighborhood. El The Chicago Transit Adventure Board Game would make a great gift for the person on your shopping list who loves The Windy City, or just likes the idea of having access to cool public transit.

The Blockbuster Game: The Movie Board Game for Adults and Teenagers…
Under $20 from many retailers
12 Years and Up for 4 or more players

The golden age of video rentals is back! Introducing a brand new fun family game for anyone that has ever seen a movie – and just like all great blockbusters, this one’s a double bill! This is a game for adults and teenagers alike, but for best results, you’ll want to split up into two mixed teams.

In round one, each team will choose one of their members to go head-to-head in a quick-fire buzzer battle. From ‘Famous trilogies to ‘Movies with a zombie in it’, these two players must think quick, shout out a movie and slap the buzzer to put pressure on their opponent. The first player to run out of ideas loses the round (and gives their opponents a serious advantage in round two). We like to call round two ‘Movie charades with a twist’.

The player that won the buzzer battle picks up six movie cards, gives the hardest three to their opponent and keeps the rest for themselves. When ready, they’ll get 30 seconds to get their team to shout out the movies by using three tricky techniques – acting out the film, making up a quote and describing them with just one word.

Get them right quick enough and you’ll have a chance to steal from your opponents. Take it too slow and they might get a chance to steal from you. It’s an all-out race to collect a film from every genre and be crowned the new Blockbuster big-shots.

With 200 classic movies, 60 category cards and a replica of a Blockbuster parking lot, you’ll want to clear a space on your top 10 family party games – this is one that’s sure to bring the entertainment home again and again. Requires two AA batteries (not included).

With The Blockbuster Game, you get…

260 cards, 1 electronic timer, 1 game board, 1 Blockbuster sign, instructions

A great gift for the movie-loving trivia game buff on your shopping list.

Top Trumps Match Game – DC Comics Originals
Under $20 from many online retailers
For ages 6 and up

This game is great fun for fans of DC Comics of all ages (it’s illustrated with beautiful JL Garcia-Lopez artwork), despite the unfortunate company name.

Join the DC heroes and villains as they battle to see who can get 5 in a row. With iconic characters like Superman, Batman and The Joker, there’s loads of cubes and lots of characters. Take it in turns to push through the cubes. The aim is to get 5 of the same DC character lined up horizontally, vertically or diagonally.

The game’s not over yet, can your opponent super Top Trump you in the final moment? If they match their Top Trumps card with the winning DC character, they WIN the game! This game is great for memory development and comes in a handy all in one unit that you can take anywhere – from Gotham City to Metropolis!

Be the first to match five of your favorite characters in a row – horizontally, vertically or diagonally. Can you match Superman or Batman before your opponent?

Can your opponent steal the game? Turn over the Top Trumps card to reveal if they can take the match and win the game.

Play with 15 of your favorite characters from Superman, Batman, Darksied and the Joker. Game is for 2 players.

Easy to set up and pack away, Top Trumps Match comes in a handy self-contained plastic case – play anytime, anywhere.

Ravensburger Horrified: Universal Monsters Strategy Board Game
Available online for under $25
For ages 10 and up.

This is the perfect gift for the Universal Monsters fan who also likes board games on your shopping list.

What’s your game plan when your village is attacked by The Mummy, Frankenstein, Dracula and other monsters? This Horrified Board Game is exactly that. You along with your team of heroes have to join forces to defeat them. But the victory doesn’t come easy. Every monster has its own set of strengths and you need to come up with a strategy. You can adjust the level of difficulty by going against a new team of monsters.

Horrifed comes with 1 game board, 7 sculpted miniatures, 75 cards, 3 dice, fabric bag, 17 paper movers and Bases, 6 placards and instructions.

Horrified is a cooperative board game for ages 10 and up where you defend the town against Frankenstein, Dracula, the bride of Frankenstein, the Wolfman, the Mummy, the invisible Man, and the Creature from the Black Lagoon. How cool is that?

Easy to understand instructions – high quality, easy-to-understand instructions make it simple to start playing right away.

With an estimated 60 minute play time, for 1-5 players, Horrified’s innovative style is easy-to-learn w/ varying levels of difficulty Facing the unique monsters requires different strategies, which creates a different experience every time.

And if Horrified is a hit with your giftee, early next year you can seek out the second edition, which replaces the Universal Monsters with America’s most famous Cryptids, including West Virginia’s own Mothman!

Rogue Art History: The Trivia Game
Around $25 from online retailers (This is a pre-order, due to be released November 23)
For ages 14-up.

Rogue Art History is a fun and easy-to-set-up game for ages 14 and up, where players answer trivia questions about art history and collect artwork along the way.

Be the first to collect five artworks and prove, officially, that you know your stuff. Players who answer trivia correctly exchange their Trivia Cards for Artwork Cards. Get enough Artwork Cards and you win the game!

Players can also use “Rogue Scholar” Cards to help them answer questions, protect their artwork from getting stolen, and sabotage other players. Trivia questions are multiple choice, and the difficulty level varies (ranging, for example, from “What body part did Van Gogh cut off?” to “How many pet chow chows did Georgia O’Keeffe own during her lifetime?”).

Funny, and at times playfully irreverent and a little absurd, this game dispels the myth that art and art history are only for stuffy intellectuals. It’s welcoming for all players, from those PhD holders to curious high schoolers just starting to learn about the classics. For four to six players.

Play Rogue Art History on its own or combined with the National Portrait Gallery set for more art and 96 more trivia questions. It’s due out the same day, and has the same rules.