Novelty Gifts + Games

How to Choose a Novelty Gift

Start with what the person does with a free evening, then pick the gift that fits it. A puzzle for the one who stays in, a game for the one who hosts, a kit for the one who likes to make things.

Games for Game Night

The Games Night compendium from SuckUK puts dice, cards, checkers and dominoes in one wooden box, and the lid is the playing board. SuckUK's wooden Sudoku has a solid wood grid and wooden tiles, built to be reset and played again, and its Chess and Checkers and Yatzy sets are wooden too.

WS Game Company's Vintage Bookshelf editions repackage Clue, Connect 4 and Battleship as fabric-wrapped hardcovers that stand on a shelf like books. Clue goes back to its 1949 roots, with wooden movers and metal weapons. Our bookshelf styling rules cover where to put them.

For a group, Gift Republic's Dragatha Christie is a team murder mystery card game designed in the UK. Its Date Night Bucket List scratch cards are on the shelf too, and Two Tumbleweeds' Mixology Dice turn a round of drinks into a game of its own.

Trivia and Word Games

Trivia suits a table that likes to argue. Bless Your Heart is a trivia game written by the editors of Garden & Gun, with 200 question cards on Southern travel, food and drink, sports and culture, and literature and the arts. Kikkerland also makes an Americana Trivia game. Two Tumbleweeds' Writing Dice are wooden dice printed with story elements, like a character, a setting and a conflict, so one roll hands you a writing prompt.

Puzzles, Kits and Things to Make

Kits are the gifts that keep someone busy after the party. Copernicus Toys' robotic arm kit uses precut wood and real plastic hydraulics, takes about an hour to build, and is for ages 8 and up with an adult. Kikkerland's make-your-own ukulele is built from basswood and poplar, and its mini cross stitch kits come in butterfly, mushroom and burger.

The Stranded Stitch's cheetah cross stitch kit includes the pattern, DMC thread, needle, wooden hoop and instructions, on 14-count Aida cloth, and the 5-inch hoop doubles as the frame. John Derian's Sea Life puzzle is 1,000 pieces.

Science on a Desk

Copernicus Toys' Drinking Bird is the classic thermodynamics demonstration, a glass tube and bulb that bobs into a glass of water with no batteries and no motor. Its DIY Volcano, Root Beer Chemistry and Grow a Heart kits turn the kitchen table into a lab. Kikkerland's Huckleberry paper plane launcher is FSC-certified birch with an elastic sling, just over 10 inches long, designed by Koens & Middelkoop.

The gift we see opened and played with on the spot most often is the one with no batteries.

Novelty Gifts by Recipient

Here's how we'd shop the shelf for the people on the list.

• For the host: the Games Night compendium, or Two Tumbleweeds' Mixology Dice, color-coded dice with a recipe booklet for building cocktails. More for the bar is in barware.
• For the reader: Abrams' Antique Anatomy Tarot Kit, a 78-card deck with a guidebook, illustrated with Victorian botanical and anatomical engravings.
• For the golfer: Gentlemen's Hardware's Putt Perfect, a tabletop putting game with a wooden slope, a metal ball and two control rods, and no batteries, screens or rules to memorize.
• For the music lover: Gentlemen's Hardware's vinyl cleaning kit, from the Nashville goods maker, or Kikkerland's ukulele kit.
• For the kids: the robotic arm kit, the Drinking Bird or Copernicus Toys' space-themed matching game.
• Stocking stuffers: Gift Republic's card packs, Kikkerland's wisdom tooth magnets and Tattly's temporary tattoos.

For the Mahjong Table

If game night has turned serious, our mahjong classes at Rosemary's teach American mahjong with the current card, and the oddities next door live in curiosities.

Novelty Gifts in Cincinnati, in Over-the-Rhine

Games are easier to pick when you can pick them up, turn the box over and read the rules. The full shelf is on the floor in Over-the-Rhine, where you can see every game before you buy.

High St. is a 17,000-square-foot lifestyle store at 1401 Reading Rd in Over-the-Rhine. We're open every day but Tuesday, 10am to 6pm, with Sunday hours of 11am to 4pm. In-stock online orders are usually ready for pickup in about two hours, and shipping is free over $150. Every purchase leaves in High St. branded tissue and a premium bag with cord handles and a gold-foil logo.

Rosemary's Upstairs

Rosemary's is inside High St., on the second floor, and parking is available. Call 513.723.1901 and we'll tell you what's on the shelf before you come in.