The living room is where most people spend a good chunk of their time when they want to relax, but most people’s home theater setup could use a little TLC. While you can drop serious money fast in this space, that doesn’t have to be the case. If you’ve got a movie-lover on your gift list, or someone who’s particularly hard to shop for, getting them something to upgrade their TV-watching experience is usually a set bet. Here are some of the best home theater gifts for this year, and no, not all of them cost a fortune.
Tag Archives: author_name|Engadget
The 19 best gift ideas for the remote worker in your life
For many of us, working from home is the new normal. If you know someone who spends most of their days inside their home office, the holiday season is a good opportunity to help make their day-to-day routine a little more convenient. As a group of remote workers ourselves, we’ve rounded up a few gift ideas that should make the WFH life a little more delightful.
Best gifts for remote workers in 2024
Check out the rest of our gift ideas here.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/accessories/best-work-from-home-gifts-wfh-140037231.html?src=rssThe best travel gifts for 2024
Since the dawn of humanity, we have traveled. We’ve come a long way from on-foot journeys laden with animal hide satchels. But the goal of good travel gear is the same: Get you and your necessities to a destination in the highest level of comfort available. If you know someone who is always catching a flight, rides the train to work or is bravely embarking on a cruise, some new tech may just help them out. We’ve put together our collective experiences in roving about the planet to come up with the items we wish someone had given us before we booked. Here are the best travel gifts for the jetsetter or accidental tourist on your list.
Check out the rest of our gift ideas here.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/best-travel-gifts-for-travelers-140015772.html?src=rssThe best board games to gift this 2024 holiday season
We could all use more time away from screens of all types and sizes, and board games are a fun way to do that and bond with friends and family. Classics like Monopoly and Scrabble may be tried and true, but there are dozens of newcomers in the board game world that are worth checking out. You can find plenty of unique sets out there now, from word puzzles to whodunnits to calming playthroughs that showcase the beauty of the little things in life. Here, we’ve collected 12 of our favorite board games that are not only great to keep on hand in your own home, but that will also make solid gifts this holiday season. From games with giant monsters to those with haunted mansions, we’re sure at least one of these will be a hit with friends and family.
Check out the rest of our gift ideas here.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/best-board-games-holiday-gifts-130003702.html?src=rssThe best white elephant gift ideas to exchange in 2024
Whether or not you’ve heard of a white elephant gift exchange before, there’s a good chance you have the wrong idea of what it is, how it actually works and where the idea came from. According to legend, the King of Siam would give a white elephant to courtiers who had upset them. It was a far more devious punishment than simply having them executed. The recipient had no choice but to simply thank the king for such an opulent gift, knowing that they likely could not afford the upkeep for such an animal. It would inevitably lead them to financial ruin.
This story is almost certainly untrue, but it has led to a modern holiday staple: the white elephant gift exchange. Picking the right white elephant gift means walking a fine line: the goal isn’t to just buy something terrible and force someone to take it home with them. Rather, it should be just useful or amusing enough that it won’t immediately get tossed into the trash. The recipient also shouldn’t be able to just throw it in a junk drawer and forget about it. So here are a few suggestions that will not only get you a few chuckles, but will also make the recipient feel (slightly) burdened.
White elephant FAQs
What is white elephant?
A white elephant gift exchange is a party game typically played around the holidays in which people exchange funny, impractical gifts.
How does white elephant work?
A group of people each bring one wrapped gift to the white elephant gift exchange, and each gift is typically of a similar value. All gifts are then placed together and the group decides the order in which they will each claim a gift. The first person picks a white elephant gift from the pile, unwraps it and their turn ends. The following players can either decide to unwrap another gift and claim it as their own, or steal a gift from someone who has already taken a turn. The rules can vary from there, including the guidelines around how often a single item can be stolen — some say twice, max. The game ends when every person has a white elephant gift.
Why is it called white elephant?
The term “white elephant” is said to come from the legend of the King of Siam gifting white elephants to courtiers who upset him. While it seems like a lavish gift on its face, the belief is that the courtiers would be ruined by the animal’s upkeep costs.
Check out the rest of our gift ideas here.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/white-elephant-gift-ideas-2024-150516683.html?src=rss