Top 10 Game Stocking Stuffers for 2004

1. Texas Hold 'Em for Dummies

This small book and card deck are an absolute must-have for any Texas Hold 'Em Poker beginner. The book is full of concise, practical tips; the card deck has strategy printed right on them to help you learn while playing.

2. Typo

This clever word game is great for those who love Scrabble. Players start with 12 cards (letters) and try to play them on the table in one of four rows so that they can say a word that begins with the letters in that row. When you can't connect a letter, you get negative points.

3. Pirates of the Spanish Main

Billed as "the world's first constructible strategy game," Pirates of the Spanish Main features cool ships built out of cards -- so you can fit an entire fleet into someone's stocking. The game itself plays like a relatively simple collectible card game, with pirates exploring for treasure and attacking each other.

4. Coda

Coda may require a larger-than-average stocking to fit in, but if you get it in there, the recipient is likely to enjoy it. Coda is a light 20-minute deduction game that was published in Europe as "DaVinci Code" (as in the book). The goal is to reveal all of your opponents' secret codes before they uncover yours.

5. What's It To Ya?

This party game belongs to the same family as Apples to Apples, but it's a unique experience. Five items (e.g. "hope," "underwear" and "garbage collectors") are placed on the table and each player ranks them in order of importance. (Is underwear more important than garbage collectors?) You win points by matching other players (I think the best way to play is in two-player partnerships). What's It To Ya? was included in the 2005 Games Magazine Games 100 list.

6. Lemony Snicket's Catastrophic Card Game

Based on the best-selling book series "Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events," this card game challenges players to create sets and earn victory points. Needless to say, playing this game is not a pleasant experience because it is packed with reminders of the tragic lives of the Baudelaire Orphans.

7. Marvel Trading Card Game

All the heroes and villains of the Marvel comic universe -- including Spider-Man, Daredevil, the X-Men, the Fantastic Four and Dr. Doom -- are part of this TCG. It's part of Upper Deck's "Versus" or "Vs." system, so you can also play against heroes and villians from the DC comic universe (e.g. Batman, Superman and the Joker).

8. Bang! with Dodge City Expansion

This game is set in the Wild West, and players try to stay alive while killing their competitors. One player is the sheriff, two are his deputies, and the rest are outlaws -- but nobody knows who anybody else is when the game starts. Bang! is great fun on its own, but if you can also find the "Dodge City Expansion," released in 2004, it adds some extra excitement.

9. Employee of the Month

This tongue-in-cheek card game shares much of its sense of humor with Dilbert. The goal is to be popular with both your fellow employees and management by gathering kudos and brownie points. But you'll also collect suspicions, which are bad. At heart, Employee of the Month is an auction game.

10. Cranium Zigity

This card game from the publishers of Cranium usually plays in about 10 minutes, with the goal of getting rid of all of your cards. The cards themselves are a novelty -- clear plastic with solid graphics; the clear element actually comes into play during the game. Zigity is a fun, family-friendly card game.