Once every few years, a larger wave of new holiday games and accessories are produced and head into the hobby retail channel. The last time a larger wave of holiday-themed products landed in hobby retail was in 2023, just as the pandemic was tailing off (see “Holiday-Themed Game Gifts to Consider“). Both 2024 and 2025 seemed to have been pretty tame on the holiday games side of things with only a range of advent calendars hitting the market; the lack of new holiday products in 2025 could likely be attributed to the effects of the U.S. tariff debacle (see “Tariff Policy“). But in 2026, things seemed to get back on track, with some interesting holiday-themed game gifts announced, and here they are:
6 in 1 Holiday Games by Bicycle. If there was anything to be truly learned from 2026 in the games industry, it was that the kids, meaning Generation Alpha (born 2013 to 2024) and most of Gen Z (born 1997 to 2012), have never played some of the classic games from Hoyle’s Official Book of Games and that they actually want to learn these games. In an effort to introduce these groups to some of the older games, Bicycle has released a nice pack of classic card games for the holidays at a super affordable MSRP $9.99. As noted in the original article, this product is kind of a no-brainer for a cash wrap (see “Six Pack“).
Horrible Therapist: Holiday Edition by Exploding Kittens. The consumer’s love for party games has not faded a bit in 2026. For the holidays, Matthew Innman of The Oatmeal fame has designed a neat, new version of Horrible Therapist where players can get their holiday family angst out in a more satirical manner than screaming at each other over the dinner table. This game will retail for $14.99 (see “‘Horrible Therapist: Holiday Edition’“).
Flip 7: Nightmare Before Christmas by The Op Games. There is probably not much explanation needed here. Flip 7 is on fire (It’s been dominating the Top Card Games in the Hobby Channel chart since last year, see “Trends and Charts”), and Nightmare Before Christmas is one of the hottest holiday IPs. Combine the two (see “Four ‘Flip 7’ Games“), and holiday sales magic is made at the hobby retail cash register. This game retails for a modest $9.95, another reason why it’s a perfect fit for the 2026 holiday season.
FanRoll Holiday Dice Products. This year, FanRoll is the winner when it comes to best holiday-themed game accessories products. They actually produced a straight-up set of Christmas Dice this year with reindeer and Santa (MSRP $19.99). They also used their D&D license to produce Advent Calendar – Red Robes & Winter Woes (MSRP $64.99), which ties in with the Arcana Unleashed: Deadfall adventure (see “‘Dungeons & Dragons: Arcana Unleashed’“). Both of these products hit retail on October 15, 2026 (see “Two Holiday Dice Products“).
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Source: ICv2
