Be it Christmas or your friend’s upcoming birthday, you’ll need a go-to list of retro gaming gifts that can help you with any of your gift-buying needs, crafted by real retro gamers.
There’s nothing more annoying than reading a gift guide written by someone who isn’t the target audience! So I personally assure you as someone who has reviewed gaming products for over 10+ years, these are my favourites that I know any retro gamer would love.
These retro gaming gifts range from a handful of pennies all the way up to a small loan, so don’t feel as though this is the normal price to spend on retro gamers.
This list will fit all budgets, and believe us when we say that any gift on this list will go down well because I have personally tested every single one. So let’s jump right in with the ultimate retro gaming gifts list!
⭐️ TL;DR - Give Me The Results! ⭐️
- Best Under $30: A Handheld History Coffee Table Book
- Best Under $40: GAMENOOK The Throne
- Best Under $50: Console Heroes SEGA Genesis Playset
- Best Under $75: ANBERNIC RG35XX
- Best Under $100: LEGO GAME BOY
- Best Under $150: Grid Studios Retro Gaming Art
- Best Under $200: Retroid Pocket Flip 2
- Best Under $250: ModRetro Chromatic
- Best Under $300: Evercade Alpha
- Best Video Game: Shinobi: Art of Vengeance+
1. A Handheld History
- Release Date: 2023
- Price: $29.99+
- Available At: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Waterstones
Hands down, the best retro gaming gift of the year has to be our very own coffee table book, A Handheld History. We may be biased, but we have proudly crafted a premium, hardback coffee table book about the history of handhelds.
We have partnered with talented journalists, the gaming industry’s best artists and well-known influencers to give you a nostalgic tome that takes you back through the best handheld game consoles of all time.
Big names like our very own Brandon Saltalamacchia, Jason Bradbury, Kevin Kenson, and Ashens were involved in this book, researching and crafting beautiful stories about consoles, accessories, and well-known retro games.
With over 260 pages of incredible content, this thick book will go down well with any retro gamer, especially if they have (or had) a passion for handheld gaming, as we cover most of it in this book.
We also bring weird and wacky handhelds into the spotlight that you may have never seen before. You will also be supporting Retro Dodo and the future of the A Handheld History series should you snag a copy, so let me personally say a big thank you if you do!
2. Console Heroes SEGA Genesis/Mega Drive Playset
- Release Date: Late 2025
- Price: $29.99+
- Available At: Amazon
These brand new collectables from Console Heroes are certainly going to be a popular gift this year, thanks to their affordable $20 price tag and the fact that there are many to collect, with official licensing and multiple SEGA characters featured.
These are pretty much like Polly Pockets or Mighty Max toys from back in the ’90s. For example, each set is hidden in a SEGA Genesis cartridge that opens up to reveal a level in the game, complete with minifigures and extras to make the diorama come to life.
They’re great for storing in game rooms, and if you are crazy enough to complete the set, there’s even a larger set that features the SEGA Genesis console itself, allowing you to build a colosseum-like playset with all of your characters featured in one display.
It’s a great new company that we had the pleasure of talking to on our podcast, and I believe they’ll go far, creating more retro-gaming focused collectables for adults and children.
I’ve personally demanded SEGA Game Gear and SEGA Dreamcast dioramas, so my fingers are crossed, hopefully they're listening!
3. ANBERNIC RG35XXSP
- Clamshell/GBA SP Design
- Incredibly Affordable
- Good PSP & Dreamcast Emulation
- Average User Experience
- Sometimes Screen Doesn’t Sleep When Shut
- Released: Early 2024
- Price: $59.99
- Available At: ANBERNIC.com and Amazon
- Our Review: ANBERNIC RG35XX SP Review
The ANBERNIC RG35XXSP is one of my favourite affordable retro handhelds on the market right now, not only because it looks like a Game Boy Advance SP clone, but also because it can emulate lots of retro consoles, including N64, PS1, Dreamcast, and Game Boy Advance, straight out of the box.
ANBERNIC has a habit of releasing lots of handhelds that are pretty mediocre, but at just $64.99 this is a device from them that’s hard to hate. It features a semi-powerful processor, a 3.5″ 4:3 IPS display, enough battery life to play for 7 hours straight, and an easy-to-understand user interface.
That’s all wrapped in a high-quality clamshell design with GBA SP aesthetics, a sleep-wake function when shut, and a headphone jack. The emulators will even add a unique border to your games, adding official logos and making it look a little more natural if your screen ratio is different.
There are some minor flaws, like a few UI bugs, and the shoulder buttons being very rattl,y but it’s an all-round great device that’s a perfect gift for handheld enthusiasts and those who have never dabbled in the world of emulation before.
4. Grid Studios Retro Gaming Art
- Release Date: 2021 – 2014
- Price: $99+
- Available At: Grid Studio’s Official Website
You may have seen these floating around our Instagram recently, and that’s because the more they release them, the more I want to collect them all. These are retro art pieces from a company called Grid Studios simply take apart broken retro tech and frame them in a way that looks like insect taxidermy.
They lay out every piece of retro tech, for example, we have the Gameboy Advance SP edition that looks absolutely stunnin,g and it’s a great way to use broken consoles in a way that can be seen as art and maybe even preservation. Alongside that, they package these up incredibly well, to a point where you could call this product a premium piece of art; everything is assembled very well.
I personally have four of these, and none of the parts have fallen off the backboard or broken, nor has the frame, for that matter, so I can comfortably say these are some of the best retro gaming pieces of art that you can buy, directly from Grid Studios official website here.
5. GAMENOOK The Throne
- Released: Late 2025
- Price: £24.99
- Available At: GAMENOOK.co.uk
- Discount code: 10% off using "RETRODODO"
Another product of ours, made by our sub-brand GAMENOOK. The Throne is a custom display stand made specifically for retro handhelds and cartridges.
The neat part? It’s made from 100% plastic waste sourced from our planet in order to help clean up our public areas and to remove dangerous plastics from wildlife and coastlines.
Only 9% of the world’s plastic is recycled, and GAMENOOK wants no part in that. Their products are well built, using aluminium moulds to create incredibly durable products that last.
Featuring two colourways: Cluster (made from plastic waste sourced from land) and Coastal (plastic waste sourced from our Oceans), each design is unique thanks to the hand-crafting method we use by churning different plastics together and melting them down into moulds.
The Throne fits hundreds of handhelds, and an array of GAME BOY cartridges, with space for up to 4x AA batteries, enabling you to have a retro setup ready to grab and go.
Each purchase helps clean the planet, and GAMENOOK will also plant one tree per sale, helping our future home even more.
6. LEGO GAME BOY
The LEGO set we have all been waiting for is finally here: the original GAME BOY DMG. Coming in at just 421 pieces, it is admittedly a fairly small set, but that means that the price is smaller too, making it a great gift for your friends, family or yourself, without it hurting the wallet.
It offers a 1:1 size replica of the original handheld, features lenticular screens that can pair with the two cartridges that you have to build.
The two games are Super Mario Land and The Legend of Zelda, two of the best GAME BOY games ever made.
The set is very tactile and responsive. For example, the buttons have rubber behind them to make them bounce, and it can be made in a couple of hours, making it a great evening build with little ones. It also comes with a display stand so that it can be shown off in your home or office space.
It’s one of the best retro-gaming themed LEGO sets ever made, and we’re hoping it’s the start of more GAME BOY sets coming from LEGO.
7. ModRetro Chromatic
- Metal Shell With Impeccable Build Quality
- Beautiful Pixel-Accurate Display
- Flawless Cartridge Gameplay
- Passionate Team Behind The Brand
- Inactive Modules Teases Me
- Wireless Charing Would Be Nice (& I’d Pay Extra For It)
- Release Date: December 2024
- Price: $199
- Available At: ModRetro.com
- Our Review: Written Review & Video Review
The ModRetro Chromatic is one of 2024’s most unique handhelds. The company was founded by Palmer Luckey, the founder of Oculus who we interviewed on our podcast and it was Palmer’s goal to create the best Game Boy Color ever, and he did just that.
It’s a handheld that can play Game Boy and Game Boy Color cartridges in a way that feels similar yet modern, thanks to the pristine metal shell, the pixel-perfect 2.5″ custom display that is protected with sapphire-glass making it incredibly scratch resistant and near identical to the original.
The sizing is close to the original, too, and when you pick it up it's obvious that the ModRetro team wanted this to not only look like the GBC but feel like it too, with the ability to use AA batteries and the link cable like the good old days.
The buttons are crafted with care using high-end PBT crystalline polymer to make them sound and feel nostalgic. It’s as easy as inserting your favourite cartridge, flicking the on/off switch and entering your games on an incredibly bright and stunning display that can be easily viewed outside.
The team behind this have quite literally crafted the perfect Game Boy Color, and although it has a hefty price tag, it’s the last Game Boy Color I will ever need to buy, and it’s so good that I actually gave it a 10/10 in our in-depth review. It’s truly incredible, and I can’t wait to see more epic retro products from ModRetro over the coming years.
8. 8BitDo Retro Mechanical Keyboard
- Amazing keyboard sound that makes you feel like you’re in an 80s spy movie
- Easy-to-use peripherals
- Easy-to-swap keys to include custom designs
- 200 hour battery life & multiple connection choices
- Designed for Windows with no software for Mac
- No adjustable base to account for unlevel surfaces
- Could be a little noisy for those not used to retro keyboards
- At just over 1Kg it’s not very portable
- Price: £84.98/$89.99
- Available Variants: NES, Famicom, C64, IBM Model M
- Available From: Amazon, 8BitDo
8BitDo are renowned for creating superb products; we’ve reviewed many in the past. One of their most recent “retro” reveals is the brand new Retro Mechanical Keyboard.
It’s styled after the original Nintendo Entertainment System, with many nostalgic nods to the past and large A + B buttons that can be mapped to whatever you please, which is great for those who like to smash their keyboards. Again, it’s another subtle nod to the classic NES controller.
The keyboard itself is built on an aluminium interior, with high-quality Kailh Box White Switches, a number of knobs that can be twisted ad turned, and detailing that will please many retro gaming fans.
The keyboard works on PC, Mac and Android devices, it retails for around $99 on Amazon and has recently been partnered with a bunch of cool accessories too! It’s the perfect gift for retro gamers who want to pimp out their desk setup a little!
9. Evercade Alpha
- High Quality Design With Unique Designs/Licensing
- Competition-Grade Controls That Are Durable
- Bright IPS Display For Indoor Gaming
- A Wide Selection Of Cartridges To Choose From
- Must Be Plugged In At All Times
- Screen Is Highly Reflective
- Screw Covers Look Cheap And Stick Out
- Method Of Swapping Marque Is Awkward
- Released: November 2024
- Price: $249.99
- Available At: Amazon
The Evercade Alpha is a premium bartop arcade that launched in late 2024 and has the ability to play Evercade cartridges. Evercade’s library features over 50 fully licensed cartridges, with a total over 500 games to choose from, making it a unique way to relive physical media and enjoy the nostalgic moments of reading through a manual or blowing dust out of the cartridge.
The quality of the Alpha is great, featuring one of two editions to purchase, Mega Man and Street Fighter each contains 6 pre-loaded Capcom games and unique designs, including removable/swappable marquee designs.
It features a high-resolution IPS screen that’s incredibly bright, alongside durable, high-quality competition-grade buttons and a joystick, which I absolutely love; it feels like the real deal, and it features enough space to rest your hands. It may look a little cramped due to the size of the device, but I was surprised at how long I could play on here without feeling the need to readjust my hand posture.
The cartridges slide in at the bottom, as if you were waiting for change or coins to dispense. You’ll find not one, but two cartridge slots, allowing you to load up to two games within the menu, saving you from switching them around. The UI has also been completely custom-made, featuring easy-to-understand navigation, alongside sleek access to your games and settings.
It’s one of the best bartop arcade machines on the market, built with care and brings back the joy of collecting and trading physical media with friends, which is something I dearly missed.
10. Retroid Pocket Flip 2
- Release Date: Early 2025
- Pricing: $199 - $229
- Where To Buy: GoRetroid.com
The Retroid Pocket Flip 2 is one of the best Android handhelds on the market, and features a beautiful clamshell design that's nostalgic and features a large 5.5" AMOLED display.
Internally, it houses a Snapdragon 865 CPU, capable enough of emulating most PlayStation 2 games at fluid framerates, which is comfortably visible on the large display, and matched with the good button placement, it makes for a pleasurable gaming experience.
The GoRetroid launcher is a custom front-end that organises all of your retro games in one place, allowing you to manage box art and settings easily. You can jump out of that to play your Android games, and cloud streaming should you choose to turn this into a multi-gaming device.
GoRetroid have a history of creating remarkable handhelds, and this is one of their best, matching great build quality, with great emulation performance and a design that feels like a Nintendo 3DS.
11. ELAGO GBA SP Magsafe Charger
- Release Date: 2024
- Pricing: $30
- Where To Buy: Amazon
What better gift is there to give to the gamer who has everything than a MagSafe charger that looks like a Game Boy Advance SP? At $35, it’s an affordable gift that looks the business when not in use and holds your phone securely for when you’re FaceTiming, watching a video, or just while charging, so that you can use the night clock mode (who needs Alarmo, right?).
For legal reasons, we need to say that this is the “Magnetic W5 Stand” and is not affiliated with Nintendo, but there are no prizes for spotting the fact that it’s heavily influenced by Nintendo’s iconic clamshell. The magnets hold your phone in place nicely without you having to ask a wrestler to prize it off for you, and Brandon loves his so much that he uses it on a daily basis rather than plugging in a USB cable anymore.
In terms of detailing, ELAGO has done well to create a close likeness of the GBA with the speaker grill, power buttons, and other features in the correct place. All in all, it’s a neat gift that would make a brilliant and practical stocking filler!
12. Shinobi: Art of Vengeance
- Release Date: Q3 2025
- Pricing: $30
- Where To Buy: Amazon or SEGA
- Available Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PS4/5, Xbox One/X/Series and Steam
This is one of those games that deserves all the attention it can get. Shinobi: Art of Vengeance is the best $30 you can spend on a video game this year if you're a fan of ninjas (aren't we all?).
This new Shinobi game takes the franchise to a whole new level, with a visual overhaul that makes it feel like a comic book, new bad guys that put your fighting skills to the test and awesome new abilities that make your underwear go a different colour in excitement.
It's not even "full price" either, and can be purchased for around $3,0, which is wild seeing as how good this game is. The platformer-like style makes it an easy pick-up and play game too, which is great for a dad like me who needs a 20-minute fix, to then pause and come back to it later.
For hardcore fans, there are increased difficulties, areas of the levels that you have to return to later in the game to unlock and an array of hidden extras to explore should you have the skills to do so.
It's a great, fun game with a beautiful art style, and I'll be honest, it's one of the best Shinobi games ever made.
