The Top "Must Have" Gifts for Your SciFi Geek

First off, it’s important to note that you cannot lump all SciFi Geeks into one lump category. It’s also important as a parent, sibling, girlfriend, or boyfriend that you do some research and learn what type of SciFi Geek you have on your hands when searching for that perfect gift. Not ALL SciFi types watch Big Bang Theory, play Halo, read comic books, and scarf down cases of Mountain Dew.

The modern SciFi Geek is somewhat of an oddity. Traditionally, we were viewed as a group of people that detested the outdoors, personal hygiene, sports, social settings, and any food that was green and leafy. With the “Age of the Geek” upon us, more and more often you are seeing us viewed as people that crave social interaction, healthy living, and even a little football on Saturdays and Sundays. So, if anything, it has become more difficult to buy gifts for your geek than ever before. Therefore, I offer my services in assisting you with the “must have” gifts for your Geek.

There are millions of gift ideas out there for your aspiring geek or veteran SciFi enthusiast. I will be supplying you with a list of what I consider to be the absolute best gifts in the categories of Books, Movies, TV Shows, Video Games, and Board Games. I also invite anyone to include additional ideas in the comments section, as well as rate my choices. Because in the end, diversity is what makes the Geek community great!

SciFi Television Shows have always been a mixed bag. They do not have the production value of their big screen counterparts and usually have a hard time finding quality actors. Occasionally, however, a real gem comes along and totally captures your attention. Firefly was one such show. While it only ran for one short season, it managed to accomplish more than most shows do in 7 or 8 seasons. To say the casting for this show was stellar would be an understatement. It was basically a “western in space”. And for all of you non SciFi types, you can completely remove the space fiction from it and still experience an incredible ride filled with comedy, adventure, heists, and plenty of drama. Joss Whedon penned an incredible 14 chapter epic that should still be on the air. So, for just a hair under $20 bucks for the complete series on Blu-Ray, grab it! Oh, and be sure to include the follow-up movie Serenity to give your geek closure.

My choice for movie was a very difficult call. I wanted a movie that encompasses the very nature of science fiction and the choices that are thrust upon us as an audience with regard to this genre. No other movie, in my opinion, accomplishes this better than Blade Runner. Based on the Philip K. Dick novel, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, this story forces the audience to make moral choices along with the lead character, played by Harrison Ford. The movie takes place in a dank, stormy, dystopian future. A race of synthetic humanoids called Replicants, are banned from Earth. Ford's character, Deckard is charged with hunting down Replicants. But there's more to this story than is initially revealed and you begin to feel remorse for these synthetics. Rutger Hauer's delivery at the end is priceless and moving. Make sure to get the Blade Runner: The Final Cut to see the definitive version of this classic.

Choosing the perfect book to capture the best of the Science Fiction genre on the written page was more difficult than picking the movie for this list. Sure, there’s Dune by Herbert and the Foundation Trilogy by Asimov, but those 2 are hard reads if you’re a noob in the SciFi Geek culture. We need a book that can hook a new acolyte as well as a salty old veteran. You’d be hard pressed to find a better author in this subject matter than Robert Heinlein. While his early novels were sophomoric to be sure, no collection would be complete without my choice for the book category. So make sure your Geek’s bookshelf has a copy of Stranger in a Strange Land by Mr. Heinlein. Furthermore, if you can find a copy of the uncut edition; snag it!!! It’s space and Mars and intrigue and conspiracy and family and betrayal and coming of age all in one book! Heinlein had a keen insight on the human condition and almost prophetic voice for the future. You can’t go wrong with this selection.

We have now covered watching and reading in SciFi Geek land but we want to play too!!! Video Games have become a hotbed for Science Fiction themed games for quite some time and have become less game and more interactive experience. Oddly enough, this was not as hard a choice as the other categories were for me. There’s really only one game series that truly captures all things SciFi. You get multiple races, a ship to command with an incredible crew, a plot that has you saving the whole galaxy from an unprecedented galactic threat, visceral combat, freedom of choice in the direction you take, romance, and Seth Green as your pilot to lighten things up. The only clear choice here is the Mass Effect Trilogy. With the entire trilogy released as one set, you can give your Geek literally hundreds of hours of intergalactic enjoyment.

Yes, I realize that the days of table-top board gaming are further behind us than we may like to admit, but there is still a staunch niche group of SciFi Geeks out there that swear by them for the ultimate science fiction experience. And I got news for you…they’re not wrong! Fantasy Flight Games has been publishing some absolutely epic board games in the truest sense of the word. Twilight Imperium 3^rd Edition is the best example of this. You’re geek will need to be equal parts academic, gamer, strategist, and negotiator to get through a marathon session of this jewel. Did I say marathon? This game can last from a minimum of 4 hours and at a maximum, 3 days. 10 players can play at once and I would advise each player to have a smart phone. It’s a game of galactic conquest, where players each represent a race in the galaxy. The “board” is randomly generated each time you play; so you will truly have that feeling of exploring deep in the “black”. You can go to war, conduct espionage, pirate, smuggle, politicize, trade, or negotiate your way to victory. I mentioned having phones during play because texting under the table and/or designating another room in the house as a “negotiations room” certainly adds a unique wrinkle to the gameplay. If you can spring for them, the expansions to the game: Shattered Empire and Shards of the Throne add new races and new gameplay mechanics to an already expansive game.

Well that rounds out my list of top “must have” gifts for your SciFi Geek. I trust you found this Hub informative and exciting. Also, I’m sure you’ll see many alternate ideas or reviews in the comments section. Thanks!!!